Portrait Innovations studios close unannounced across Charlotte, nationwide

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Portrait Innovations photography company headquartered in Charlotte suddenly closed studios all over the country over the weekend.

Customers found out the hard way. Many intending to still get their services came to their scheduled photography sessions but they were met with locked doors and studios that seemed like ghost towns from the window.

“I mean its kind of odd," says Savannah Kennedy who works in a business next door to a former Portrait Innovations studio.

Kennedy says over the weekend a customer scheduled for a session with the photography business came into their hair salon, asking for help.

“She said she had an appointment to get her children’s pictures taken on Saturday," says Kennedy. “She waited almost two hours to see if somebody would show up.”

But no one did.

Portrait Innovations doors were locked and the lights off. A google search shows the business is now listed as permanently closed.

WBTV went to the Portrait Innovations headquarters in Southwest Charlotte to see if we could talk to the company’s CEO John Grosso but the doors were locked.

WBTV called Grosso on three different numbers associated with him. but none of the calls were successful. WBTV also visited Grosso’s home address in Charlotte, but no one was home.

After looking into the company’s legal history—WBTV found a number of troubles.

Portrait Innovations filed for bankruptcy in 2017. In 2018 a marketing company sued the photography business for over 38 thousand dollars. In October 2019—that bankruptcy case was closed—listing the company as over 25 million dollars in debt.

As for Grosso, A for sale sign sits outside the home. Realtor.com says the house was put on the market in August, and then relisted in November—which is just one month after the bankruptcy was finalized.

WBTV has yet to successfully get in contact with Grosso.

The Better Business Bureau says they’ve received 52 complaints that have been closed and 24 of those are still pending—all of them have been filed within the past week.

If you were a customer of Portrait Innovations, the BBB does encourage you to file a report with them. You can also try to call your bank, to dispute any charges for unfinished business.

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