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new york
CNN Business
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Many drugstores and supermarkets feel like they are from another era. But perhaps the most backward part of these stores is the photo printing equipment.
While most photos don’t exceed the limits of a smartphone, CVS ( CVS ), Walgreens ( WBA ), Walmart ( WMT ), Albertsons and other chains still offer photo prints, greeting cards, books, film processing and other services. .
Who needs to print photos? Well, there is still some customer demand: photo services bring traffic to these retail stores, especially during the holidays, graduations and wedding seasons.
More than 50% of photo prints made this year came from retail stores, totaling $786 million in sales, said David Hauter, a longtime photo industry analyst and founder of consulting and market research firm Rise Above Research.
About 4.2 billion 4″ x 6″ prints will be produced in stores this year, he said.
“People aren’t printing as much as they used to, but there are still people who like to print,” Hauter said.
Retro technology and old gadgets have staying power in part because they allow people to unplug from their fixed ping-pong devices.
Interest in Gen Z and thousands of film cameras has skyrocketed in recent years. Camera sales have reportedly increased on sites such as Etsy ( ETSY ) and eBay ( EBAY ). Disposable cameras have made a comeback with younger consumers, as celebrities like Chris Pine and Gigi Hadid have been spotted driving on demand.
Hauter said many consumers like to order photo prints and products at stores like CVS because they get the items right away with no shipping fees. They are often heading to these drug stores to pick up other things as well.
CVS offers photo services in 7,600 stores. “We continue to see high demand for this service – particularly during gift-giving seasons,” a spokesperson said.
More than 8,000 Walgreens stores offer photo services, said Raghu Vallata, Walgreens’ senior director of digital business strategy and planning. “The holidays tend to be the busiest time for our photography businesses, with December generally seeing the highest foot traffic,” Valata said.
Although drugstores and other retailers put their photo services in stores, it’s not the answer for every business: Costco ( COST ) and Target ( TGT ) have offered them in recent years. Costco ( COST ) closed photo centers at all of its nearly 800 stores last year, telling customers that “the continued decline in print will no longer require on-site photo printing” and that “digital technologies are allowing consumers to do more with their photos.”
But in contrast to Walmart, about 3,700 stores have Fujifilm photo kiosks — typically located in the electronics section of the store and often used.
“It’s a service that customers use regularly, including people who don’t have access to a computer to order prints online,” a Walmart spokesperson said. We expect healthy business throughout the year.
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