Founder of Adorama, famed NYC camera store, dead at 76

Mendel Mendlowits, a Holocaust survivor and founder of famed Flatiron District camera store Adorama, has died, store executives announced Monday.(Google)

Mendel Mendlowits, a Holocaust survivor who founded Adorama, a famed camera store in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, has died, store executives announced Monday. He was 76.

Mendlowits was born in 1943, and survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp with his sister, who hid him in a bunker, according to an obituary on Adorama’s web page. Allied forces liberated the camp in 1945.

He settled in a Hasidic community in Williamsburg, and opened his first store at 17. He founded the W. 18th St. store in the 1970s, and helped the store hold its own against retail giants like Amazon, Best Buy, and, more locally, B&H.

“We’re going to continue to act in his honor and continue in his legacy,” said Adorama CEO Michael Amkreutz. “Mendel and his son Eugene have been a driving force in the photography industry for many, many, many, many years.”

He retired in 2014, and his son took over the family business.

“His passion for the businesses was met by his deep devotion to his family and his faith,” his obituary reads. “He supported Jewish organizations and Talmud study, and remained actively involved in his community, giving generously to charity and championing causes close to his heart.”

Mendlowits died on April 8. Officials at Adorama said they didn’t know the cause, or if his death was coronavirus-related. His family members couldn’t be reached for comment.