Leica Goes Hollywood

leica gallery

 

leica gallery

That’ll be one fancy store: German camera maker Leica says it shop and gallery in West Hollywood is an 8,000 square-foot space and “boasts a gorgeous art gallery and store.”

The store will offer “the entire range of Leica products and accessories, photography books, printing and renting services, and carefully selected third-party accessories,” the company says. Billed as “a unique lifestyle destination,” the gallery invites customers “into a tranquil environment of artwork and books, and even has an outdoor lounge where people can relax and enjoy a conversation or photo book.”

Leica says its goal was to “create a space that inspires our customers”  and hopes the Leica Store and Gallery LA “will become a major hub in the world of Leica and photography.” It opens June 21.

 

On the DIMAcast: Survive the Concrete Jungle

coach burt

 

coach burt

The culture of your company can be stifling the growth you need to survive. How can you evolve and improve this culture? In this episode of the DIMAcast, Coach Michael Burt provides four steps to “overcoming the chaos, and taming the 10,000-pound gorilla in your midst.”

Burt is the coauthor of “Zebras & Cheetahs: Look Different and Stay Agile to Survive the Business Jungle.”

You can subscribe or download the interview here.

 

Tamrac launches new website, contest

Tamrac-HomePage

Tamrac-HomePageIf you’ve ever re-launched your website, you know what an enormous undertaking it can be. Camera bag manufacturer Tamrac has done a great job with their new, streamlined site at www.tamrac.com. It now offers more product information, images and a rich user experience to help users find the perfect Tamrac bag.

To make sure there is plenty of buzz around the new site, Tamrac is also running a contest from June 12 to June 26 to coincide with the launch. To enter, visitors to the site simply leave a review on their favorite Tamrac product within the contest period.  After the close of the contest, a randomly selected winner will win a Canon Digital Rebel Kit with an 18-55mm lens –  donated by Canon Canada — and a Tamrac Evolution 6 Photo Sling Backpack.
What a great idea, and a simple way to get people clicking through those web pages!

Spector Photo becomes smartphoto group

smart photo nv

 

smart photo nv

In Belgium, Spector Photo Group NV has changed its name to smartphoto group NV.

“This change of name is a final step in the whole process of change since 2005 where the group has transformed itself into one of the leading E-commerce players in the market of personalized photo products,” the company says. “Smartphoto helps socially active, internet savvy young moms and families to create affordable high quality personal photo products through smart and simple designed apps and websites. Every day we try to find new, smart ways to help you to get the most out of those special moments of our customers’ life. We make it simple for everyone to enjoy their photos by creating affordable high quality personal products.”

Smartphoto group operates in 14 European countries, working with both consumers and other businesses.

Australia’s Picpress prints prized picture books

Screen Shot 2013-06-02 at 6.54.15 PM

Screen Shot 2013-06-02 at 6.54.15 PM

PMA Director of Australian Activities Peter Rose lets us know Nulab Group’s Picpress won the gold award for photo books at the National Print Awards in Melbourne — as well as a silver award for inkjet printing.

“And to top it off,” the company says, “for the fourth time, Picpress took the Currie Group Award Prize for the most innovative use of imaging in printing.”

 

Business Success: Finding profits through the back door

Business Success Logo

Business Success LogoThis week’s Business Success column was provided by one of my favorite contributors, Tom Shay of Profits Plus. As a fourth-generation retailer, consultant and best-selling author, he really knows his stuff. Here, he provides some simple ways to increase your bottom line — by not spending as much to begin with.

Finding Profits Through the Back Door

The topic for today is increasing profitability. When we ask retailers for input, we will most likely hear two traditional suggestions: increase sales and increase margins. While true, they are two of the hardest ways to increase profits. Let’s take a look at 10 other possible ways to increase the overall profitability of your business.

#1. Examine your employee schedule. After inventory, wages are the largest expense your business has. tom_shay_av_shadowIf you have the data to review your sales history, you should see a pattern by day and month indicating when you need your sales help.

#2. While you are reviewing payroll, ask your workers compensation insurance sales rep to help you review how you have categorized your employees. You may find you have employees in higher-risk categories than necessary.

#3. Advertising. If you consider advertising a necessary expense rather than its being a method of drawing customers, you are probably wasting money.

Your advertising should be calculated as a percentage of monthly or annual sales. Of this figure, you should set aside approximately 10 percent for last-minute opportunities and advertising expenses that are over budget. You will often get a better rate by making an annual commitment rather than simply buying advertising time or space when the sales rep calls on you.

#4. Insurance. You should put your insurance coverage out for bid at least biannually to make sure the price you are paying is in line. As you visit with prospective agents, ask them where you can save money. Many policies allow seasonal fluctuations of up to 25 percent. If this is the case for yours, you can consider calculating your highest inventory level, subtract 25 percent, and buy inventory coverage for this amount. If your business is renting space, make sure you are not buying coverage for something that the landlord owns.

#5. Review your utilities expenses. Your cooling and heating systems have filters which should be checked each month and, if necessary, replaced. These systems should have at least an annual checkup to make sure they are operating at peak efficiency. You should also shop your long-distance service. Check your water usage by making sure all faucets and toilets are functioning properly. In many communities, your sewer disposal rate is tied to water usage, so if you are wasteful with water, you are paying twice.

Check with your garbage disposal company. You may find savings by deciding to recycle the large amounts of cardboard and paper you use.

#6. Are you utilizing your bank? If all you do with a bank is deposit funds and write checks, you should consider doing business where it will cost less. One dealer reported saving over $100 each month by changing banks after he took copies of his recent statements to other banks and asked what their fees would be.

#7. Outside services is a category that is often a catch-all for the miscellaneous expenses of business. However, an annual review of what you are categorizing as outside services is a mandatory step in keeping expenses controlled. You may also find certain tasks you or an employee are doing, such as payroll, could be better or less expensively done by an outside service.

#8. Accounting and legal expenses are usually grouped together. While you hopefully have a minimum amount of legal expense, the accounting service is always suspect. Review what you are getting from your accountant each month and ask other retailers what they are spending for these services. Too often a retailer pays an accountant several hundred dollars each month for a financial statement that he does not fully understand and does not use to make decisions. If the accountant is not helping with this, it may be time to look for a replacement.

#9. As a category, Supplies usually contains all the paper goods used in operating a business. The first place to reexamine supply expenses is the various places you buy forms. Anyone who has ever ordered a printed form has found that the difference in price between 1,000 and 5,000 copies is minimal. The expense-watching business will calculate the number of forms used within a year and order quantities that will not only cut down the frequency of ordering, but also save valuable dollars for the business.

#10. Repairs and maintenance are often hard to control. After all, if something breaks, you must have it fixed. However, many companies offer service contracts, which can work to your advantage. You may be able to negotiate a maintenance contract for your heating, cooling, delivery vehicles, computer system, and other equipment. On the other hand, if a piece of equipment rarely has a problem, you may want to consider canceling a maintenance contract and paying for repairs as necessary.

Cutting expenses is not a cure-all for a business. It takes a joint effort of increased sales, working to improve margins, and cutting expenses to maximize a business. However, as the old adage says, “If you don’t spend it, you don’t have to sell something to cover the expense.”

 

PMA announces call for DIMA 2014 and 2014 PMA@CES speakers

PMA@CES_logo_vertical-300x257

PMA@CES_logo_vertical-300x257We all know how amazingly brilliant you are, so why not share it with the rest of the industry? Here’s your chance… PMA is now accepting applications for 2014 DIMA and PMA@CES 2014 Conference speakers. Proposed topics should fall in one of the following categories: retail strategy, photo publishing, consumer video, camera phone imaging, social media, or professional imaging.

DIMA is the source for education on innovative technologies that have advanced the imaging business. We look forward to hearing from companies who want to introduce DIMA_logotheir imaging innovations to our business, retail, professional photographer, digital output service provider, and media attendees.

PMA has a long history of offering cutting edge education to attendees of its annual convention. With the co-location of PMA and CES in 2014, PMA will be providing its well-recognized education content in a series of sessions planned during the first days of the PMA@CES trade show.

Interested speakers can complete the application form  available at http://pma.informz.net/survistapro/s.asp?id=12284 by June 30, 2013. Questions? Email Jeff Frazine at jfrazine@pmai.org.

$1B: Yahoo acquires Tumblr, updates Flickr

yahoo flickr

But no, it didn’t buy the missing “E” in each site’s name.

Online media company Yahoo! paid approximately $1.1 billion to acquire the popular photo sharing and blogging site Tumblr — and CEO Marissa Mayer says they “promise not to screw it up.”

Tumblr will continue independently, Yahoo adds. David Karp, who founded the site in 2007, will stay on as CEO. “The product roadmap, their team, their wit and irreverence will all remain the same as will their mission to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve,” Yahoo says.

When you already own dozens of sites and brands, why buy another? Tumblr hosts 105 million different blogs, with 900 posts per second, Yahoo says, and its more than 300 million monthly unique visitors and 120,000 signups every day make it “one of the fastest-growing media networks in the world.” And Yahoo plans to accelerate that growth: “The combination of Tumblr+Yahoo! could grow Yahoo’s audience by 50 percent to more than a billion monthly visitors, and could grow traffic by approximately 20 percent.”

yahoo flickr

But lets not forget Yahoo already owns another image-centric site, one it bought only a few years ago. Flickr was once the favored online photo sharing site, but has faced criticism since the $35 million acquisition in 2005.

Not its getting a revamp with higher resolution images, more free storage, and an improved Android app.

First, Flickr says it’s now the only site to provide each person a full terabyte of free storage — enough for more than a half-million photos. [Flickr now stores 8 billion photos.]

Second, it’s easier to share shots with other services.

Third, the site sports a revamped appearance with full-screen shots and streamlined functionality.

And finally: the recently iOS app improved uploads 25 percent, the company says, and it hopes to duplicate that success with the new Android version.

 

Olympus dropping <$200 compact cameras

olympus pen e-p5

When was the last time you bought a no-frills camera? Exactly…

Seeing as how most people now carry a phone with a pretty good camera built in, compact cameras have to significantly up the ante to attract an upgrade purchase — and they can’t do that too well at the low end of the market. What does a $100 camera do that your phone doesn’t — except hurt your wallet less when you lose or break it?

So the general online response to the Wall Street Journal’s report that Olympus will halt production of <$200 models was a resounding lack of surprise.

The elimination of the V series of compacts comes after the company’s camera business posted a loss in the last fiscal year through March, “because demand for compact cameras turned out to be weaker than expected, the company said.” What were they expecting? Well, they did sell 5.1 million cameras last fiscal year, but in light of recent weak sales now look to move only 2.7 million this year.

Olympus says it will concentrate on its well-received mirrorfree interchangeable lens models.

olympus pen e-p5

 

 

 

 

PMA announces continued support of fair tax legislation

PMAlogo_CMYK_small

PMA announces its support of federal legislation mandating online companies to collect PMAlogo_CMYK_smallstate sales taxes. Earlier this month, the  United States Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act, which requires online retailers with annual revenue of more than a million dollars to collect sales tax on transactions across state lines. Foes of the legislation say complying with 50 different tax codes would put an undue burden on online retailers. The bill is now going before the United States House of Representatives.

“Although we oppose more taxes in general, PMA stands in support of legislation to level the playing field for local businesses. Right now, brick-and-mortar retailers must charge sales tax for the same merchandise that people can buy online without paying sales tax. This puts brick-and-mortar retailers at a huge and unfair disadvantage,” said PMA President Allen Showalter. “While PMA also supports its members who do business online, the situation as it exists today is very one-sided. The Marketplace Fairness Act will allow all retailers to operate under the same conditions when it comes to charging sales tax. Provisions in this bill dictate that states have to provide tax software free of charge to online businesses, and update it regularly; thereby mitigating the hardship this legislation will create for online retailers.

“PMA endorses legislation that allows local, brick-and-mortar businesses to compete and thrive, which in turn supports their local communities, and the growth of the imaging industry as a whole,” Showalter added.