Severance Photo on Watertown's Court Street will close Saturday, ending decades of service to north country shutterbugs.

The 98-year-old business has not pulled in the traffic it used to because of trends resulting from digital photography, co-owners Paul Beers and Richard G. Seiler said Tuesday.

Severance employees touch up each photo handed to them — a service no other "box store" will do, the owners said. When the store closes, that service will leave with it.

"Selling accessories and photo finishing was at least half of our business," Mr. Beers said.

Now, digital cameras and camera phones produce photos people are happy with, he said. As technology advances, the need to print photos has dropped.

"Business has just disappeared after Christmas," Mr. Seiler said.

Both owners said that cameras are still selling, but without the orders to customize frames and print photos, the business won't make money.

"We've had a reasonable number of good customers," Mr. Seiler said. "They come in and we take care of what they need. Unfortunately, we're the only place in town that does that."

Generations of photographers have passed through the store since he began working there 40 years ago, Mr. Seiler said. He compared Severance's relationship with customers to that of a haberdasher — each patron is given unique attention.

"Without the loyal customers, we couldn't have done it for this long," Mr. Seiler said. "We'd like to thank all of them for their support."

The company started at its current location, 170 Court St., in 1982. When the Court Street location opened, it offered the latest technology — a mini lab that developed color photography in one hour.

"The good times were when people walked from downtown," Mr. Beers said. "There was little or no competition, and we were the only ones doing on-site finishing."

The company was founded in 1910 by Orla A. Severance, who opened a studio in the Paddock Arcade. The business was later taken over by Paul J. Severance. The current co-owners credited the younger Mr. Severance with converting the studio into a retail business. The business was bought by Norman Peckham in 1979.

Mr. Seiler then joined Mr. Peckham as a business partner and Mr. Beers joined when the mini-lab opened. The current owners bought out Mr. Peckham in 1999.

The owners said the store was helped by the traffic that stopped at the neighboring Max's Outfitters. When Max's burned to the ground in March 2004, the people stopped coming.

"It's business as usual until Saturday," Mr. Beers said. The company's merchandise and office equipment will be auctioned May 20.

Both owners said they're considering retirement, but both want to travel and will continue to follow photography.