Selling a family business that’s been around for more than a half-century isn’t easy if you want your customers to be happy. Consider the case of Rowland Studio.

It’s a thriving business doing custom framing of paintings, photos and memorabilia – “We’re booked four weeks out,” says Karen Walton, who owns it with husband Scott – with new equipment and a customer base that in some cases covers three generations of a family.

It has local roots that few can match, having been in Concord since 1958 and perhaps even longer, with a history so extensive that nobody’s quite sure where the name Rowland came from. Scott Walton has worked there since he was a senior in high school and his parents, Doug and Terry, bought it in 1988.

The studio successfully maneuvered through huge changes caused by the internet, changes that killed off a half-dozen independent frame shops that once existed in Greater Concord. Importantly, they dropped the sale of art and drafting supplies that once was the bulk of business and chose to focus on high-end specialty framing. That has trimmed the need to hire and maintain staff so they can succeed even when staying open just 32 hours a week “because we want a life,” said Karen Walton.

And it has even managed a move from a long-time home in the gray stone building at 23 N. Main St. once owned by the family to a smaller rented space on Fort Eddy Road without losing clients.

Yet Rowland Studio has been on the market for a year as the Waltons look to move south to be with family. There has been interest and the couple has cut the price, which they prefer not to discuss, but so far nobody has shown up who can handle the transition.

Rowland Studio’s story is a common one for small independent businesses. If there isn’t a family member ready to take over, as Scott did when his parents retired, it can be difficult to keep things going when the owners move on. That’s why so many small businesses shut when retirement arrives.

The Waltons say that won’t happen with Rowland Studios.

“We’re not closing. We’re staying open while we find (a buyer),” said Scott Walton. “Our last three or four years have been our best.”

Like many retail businesses in the Internet Era, Rowland Studio has succeeded by emphasizing hands-on assistance for higher-end products.

It does not, for example, sell ready-made frames anymore. Customers can choose from a dizzying array of frames in scores of woods and styles and mats in more colors than you can name.

“A lot of our customers don’t trust their stuff with anyone else,” said Karen Walton. “Your piece is going to dictate what looks good with it – that and the style of the home. They might not want gold frames but want more rustic because their house is rustic.”

Although there’s no such thing as a typical customer, framing costs around $300 to $500 are common depending on the type of frame, number of mats and whether museum-quality glass is used.

For information, contact Nathan Beliveau-Robinson at NAI Norwood Group.