Al’s next stop on his east coast tour lands him in St. John’s, NL to visit Don Lane of Lane Gallery. Don opened his gallery in the original CN Hotel Newfoundland in 1976—now a Sheraton Hotel. He has been a fixture ever since. His photographs showing off Newfoundland’s natural beauty decorate walls all around the globe. Hear about how he started, and how he’s navigated all the disruptions over 47 years in his chosen profession.
You can learn more about Lane Gallery at lanegallery.com.
Al Grego:
Hello everyone. I'm Al Grego, and this is a Yes, We Are Open! podcast. St. John's Newfoundland located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula. With a population of approximately 110,000, it's the largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, the capital of the province and the east most city in North America, also one of the oldest.
Starting off as a seasonal fishing camp in the early 1500s, Portuguese and Spanish ships crossed the Atlantic annually to fish its waters. But it wasn't until 1583 when Sir Humphrey Gilbert of England claimed it as England's first overseas colony. Sometime after 1630, St. John's was established as a permanent community.
Fishing was the main industry in St. John's right up until the 1990s with a collapse of the cod fishing industry. That's when St. John's became the center of the oil and gas industry in Eastern Canada. Tourism is also a growing part of St. John's economy. With its signature, colorful row houses and picturesque hilly seaside charm, St. John's is certainly a pretty place to visit.
The downtown area has become a cultural hub, catering to all their visitors' needs from hotels, restaurants to shops, and boutiques on Water Street. And it plays host to a vibrant nightlife where you can find live music any night of the week on George Street.
But today, I'm not traveling too far. In fact, I'm not even going outside. I'm staying at the Sheridan Hotel downtown with a beautiful view of Signal Hill. I take the elevator down to the lobby, then cross the lobby to the subject of this week's story, Lane Gallery. Hi Don.
Don Lane:
[inaudible 00:02:03].
Al Grego:
I'm Al.
Don Lane:
[inaudible 00:02:05] earphone was walking the Door. I assume you were.
Al Grego:
That's Don, the owner. He welcomes me into his gallery which is covered on every wall with beautiful photographs of fishing villages, boats, lighthouses, rocky cliffs and icebergs. On the floor, there are even more photographs mounted on easels and leaning against the front counter. It's a feast for the eyes, not an inch is wasted. On display is 40 plus years of Don's work. Don leads me to a couple of seats by the window in the back of his gallery and we settle in for our chat.
Don Lane:
Hi, my name is Don Lane. I'm the owner and originator of the Lane Gallery in the Sheridan Hotel in St. John's Newfoundland.
Al Grego:
When did you open the Lane Gallery?
Don Lane:
1976, so 47 years. I went to university here at Memorial. I started off in commerce, switched to economics. I dabbled in the newspaper there, the Muse it's called, and met some friends, set up a little camera company for want of a better word to work at during university years and worked at it for summers and winters. And made a bit money. Certainly had fun with doing it.
Realized it was enjoyable career if you took it seriously. So we then decided I was going to do this for a living or wanted do this for a living. How much do you know when you're 22 years old? Not a lot. Right? That's right. Yeah. So I was an only child, so I didn't have any brothers, sisters to worry about. And I said, okay, I'll try this. And got accepted at a school in California and took it from there.
Al Grego:
So that was back in '76?
Don Lane:
1972 to 75.
Al Grego:
'72?
Don Lane:
Yeah, worked with Canadian Pacific in Montreal for a number of months, then got more homesick than usual. And came home and got married in '76.
Al Grego:
Are you from St. John's originally?
Don Lane:
Yep. Originally from here, yep. When I first started, I started in what is now a coffee shop right across the street. I was doing commercial work, what you call weddings, family portraits, a lot of graduations, commercial work in general.
And I had some pictures of Newfoundland that I had taken, just the occasional shots of the communities and stuff. Put them on the wall over there and they sold. People liked them. And I enjoyed doing them, but that was not what I intended to do. I intended to do other commercial work.
And one day the manager of the old hotel, Newfoundland, which was in the parking lot of this one, walked in one day and said, "Do you want to take over in the lobby of a store that was leaving that hotel?" I thought, okay, well nothing to lose. He said, month to month rent, why not? I moved in there and sold my landscapes. It was old. They weren't no digital at that time. Very simple framing. Put some on the wall and they sold. People bought them, visitors mainly of course, and it worked.
Al Grego:
You can't get much more picturesque a backdrop than St. John's.
Don Lane:
Newfoundland, it's most of what I sell is Newfoundland, somewhere around the world. But people like it. People love it. The beauty of the pictures and they like being here. It's a very attractive city.
Al Grego:
Oh, it's beautiful. Yeah. I love the iceberg photos especially. So whenever you hear there's an iceberg floating in, do you grab your camera?
Don Lane:
I'm not quite that desperate. Over the years I've gotten a lot and I have little friends here and there around the places that call me and say something, come out and say something. This year there were a lot of icebergs, a lot of ices, but they weren't really photogenic. There were a lot of big slack ones, which don't make good pictures and a lot of small pieces that came off it. So you had to be in the right place the right time to get the right feeling for it. There were no really big monster ones and nothing to get excited about.
Al Grego:
So you opened this gallery, I guess in [inaudible 00:05:35]?
Don Lane:
When the manager of the old hotel asked me to do that, I opened up a gallery in an old shop. That was where the tenant was vacated. And it made money right away, day one every month of the year. Surprisingly, I was delighted, tickled pink. And then they announced the opening of the building of the new hotel. This one that we're in now.
Al Grego:
Was it Sheridan, right?
Don Lane:
No, it was CN. Then became CP, then became Fairmont, and now it's Sheridan. So these just names. The basic building is the same. We're going to do this building in '82.
Al Grego:
Well, while this building was being built, were you able to still resume business in the-
Don Lane:
Oh yeah. All [inaudible 00:06:18] of course.
Al Grego:
It just built around it?
Don Lane:
Basically was you could almost touch the two buildings together. It was been [inaudible 00:06:25].
Al Grego:
So you've been in here since '82?
Don Lane:
'82.
Al Grego:
Wow.
Don Lane:
That's 40, 41 years.
Al Grego:
I imagine you've seen a lot of change here, obviously in terms of the hotels and tourism?
Don Lane:
Yeah, well, tourism did not come to real fruition in Newfoundland until 1997, which was the year of the Matthew visit.
Al Grego:
In 1997, Newfoundland celebrated the 500th anniversary of its discovery by Anglo Italian explorer, John Cabot. Cabot is thought to be the first European to set foot in Canada, although it is believed that Vikings did it 500 years prior.
A replica of Cabot's ship called the Matthew was built in Bristol, England and sailed to Newfoundland where the ship and crew were welcomed by Queen Elizabeth II. It was billed the party of the century, and by all accounts it was an impressive celebration.
Don Lane:
That was the real beginning of the modern age of tourism when they got serious about the advertising with the TV ads and the posters and stuff. And since then it's been really good business to be in.
Al Grego:
How often do you get out to take pictures now?
Don Lane:
Still occasionally. Not as often as I did. Just getting older. 74 and two days ago. But still, well, I can. Only one employee now helps me out with the shipping stuff downstairs.
Al Grego:
Okay.
David Tucker:
My name is David Tucker and I do laminating, mounting, framing for all of Don's work.
Al Grego:
And how long have you been working for Don?
David Tucker:
Oh, forever. Almost 40 years.
Al Grego:
40 years.
David Tucker:
Almost close on 40 years.
Al Grego:
How did you learn how to do all this stuff?
David Tucker:
On the job really. Don taught me and he had another worker here before that was with us for quite a while that also taught me. These pictures are going to be laminated and mounted like you saw the ones in the gallery, how they're finished. Don just printed them yesterday. The lamination's an acrylic surface, so it's washable, very adorable. And we have a smooth laminate and a laminate with a texture as well.
Don Lane:
The only way to make a dollar to make a living in this business: my own work with my own framing, my own wrapping. We do everything in store right here in the store or down in my workshop. If I had to frame out the framing or the printing, it would not make sense.
Al Grego:
So you do your own printing here too?
Don Lane:
Everything downstairs, everything. They're all laminated. Do all that downstairs. Everything. That's the only way to make a dollar.
Al Grego:
You say that the majority of your customers are people who are hotel guests?
Don Lane:
Hotel guests or visiting St. John's. Business that long, you get a well known, of course you have no name. I get people coming here from anywhere in the continent, maybe not in the hotel, but know about me from before. But I would say 80% of what I sell is visitors or travelers. The rest is local.
Al Grego:
Do you keep track of where in the world your pictures end up?
Don Lane:
Yeah, everyone basically, or in the early years we did it on little business cards, or little file cards with the names of the places and the names of customer. And in recent years, we've done it more on a computer, on the computer. But for example, there's one particular picture over the years that's been really, really popular. I took it from the top of the basilica, which is the church right in the center of St. John's looking out. They're not looking at it, the narrows. And there was an iceberg right in the middle of the narrows, and so you see the old part of the city with the harbor and the iceberg.
And it's gone to, I'll just read off some of the locations. There's a couple in Houston, Chicago, all over the United Kingdom. We have Dallas, we have Greece. We have Moose Jaw. We have New York, Vancouver. We have Japan, we have Scotland, England, Puerto Rico, Prague, Toronto, Ottawa, of course. Korea to the Korean ambassador. Norway. We did a lot of Norway because of the oil business was there. Here's one to France, Indonesia. So there you go. Madrid, Australia, Dublin. Keep on going.
Al Grego:
I mean, what are some of the highlights of the last 40 plus, 47 yeas?
Don Lane:
Well, had a few famous visitors. Elton John was here.
Al Grego:
Wow.
Don Lane:
He stayed in the motel and dropped by. Reba was in one day. A few baseball players had been in off and on. I followed the Jays. So I see they were promotional tour, that kind of thing.
Al Grego:
Nice.
Don Lane:
President of China was in before the current president. It was about 30 years ago. Met the Queen when she was doing her tour. I was hired to photograph her. She wasn't in the store, but she met me and I met her. The highlights are when some customer comes in and is taken off with the pictures and buys two or three for his house. That's a better day for me than meeting any musician or a queen or whatever else. So if someone comes in and spends a thousand dollars, that makes me feel good about my work.
Al Grego:
What would you say is the more popular? Anything with an iceberg, right?
Don Lane:
Iceberg and a lighthouse. Iceberg and a lighthouse and a fine day. Look out.
Al Grego:
Up next, Don has found the perfect marriage of his passion for photography and his love for his home province to build an ideal business in Lane Gallery. But what happens when both photography and tourism as we know it, are disrupted by new technologies? How will he adapt? Stay tuned to find out.
You are listening to Yes, We Are Open! Don Lane has pulled off the dream. For over four decades, he's been running a successful gallery selling his own photography. His clients are primarily visitors to his home province of Newfoundland. But over the span of 47 years, there are bound to be struggles.
In Don's case, there were major disruptions in the form of digital photography and short-term vacation rentals and a major reduction in oil production in 2014, threatening to turn his business upside down. How did he fare? Let's find out.
It's a 40-year business. You must have hit some tough points. At any point in the last 40 years, 48 years, were you ever in danger of shuttering your doors?
Don Lane:
The only struggle, real struggle would be for a year or two or three in 2004. So when it was just becoming the landscape part of it was becoming a bit tiring because I'd seen all of Newfoundland's a gorgeous place to be. But you go back over and over the same places, you're seeing the same scenery. I was toying them with leaving it because it was becoming a repetitive job.
Al Grego:
Sure. How close did you get to leaving?
Don Lane:
I looked at two or three other careers, made serious interviews, but I never really took any action toward it.
Al Grego:
It'd be pretty tough going from being your own boss to working for somebody else.
Don Lane:
Well, it wouldn't be working for somebody else. No matter what happens, it would be, I would be my own boss. It would not be changing to work for another company. I don't think I couldn't do that. When you own your own business for 25 years or 40 years, you can't really do that. Almost impossible. But I interviewed a couple of places about a career, I shouldn't say about a job, about a career and other things that I was good at or interested in.
Al Grego:
For example?
Don Lane:
Financial.
Al Grego:
Yeah, okay.
Don Lane:
And interviews. But then the following did nothing at the time. Then the following year, digital. In 2006, 2007, I got my first digital camera that didn't use it very much. The second one was a 12 megapixel digital camera, and that opened up the whole world because I go back now to those same places and not worry about the fact there's a telephone pole in the way or the fact that the car going down the street, because you can improve upon the picture in both the color and you mentioned, the skies. And remove extraneous objects. You can make panoramas, which you couldn't before.
So that when I discovered digital, the post-processing and digital, it changed the whole aspect of this business and made it more fun again. So it's like I restarted the business.
Al Grego:
So digital rejuvenated your-
Don Lane:
Yeah, rejuvenated. That's absolutely right. Yeah.
Al Grego:
That's interesting.
Don Lane:
You can make pictures more colorful, make the color richer and more vibrant, make the skies darker and richer. It's cheaper to find one picture and take a thousand more and throw them away. Because every time we shoot film, it's a dollar, a dollar, a dollar, a dollar, a dollar, every dollar.
Al Grego:
Right, and you're waiting for it to come back to see it [inaudible 00:14:55].
Don Lane:
Yeah. You don't know what you got, but in digital you have it. Yeah. And it's better quality. I know there will be people who are argue that because there are definite film lovers like vinyl and music. Film would've followers, but I didn't. I was glad to get rid of the film and love, embraced the digital runway.
Everything I shot before 2006 or '07 is now digitized. You can tell on the wall which one is witch, and they're all painted digitally. And they're longer lasting. They're better quality. They're basically cheaper to make, faster to make. Inventory costs are down. The expensive part is getting the cameras and getting the computers and the printers, which you have to replace every few years because they break and there's new ones, but the picture is cheaper once you buy the equipment. All the pictures are dated and anything with a '07 on it is shot digitally. So that year is when I got my first real digital camera.
Al Grego:
Did you resist for a bit or?
Don Lane:
No, no, not really. No. You resisted when they were toys, because they were toy digital cameras in early 2000s. And people said, don't bother with it. It's too low end, married to film. But once it came out to be a six or eight megapixel, which was a big thing at the time, I bought one, played with it, realized I couldn't do a large prints with it. But as soon as the next one came out, the 12 megapixel, I lashed right onto it. Took everything out, took it. Sold my [inaudible 00:16:05]. Got rid of my other cameras and the time visual. No, I love it.
Al Grego:
Well, let's talk a little bit about the pandemic, because that was something that affected businesses [inaudible 00:16:24].
Don Lane:
It did, yeah, definitely.
Al Grego:
And especially hospitality.
Don Lane:
Anybody in travel.
Al Grego:
Well, yeah, so if you're in a hotel, I'm assuming the hotel was shut down for at least-
Don Lane:
Locked shut, both the doors in March of 2020. That's right. Yeah.
Al Grego:
And could you even come into your own studio?
Don Lane:
With a knock at the door and a wave in the hand, the one person who was in the building would find me and let me in. So I could come in and fill out the occasional web order or whatever, go down in the workshop I had something to do. Yes, I could. But there was no traffic and no reason to be here.
Al Grego:
But you were able to sell some online?
Don Lane:
Yeah, a few. Yeah. I don't have a big online presence. People, I'm convinced, would rather come in and look and see and touch and feel. Look at the frames, look at the size, see different comparisons rather than just online. It's a touchy-feely business. One thing about COVID or to back up on COVID. The hotel changed hands here back in 2014, '15 with new management. Before that it was Fortis, which is the utility.
They sold all their hotel businesses and two individual properties, to individual owners. So business changed after that. Also affected by more hotels and by Airbnb. And the oil business here, which was a really profitable business during the years, changed as well in 2014, '15, with the reduction of oil prices. They collapsed in 2014.
So we lost a lot of business because of that as well. We were coming back out of that and the best winter we'd had in years was 2020 before COVID. Three months before COVID, we were doing really, really good business here, right back like it was before. And then COVID hit. So the effect of COVID on us was almost more dramatic as we had come out of a low spell and we're just getting our sea legs again until COVID took out it.
That lasted about six months, COVID did. I think the hotel closed in March and reopened in October. There was some problems in the hotel in the reopening.
David Tucker:
For the first year, I guess, Dan, the first year there wasn't much doing anyway.
Don Lane:
First six months.
David Tucker:
Six months.
Don Lane:
Shuffling.
David Tucker:
Yeah. The first year there wasn't much.
Don Lane:
There was a flood. Oh, I forgot about that.
Al Grego:
You had a flood?
Don Lane:
Upstairs, the men's room across the hall. I forgot to mention that. The day or the two days before the hotel reopened, after COVID, the men's room across the hall bust a pipe and the whole lobby, our wing, especially my place and the one next door totally flooded. Carpet had to be ticked out. The whole thing was ruined.
Al Grego:
Were any of your pictures ruined?
Don Lane:
Just the couple of things on the floor, but nothing we couldn't... It wasn't damage to us. It was damage to the room that had to replace.
Al Grego:
That's a lot.
Don Lane:
And that took three months basically for the hotel to clean up and dry up and organize and re-carpet and everything else. That Christmas we opened. So it was almost a year. You were still off during all that. We didn't do anything during all that. Yeah.
David Tucker:
After that I would still with the restrictions on, we would get orders over our website from the website, and I would come in here on my own. I'm on my own here most times anyway, so it didn't matter what time I came in here to do any work. It could be the middle of the night, it could be early morning. Because I was here on my own and the main thing is was just get the work done for the orders that we received on our website.
Al Grego:
So you're able to keep busy?
David Tucker:
Sort of, yeah, to some degree. We found a way to keep ourselves.
Don Lane:
Paid the bills.
David Tucker:
Yeah.
Al Grego:
Yeah. That's good.
Don Lane:
It was such a touch and go, but I knew it was not going to be forever, so it wasn't really-
Al Grego:
[inaudible 00:20:08].
Don Lane:
Yeah, I lived with it. Sure.
Al Grego:
Your landlord helped out I'm sure.
Don Lane:
Oh, absolutely. They were great. Yep.
Al Grego:
Has the oil bounced back? I mean, it's-
Don Lane:
No, I think you'll find the same. If you ask a restaurant here or a taxi driver or any other gallery, it was boom times between 1990 until 2014, '15 when they were drilling, discovering, developing and producing. And it was just one roaring project to the other, to the other, to the other.
And that's why we have all the good restaurants and stuff and a beautiful downtown. But when the oil price collapsed in '14, people will say at the time that they're not going to spend the money. The oil companies are not going to. And the employees are not spending the money, not putting employees through like they used to. I can only speak for them. I can't. But there's definitely a fall off in business of travel in the oil business that there was in those days.
Al Grego:
Tourism's back though.
Don Lane:
Yep. This year it is. Yeah.
Al Grego:
My family and I were here for the first time last summer and everyone I spoke to said they'd never seen the place so busy.
Don Lane:
Yeah, I can see that.
Al Grego:
There's a lot of people who would normally travel outside the country, just opted-
Don Lane:
Stayed in the country.
Al Grego:
... to stay in the country.
Don Lane:
And stayed in the province, too. Was the local tourism promotions were on. I can't compare it to 2000, say 10 years ago. You go back 10 years to 2010, '12, '13, '14. Those were the real heydays for me and for this building. But since then, like I said, because of oil and because there are more hotels and more Airbnbs, there might be a lot of people on Water Street walking around and visiting the community, seeing the icebergs. They're not always in this hotel because I realize the world changes.
It's quite an enjoyable business. It's a great business model. I enjoy what I'm doing. I love it here every day. That's why I'm still here at this age. Up until COVID, bit before that, it's really profitable. It's been a great made money here all the time. It's a great hotel to be in because again, up until recently, up until a few years ago, it was the place to be.
It was the hotel to stay in in St. John's. Because of tourism increased, a lot of new hotels have opened here and Airbnb has taken over. So there's more competition for the hotel business now, but it's still pretty good. There's still pretty high-end, medium to high-end customers come by here and we've done well.
Al Grego:
Coming up after the break, we find out what the future holds for Lane Gallery.
Speaker 4:
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Al Grego:
Welcome back to Yes, We Are Open! Don Lane has seen a lot of change and overcome his share of adversity in the 47 years of Lane Gallery. So what's next? Does he have any plans for the future? Let's find out. So what's your future outlook for Lane Galleries?
Don Lane:
Well, being 74, the future is obviously not as long as the past. I honestly don't know. It's the kind of business that you can't really sell it as such. It has to be somebody who can take over my life, not just a retail location.
Al Grego:
Another photographer.
Don Lane:
And if somebody else with a business head, you have to have a business head and an eye for art of some kind, photography, most likely would come in here and blend into my workload and take one or two years to take over from me. That will be fine. And I'm looking for that, but not actively. Someone's come along, I'd discuss it. But I doubt that's going to happen, tell you the truth. There's no family interest in it. And just coldly selling it, that means somebody else will take over the pictures and you have no control over that then if you just sold everything.
Al Grego:
Oh, so you would like to keep copyrighted your work, I guess?
Don Lane:
No. Well, ideally, I suppose. No, no. Mean if you had someone come in who you trusted and would take over with business and you worked with them for two or three years, that'd be fine. But just advertising your business for sale, having somebody from Toronto, say, "I want to move from Newfoundland and buy your business and give you money for it," and he's got your pictures and God knows what'll happen to them. It might be half price tomorrow.
So I have in my mind really no problem just closing up. Some one of these days in a year, 2, 3, 4, 5, how long ever I live just saying, okay, this is it. I'm tired now. I'm finished with this. And just having a one-day sale or whatever and closing and destroying everything. Literally, because I'd rather that than have them on sale in the Wall Street, than half price in stores.
Al Grego:
The businesses, Don, it goes as he goes. What do you hope for your future here?
David Tucker:
Well, I'm close to retirement myself now, so I've been with Don for 40 years and really I'll be only if Don is still at this part-time to some degree, I'd still be involved, I would say.
Al Grego:
It looks like you created yourself a perfect career and life.
Don Lane:
I think so, yeah. Honestly.
Al Grego:
For yourself.
Don Lane:
Yeah.
Al Grego:
How do you feel about that?
Don Lane:
Reasonably content.
David Tucker:
I just enjoy working with him because they're great pitchers. There's times I work in the gallery when Don's not around and I meet people from all over the world. And I mean, Newfoundland's landscape is very unique and they're amazed at the pictures. And I don't think with certain amount of people that visit here, they would see the natural beauty of Newfoundland, and they get a chance to see it through Don's work.
Don Lane:
I said, my son wants, it's a great business model to find something you'd like to do. Do it I think fairly well, make good money at it, and keep at it as long as you want to. You're not forced out to retire. I could have retired 10 years ago money wise or 20 years ago, but I like coming in here. So it's quite a intentional life.
Al Grego:
If you enjoy it, why stop?
Don Lane:
Yeah. Why not?
Al Grego:
Is the Lane Gallery open?
Don Lane:
Yes, we are open.
Al Grego:
That's the story of Lane Gallery. People start their own businesses for many different reasons. Some simply don't want to work for someone else. Some are trying to build wealth and perhaps a legacy. Others are trying to solve some sort of problem or fill a void in an industry, and still others are following their passions or hobbies while also trying to make a living.
Now, all of those reasons are perfectly valid, but to me, the last group is the sweet spot. When you can combine your passion with your profession, then you're not working for a living anymore. You're living for a living. Just as businesses start for various reasons, their level of success should also be measured differently.
Don Lane found a way to live for his living for the past 47 years in counting. He was able to provide employment for others, including David, and his work is adorning walls across the globe. Now, whether or not Lane Gallery continues after Don is done is irrelevant. The business has already succeeded.
Yes, We Are Open! is a Moneris podcast production. I'd like to thank David and Don for taking time to share their story. You can learn more about Lane Gallery at lanegallery.com or follow Don on Facebook at Don Lane Gallery. Please support this podcast by writing us a review on Apple Podcasts, or rate us on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
If you're a Canadian small business owner or know of one with an interesting story of perseverance to tell, I'd love to help tell it. You can contact me at podcast@moneris.com. Tune in next week for another story of small business struggle and survival on the Yes, We Are Open! podcast. I'm Al Grego. Thank you for listening.