Ritz Interactive report fourth-quarter revenue up 22 percent
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Ritz Interactive Inc., Irvine, Calif., the e-commerce network that includes RitzCamera.com, WolfCamera.com, BoatersWorld.com, and other online-shopping sites, reported 22 percent growth in merchandise revenue for the fourth quarter, which followed a 28 percent increase for the third quarter of 2007. Annual merchandise revenue grew 12 percent, from $99 million in 2006 to $111 million in 2007.
Ritz Interactive President and CEO Fred H. Lerner credits a part of the sales increase to a holiday promotion that offered 10 percent off when paying with PayPal for helping to boost holiday sales almost 20 percent.
“The promotion was not continuous, so we were able to track it and see patterns, and there was considerable evidence that when we were running the PayPal promotion we got a substantial lift,” says Lerner. “Additionally, our recent revenue growth is from customers upgrading their entry-level point-and-shoot digital cameras to the new, more sophisticated digital single lens reflex cameras.”
Lerner continued: “We also benefited from the introduction of three hot new professional cameras this season by Nikon and Canon and from our continued expansion into the consumer electronics, home office and corporate business.”
VistaQuest to market AgfaPhoto brand to North America
AgfaPhoto digital cameras and digital video products will be added to the Woodland Hills, Calif.-based VistaQuest product line presented at PMA 08 in Las Vegas, Nev. The distribution contract between VistaQuest and AgfaPhoto’s digital still and video manufacturer and license holder, plawa-feinwerktechnik GmbH & Co. KG of Germany, permits distribution in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
VistaQuest markets its own brand of digital and video products, specializing in mass market, photo specialty retailers, electronic superstores and the rapidly growing Internet sales. The 5-in-1 AgfaPhoto DV-5000G digital video camera retails for $199 and combines digital movie recording, a digital camera, Webcam, MP3 player, and a game console with more than 20 games in one single device. An 8-megapixel digital camera, AgfaPhoto DC-8330i, introduced at $129, boasts a 3x optical zoom, a 3-inch display, Face Tracking, picture stabilization, and other features.
Together with VistaQuest, plawa has developed a service and support concept for the American market. Resellers as well as the buying public can find more information on the specially designated website, www.plawausa.com. The contracted service partner for the end user is the Summit Technologies Group, a partner of Flextronics, FlexConsumer Digital. End users will be able to find assistance on a new toll-free support number to be published on the website.
White House Custom Colour Inc. acquires Lickity Pixel
White House Custom Colour Inc. (WHCC), Eagan, Minn., recently completed its acquisition of Lickity Pixel, developers of the online proofing solution PickPic. Under terms of the agreement, Lickity Pixel will remain an autonomous subsidiary of WHCC co-managed by Rebecca and Troy Widner, who in 2008 will relocate to Minnesota to work from WHCC’s corporate headquarters.
White House Custom Colour is a provider of photographic and press printed products for the professional photography industry. Founded in the late 1970s, WHCC converted to 100 percent digital production in 2002.
Founded by Troy Widner, Lickity Pixel is develops solutions for digital artists. The company flagship offering, PickPic, allows photographers to host their own online proofing galleries and shopping experiences.
American Greetings completes tender offer for PhotoWorks Inc.
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American Greetings Corp., Cleveland, Ohio, completed its tender offer, through a wholly owned subsidiary, to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Seattle, Wash.-based PhotoWorks Inc. for 59.5 cents per share or approximately $26.5 million.
The initial offering period for the tender offer ended at 5:00 p.m. ET on Jan. 14. At the close of the tender offer period approximately 40.8 million shares of PhotoWorks common stock (including approximately 10 million shares tendered under guaranteed delivery procedures) had been validly tendered and not withdrawn, representing about 97 percent of the outstanding shares of PhotoWorks common stock. All shares that were validly tendered and not withdrawn have been accepted for purchase.
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American Greetings intends to acquire all of the remaining PhotoWorks common stock by means of a merger under Washington law at the same price per share paid in the tender offer. Upon completion of the merger, the surviving entity will become an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of American Greetings.
American Greetings Corp. is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of social expression products. Along with greeting cards, its product lines include gift wrap, party goods, stationery, calendars, ornaments, and electronic greetings.
ZINK Imaging announces new partnerships
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ZINK Imaging , Waltham, Mass., makers of ZINK Zero Ink digital printing technology, announced the first of an expanding list of new partnerships. ZINK technology provides the ZINK Imaging partner network with a technology platform to create a new generation of printing products that are small, simple, mobile, eco-friendly, and affordable.
In these partnerships, ZINK Imaging is working hand-in-hand with its product development partners on the creation of ZINK-enabled print engines and ZINK-enabled devices. In addition, ZINK Imaging is collaborating with companies that will bring ZINK-enabled products to market under their brand names. The collaboration encompasses both product management and marketing of new lines of printing products that leverage ZINK Imaging’s inkless printing technology.
The first ZINK-enabled product will be available in 2008. The partners are: Alps Electric Co. Ltd.; Foxconn Technology Group; Polaroid Corp.; and TOMY Co. Ltd.
Eye-Fi in deals with Microsoft, Lexar for wireless image uploads
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Eye-Fi Inc., Mountain View, Calif., which makes a wireless memory card for digital cameras, formed a digital image upload partnership with Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Live service, reports The Associated Press. Eye-Fi said that card users are now able to wirelessly upload pictures to Microsoft’s Windows Live and Windows Live Photo Gallery.
Eye-Fi added that users will be able to upload images to Costco Wholesale Corp.’s Photo Center at that time, as well. With the new partnerships, Eye-Fi users will be able to upload photos to 20 different places online.
Eye-Fi also said Tuesday that it will begin selling its memory card through more retailers, including Costco, PC Mall, and Mac Mall.
Separately, Eye-Fi announced an agreement with Lexar Media under which Lexar will unveil a memory card that uses the Eye-Fi wireless technology, reports the AP. Lexar is a subsidiary of chip maker Micron Technology Inc.
International Photographic Council names Lifetouch’s Paul Harmel to its Hall of Fame
The International Photographic Council (IPC), New York., N.Y., a non-governmental organization of the United Nations, named Paul Harmel, chairman and CEO of Lifetouch Inc., as the recipient of its annual Hall of Fame award for 2008. The award honors legendary contributors to the photographic industry.
The presentation is scheduled to take place at the IPC 2008 Annual New Year’s Luncheon on Feb. 21, at 11:30 a.m., in the Delegate’s Dining Room of the United Nations in New York City. Harmel will be inducted into the IPC Hall of Fame by David M. Ritz, chairman and CEO of Ritz Camera Centers. The keynote speaker for the luncheon will be Ted Fox, executive director of PMA.
For information or reservations, contact Priscilla Chu, Cygnus Business Media, at (631) 963-6341or priscilla.chu@cygnuspub.com. Seats are limited and a valid photo ID is required for admittance to the U.N. luncheon.
IPC is a multinational non-governmental organization of the United Nations, composed of representatives from every major sector of the photographic industry. Founded in 1974, it is dedicated to increasing worldwide recognition of photography as a universal means of communication through the adoption of a motto, “Peace through understanding, Understanding through Photography, the Universal Language.”
Matsushita Electric to change name to Panasonic Corp.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., Osaka, Japan, best known for its Panasonic brand, announced the company will change its company name to Panasonic Corp. effective Oct. 1, 2008. The company will also unify its corporate brands to the Panasonic brand across the world. The change, approved at the company’s extraordinary board meeting, will be submitted for and subject to approval at its ordinary general meeting of shareholders to be held in late June this year.
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Upon a company name change, the company will undertake its brand name change from the National brand, which is used for home appliances and housing equipment in Japan, to the Panasonic brand by the end of fiscal 2010, ending March 31, 2010. Subsequently, the National brand will be abandoned and the corporate brands in Japan will be unified to the Panasonic brand.
The company has been using a company name Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. since 1935, following its earlier names Matsushita Electric Manufacturing Works since 1929 and Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works since 1918 when it was first established. While the company was using National and Panasonic brand names over the period, it decided in 2003 to unify a global brand into Panasonic with a brand slogan “Panasonic ideas for life.”
The new Panasonic Corp. and its group of companies worldwide will continue to run its business based on its founder Konosuke Matsushita’s business philosophy known as: “A company is a public entity,” “Customer-comes-first principle,” and “Start fresh everyday.” The company says its name change and brand unification is a bold step forward to make the company a truly global corporation.
Additionally, President Fumio Ohtsubo outlined the directions and challenges for the second year of the GP3 mid-term management plan to company employees. The company is currently operating its business under the GP3 mid-term management plan, which sets a direction toward making “Global Excellence” of its corporate performance with three pillars, namely “Global Progress,” “Global Profit,” and “Global Panasonic.”
The GP3 plan sets out the management goals to be achieved by the end of fiscal year 2010, including ¥10 trillion sales, ROE of 10 percent, and reduction of CO2 emissions by more than 300,000 tons compared with fiscal 2007 at its manufacturing operations worldwide. For fiscal year 2009 ending March 31, 2009, Matsushita aims to achieve sales growth of more than 5 percent, ROE of more than 8 percent, and reduction of CO 2 emissions by 100,000 tons or more.
Also in the discussed management policy, Matsushita named some strategic businesses areas, including digital cameras and HD camcorders in its Digital AV business. While further differentiating products in the compact digital camera category, Matsushita says it plans to launch the world’s smallest and the lightest SLR models that can deliver superior quality images. Matsushita also says it will strengthen the line-up of SD Memory Card camcorders by introducing ultra-small models.
In memoriam: Barbara Olson
Barbara Olson passed away on Jan. 7 of cancer, which she had battled for 6 years. Olson was born on Sept. 30, 1942. Although she was not active in husband Ken Olson’s business, professional color lab Olson Photo Associates Inc. of Anaheim, Calif., she attended many photographic related functions with Ken throughout the years.
Barbara and Ken were introduced in 1966 by Ken’s secretary, and were married the following year. Ken was president of the Association of Professional Color Imagers (now the Association of Imaging Executives) in 1985, and he was a member since the beginning of APCI, a PMA member association. Barbara enjoyed with Ken many activities and dinners with other PMA members, and was personal friends with previous PMA Director Roy Pung.
Barbara and Ken were also the founders of the Maserati Owners Club and enjoyed water skiing and boating. Barbara piloted their personal airplane and had competed in several air races. She also enjoyed relaxing at their cattle ranch in Northern California.
Barbara is survived by her husband Ken; daughters Karen Ainsworth of Orange, Calif., and Sherri Ostley of Bakersfield, Calif.; and her mother Irma Braumiller, of California Hot Springs, Calif.; and six grandchildren.
There is no formal burial service, except for a gathering of close friends and relatives at the Olson residence in Southern California. Remains will be buried on the Olson ranch in Northern California. Any remembrance donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.
People on the move
· Lexmark International Inc., Lexington, Ky., appointed Ronaldo Foresti vice president for Asia Pacific and Latin America. Foresti, who has more than 29 years of experience in the technology sector, joined Lexmark in 2003 as vice president and general manager for Latin America. In his new assignment, he will be responsible for the company’s sales and marketing initiatives in Asia Pacific and Latin America. Foresti succeeds David Goodnight, who retired from the company.
· Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Bentonville, Ark., announced the appointment of Vicente Trius as executive vice president, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Asia, International. In this role, Trius will lead Wal-Mart’s retail operations in Asia. Trius joined Wal-Mart in 1996 as Vice President, Operations in the International Division. In 1997, he was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer, Wal-Mart Brazil. Succeeding Trius will be Hector Nunez who will assume the position of president and CEO of Wal-Mart Brazil effective Feb. 1.
· HP Co., Palo Alto, Calif., appointed Neal Woods senior vice president of Worldwide Operations for the company’s Imaging and Printing Group (IPG), effective Jan. 22. Woods will be based in San Diego, Calif., and will have responsibility for driving IPG’s global manufacturing, supply chain operations, worldwide planning and quality functions. He also will lead HP’s Consumer Support, Global Logistics, Environmental and Strategic Supply organizations. Woods replaces Mike Fawkes, who is retiring from HP after 29 years of service.
· ColorCentric Corp., Rochester, N.Y., appointed Frank D. Steenburgh chief marketing officer of the company. Steenburgh brings more than 25 years of experience in the digital printing industry to ColorCentric. Steenburgh retired from Xerox at the end of 2005, where he was senior vice president, Business Growth. Steenburgh was appointed to that position in July 2003. He was appointed a corporate officer of Xerox in May of 1998. Prior to that, Steenburgh was senior vice president and general manager for Xerox’s $2 billion production color business. Steenburgh first joined Xerox in 1967, and held a variety of senior management positions throughout his career there.
· Target Corp., Minneapolis, Minn., recently announced the retirement of longtime Chief Executive Robert J. Ulrich, reports The Wall Street Journal. The move is part of a planned succession. Target has a mandatory retirement age of 65, unless waived by the board. Ulrich will turn 65 in April. He is chairman of the company and will remain in that post until January 2009. Company President Gregg W. Steinhafel, who joined the Target board last year, will take the place of Ulrich. Steinhafel will become CEO in a time when Target’s sales have slowed considerably and its stock price has slid as well. Target’s sales at stores open at least one year have come in below initial expectations.
· PTS Consulting & Service Group Inc., Reading, Pa., the exclusive U.S. distributor for the Durst Jota Photo Album Production System, named Jack Cutler creative advisor for the company. Cutler is an award-winning and internationally published beauty/fashion photographer, and also the owner of DCC Photo in Reading, Pa. Cutler will be on hand in the PTS booth to talk about the Jota Photo Album Production System at PMA 08. PTS Consulting & Service Group Inc. is a leader is imaging solutions focusing on digital output products, service, and technology. The company says it believes in helping clients achieve their goals through creativity and maintaining a competitive edge.
Industry notes
· If you just can’t wait till DIMA 2008, today’s DIMAcast will give you a little taste of all the good things to come. Digital Imaging Digest Editor Jennifer Kruger interviews DIMA 2008 keynote speaker B. Joseph Pine, co-author of the new book, “Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want.” Pine explains why “real vs. fake” matters to customers, and why it should therefore also matter — a lot — to businesses.
· HP Co., Palo Alto, Calif., launched a contest that will award one small business in the United States with an opportunity to work with professional graphic designers to build their brand. The “What do you have to say?” small business contest aims to help U.S. small businesses with their branding challenges. The winner will receive a Logoworks by HP Start Up Package to help refresh or create their brand image as well as an HP Color LaserJet CP3505dn printer and a comprehensive supplies package. Additionally, two finalists will receive in-house printing packages to help affordably produce professional-quality marketing materials in house. The contest runs now through Feb. 28 and is open to small businesses with 99 employees or less located in the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. The grand prize winner’s and finalists’ entries will be posted online following the close of the contest.
· Lucky Film Co. Ltd., Beijing, China, China’s largest photographic film company, in which Eastman Kodak Co. has a 13 percent stake, said its shares will be suspended from trading from pending an announcement related to state share reform plans, reports TradingMarkets.com. In a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the company said that its parent Lucky Film Group has completed the reform plans and intends to submit them for review by regulatory agencies, says the article. Lucky Film Group previously agreed to sell another 7 percent stake to Kodak. After the deal, Kodak will sell its entire holding in Lucky Film to Guangzhou Chengxin Venture Capital Ltd. Guangzhou Chengxin will take the place of Kodak in the state share reforms, says the article.
· Canon U.S.A. Inc., Lake Success, N.Y., announced an initiative to combine the company’s latest environmentally-conscious PIXMA, SELPHY, and imageCLASS printer products and solutions under one corporate brand name: Generation Green. As part of its Generation Green campaign, Canon has also announced the availability of NatureStone product packaging in select ink packs. NatureStone uses biodegradable limestone packaging, which reduces the need for paper and other raw materials, resulting in a 45 percent reduction in natural energy, 65 percent reduction in petroleum-based plastics, and 50 percent reduction in emissions that impact global warming. Generation Green is divided into three product classification categories: Eco-Conscious, Eco-Standards and Eco-Friendly.
· LifePics, Boulder, Colo., reported a dramatic increase in online-to-retail order volume for dealers across the LifePics network during the 2007 holiday season. Transactions for templates and gifts grew between 200 percent and 300 percent from 2006, says the company. In addition, LifePics recently enabled many dealers to complete photo book and calendar orders on-site in as little as one hour, which resulted in a 35 times escalation in photo book and calendar orders. In addition to the strong photo book and calendar order growth, photo gift orders rose 300 percent. LifePics also offers a broad selection of templates, including greeting cards, scrapbook pages, magazine covers, gift tags, sports designs, and much more, produced by Aperion and PhotoTidings. Because of the large selection and the new LifePics template engine, template orders grew 200 percent from last year.
· Lucidiom Inc., Vienna, Va., announced consumers made 80,000 one-hour photo books on the EQ-9800 during November and December 2007 through Lucidiom’s nationwide network of photofinishing retailers. Lucidiom’s EQ offers software to create book pages, along with the printer, paper and book-binding equipment to create one-hour photo books, as well as other gifts and cards like bound calendars, flip books, folded cards, custom envelopes, scrapbook pages, DVDs, posters, and bordered prints.
· The Lensbaby 3G, a medium format version selective focus lens from Lensbabies LLC, Portland, Ore, has received the 2008 Hot One Award from Professional Photographer magazine in the medium format lens category. The Lensbaby 3G expands the Lensbaby product capabilities for the first time into the medium format realm of photography. Available for Mamiya 645 and Pentax 67 camera bodies, the Lensbaby 3G medium format lens allows photographers to lock the Lensbaby in a desired bent position simply by pressing a button. Then, using its traditional barrel focus mechanism, photographers can do fine focusing and precisely place the sweet spot of sharp focus before pressing the shutter release.
· Gamut Control LLC, Irving, Texas, a fine-art publisher, printer, and marketing company, and Global Fine Art Registry LLC, Phoenix, Ariz.-based online provider of secure art and collectibles identification and registration services, partnered to provide standards of quality and authenticity to the field of limited edition fine art reproduction and the multiples market. The new alliance hopes to attract the top artists and limited edition fine-art reproduction publishers and printers who value the high-quality image capture and reproduction. Gamut Control will export their proprietary printing and management process complete with materials and equipment to publishers. Fine Art Registry will use its tagging and registration system to prevent abuses of limited editions and prevent forgery and fakes. Publishers will be able to concentrate on the task at hand of recruiting talented artists and marketing their work without the worries associated with quality, authenticity, and security as these will have been taken care of by Gamut Control and Fine Art Registry. Print quality will be overseen and maintained by Gamut Control. Integrity of the limited editions will be maintained and assured by Fine Art Registry.
· Fujifilm U.S.A. Inc., Valhalla, N.Y., announced its sponsorship of the first annual Rainforest Alliance “Picture Sustainability Photo Contest” to raise awareness around issues of sustainability and conservation. The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit conservation organization based in New York, N.Y. U.S. residents are invited to submit photos in the categories of: W ildlife on farms, forests, or other natural habitats; Landscapes; Eco-tourism in Latin America; Macro shots; and Conservation in action. To qualify, photos must be submitted to www.raphotocontest.org by March 15, and winners will be announced on www.rainforest-alliance.org on April 18. One grand-prize winner and a guest will receive a 7-day trip to the Galapagos Islands, including airfare, 4 nights on a cruise ship, and 2 nights in Guayaquil. Additionally, in May the winner will be flown to New York, N.Y., to attend the Rainforest Alliance annual gala as a guest of Fujifilm, and receive a Fujifilm FinePix SLR-style digital camera that will be introduced at PMA 08. Round-trip airfare will be provided for two from any major city in the United States to New York City. Five first prize winners, one from each category, will receive the same Fujifilm FinePix digital camera as well as a book of photographs by wildlife and nature photographer, Art Wolfe. In addition, up to seven exceptional photos will be awarded honorable mentions and will receive a book of photographs by Wolfe. The grand prize and first prize winners’ photos will be framed and auctioned off at the Rainforest Alliance gala in May with proceeds directly benefiting the organization. All winners will also receive an honorary year membership to the Rainforest Alliance.
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