Q&A with new DIMA President Phil Gresham

At the 2010 DIMA Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif., in February, Phil Gresham, owner of Fotofast in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, was elected president. Here, he tells DIMA members about his history, his business, and his advice to members.  

Digital Imaging Digest: Tell us about your history in this industry and how you came to open your store.  

Gresham: I was fortunate to get full training as a photographer during my Air Force career in New Zealand. Later, I worked as a shift manager with a large wholesale photofinisher here in Australia. For almost 10 years, I worked for Agfa in the pro and government markets, becoming involved in the late 1980s with the first 1-hour photo labs. I had a change of career in the mid '80s when, for 5 years, I took over a group of 13 photo stores that grew to 33, including labs and specialty camera stores. The group was bought by Kodak, which was a sign for me to move on. In 1990, we purchased a struggling 1-hour lab, which was in a great location, where we still are today. We have had 3 size increases during the past 20 years.

Digital Imaging Digest: What does your store look like, how do you define your market, and what are your best selling products and services?

Gresham: We are a single location retail lab with probably the largest ranges of services and products in the country. We have only 100 square meters -- or 1,000 square feet -- and are located in a downtown shopping mall that is one of the busiest in the country.
Of course, we can't do everything in that space. We also have almost an extra 1,000 square feet of nonretail space located down in the dungeons of the mall. This area we use for our display business, which is ably run by our son Will, who has been instrumental in growing our new services and products, especially during the past 3 years. Down in the dungeon, we operate a wide-format output and finishing business, specializing in retail signage. Our customers include shopping centers, local performing art centers, semi-government marketing organizations, and fellow retailers. It's also where we do our photo gifting production, which has been an excellent growth category in the past 3 years.

As far as our best-selling retail products, we still do a lot of printing. We're running 17 photo kiosks in our small store, with 4 kiosks devoted just for photo gift ordering. We also carry wide ranges of photo accessories, and many of our customers for these accessories are those who have purchased cameras from chain stores that sell boxes, but many times they forget those profitable add-ons. We are happy to provide a solution and gain a new customer in the process.

Photo gifting is mainly seasonal, but it continues to grow as a year-round product. We offer some 200 products, both online and in-store, with more than 1,200 templates online; and they are increasing weekly, if not daily.This is a huge growth area for us. Being downtown, passport and visa photos are huge for us. We have a large international student population, so we offer passport photos for any country you can name.

Like many labs, we do a lot of scanning of film and photos; and it is a constant source of income for us. We often use this area for our promotions. We used to carry large ranges of point-and-shoot digital cameras; but for the foreseeable future, we're getting out of digital cameras. The digital camera range has been replaced, both in shelf space and in sales volume, with our Fantastic Plastic camera range. These are mainly 35mm and 120 film cameras. I know many people don't quite get this category, but this is a huge growth area for us. Our core Fantastic Plastic customers are aged 15 to late 30s. Many of the younger ones had never entered a camera store before they came in to purchase one of these cameras from us. The best thing about it is they must print to view their photos; consequently, our film processing is increasing.

Digital Imaging Digest: What's your competition like, and how are you differentiating your business?

Gresham: Many of our 1-hour stand-alone competitors have closed down, but these have been replaced by the big box stores with a business model of selling everything at the lowest price. To compete, we have always tried to be ahead of the market with new products and services. Photo gifting, photo books, and poster business are all done in-store -- made in hours, not weeks. This is the big difference between the big chain stores and us, along with the ability to offer and deliver truly exceptional customer service.

We are moving into new wide-format printing technologies using latex printers, as well as retail publishing systems that will enable us to add so many new, profitable, and unique product lines in the near future. We don't belong to a local marketing or buying group; there really isn't one for our business. They're more about selling hardware. A few years ago, we became the first Australian member of the U.S.-based Independent Photo Imagers group. This has been a huge asset in our ability to understand and implement change.  

Digital Imaging Digest: We're coming off a year that has been difficult for many industry members. Hopefully, things are starting to get better. What advice can you offer DIMA members for the coming year?

Gresham: It has really probably been the last 3 years or 4 years that have been difficult for us here; but once again, we keep adapting and making steady, positive changes, along with growing our business online. It's interesting that very few small photo businesses I witnessed closing in the last few years had great websites. Was this a coincidence? I don't believe so. I believe you have to build your customer database and use it to keep getting out your message on a regular basis. We also believe you have to become the 1-hour [alternative to] Snapfish or Shutterfly in your community. Especially with profitable gifting products, you don't need to be using a price-based model to compete when you are offering a fast and personal service. Order online, collect at store is where we want to be. I also believe you need to become even more involved with your local community, and be seen as a good corporate citizen.

Digital Imaging Digest: What would you like to accomplish during your term as DIMA president?

Gresham: Just as we need to remain relevant to our customers, we need to remain relevant to DIMA and PMA members, and help build their businesses. PMA is changing, just like everything else. Just look at the marketing programs with PMA+. I would implore more members to become involved with PMA, especially at a local level. Its greatest asset is providing networking opportunities and the ability to share common ideas.  

More on the DIMAcast
Hear more of this interview with DIMA president Phil Gresham -- including his goals for the 2011 DIMA Conference in Las Vegas, Nev., next January -- now on the DIMAcast.

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