Harmon’s Depends on Rimage Disc Publishing for Differentiation and Expanded Revenue Opportunities

“It’s pretty incredible. The Rimage system’s uptime is almost unbelievable. »

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Based in Gainesville, Fla., Photos Ar’ Nice, Inc. is comprised of a professional photo lab and three photo retail outlets selling camera equipment and photographic accessories. To keep up with the ever changing photo business and remain competitive with large retailers, Photos Ar’ Nice focuses on providing its customers quality products and unique photo processing services. For the past three years, the retailer has used a Rimage disc publishing system to expand its service offering and revenue streams — leveraging the system’s ability to automatically produce professional CDs with customized digital content and labels for customers.

“It’s pretty incredible. The Rimage system’s uptime is almost unbelievable.’’
Brian Ainsworth, President, Photos Ar’ Nice

The Challenge

In his more than five decades of photo industry experience, Brian Ainsworth — president of the Photos Ar’ Nice, Inc.— has seen some significant changes. Shifts in technology have forced Ainsworth and other photo retailers to rapidly adjust to customer expectations and create new opportunities for revenue. For example, one of the retailer’s most profitable items used to be slide film.“We used to do 96 rolls of slides, six days a week,” said Ainsworth. “With the emergence of digital photography, we are now down to forty rolls, and have lost a good chunk of that revenue.” Additionally, multiple big box retailers have become one-stop-shops for cheap and easy photo developing, making the need for Photos Ar’ Nice to differentiate itself even more critical.

The Solution

Today, HarCustomers either work with a store associate or use an in-store kiosk to place orders, including designing custom disc labels and case covers. The orders are quickly processed and customers can pick up their photographs on CD the same day. Also, Photos Ar’ Nice, Inc. has added more than six new services to its offering with disc publishing — from working with the University of Florida to create custom CDs for curriculum to helping local architects make their presentation and marketing material leave-behinds look more professional. According to Ainsworth, the Rimage system paid for itself within five months of purchasing it.

The Results

Delivering Every Day Dependability

Each of Photos Ar’ Nice’s retail locations is open six days a  week, so it required a system that could run nearly continuously with little or no downtime. Ainsworth selected the Rimage system because it is not something employees need to constantly monitor. It combines the best in robotics, software and print technologies for a networked, self sustaining solution Photo’s Ar’ Nice now depends on.“It runs all the time we are open and operates without much intervention from my team. It’s as simple as setting it up and letting it run. We’ve always thought it was one of the most valuable pieces of equipment in our lab.”

Creating Quality, Professional Products

With high-end recording and full color direct-to-disc printing capabilities, the Rimage system enables Photos Ar’ Nice to produce professional CDs that exceed its customers’ quality expectations — from every day consumers to professional photographers.“The Rimage system has allowed us to create the best looking CD in town. You’re either at Wal-Mart prices or you are trying to wow the customer. Rimage helps us wow the customer.”

Expanding the Market

Photos Ar’ Nice is creating new services and growing its business with disc publishing. One new prospect is an antique store that wants to photograph its antiques, create individualized CDs targeted at specific buyers and distribute the discs around the world. Photos Ar’ Nice thinks there is strong potential for this market.“The opportunities disc publishing provides our business are pretty much endless. The more discs we produce, the more profits we generate.”

“I love to hear the CD drop into the system’s output bin. That’s money for us.’’
Brian Ainsworth, President, Photos Ar’ Nice