In 2009 Telus reportedly paid $28 Million to acquire Black’s Photography - the retailer of photo-related products and photofinishing services founded in 1948 by William Edward and Robert (Bob) Black in Toronto. We soon saw the rather awkward co-branding of “Black’s featuring Telus” and much space being dedicated to cell phones but the store concept remained essentially the same.
Some questioned the wisdom of the purchase of Black’s by Telus and The Source by Bell to expand distribution of cell phones. Blogger Simon Sage wrote “The end result will be that we’ll start seeing Telus phones in Black’s stores, seems like a strange fit to me. I can’t imagine there would be much tie-in with services… What are you going to do, order prints of your mobile photos?”
That’s exactly it.
A new retail format for Black’s just opened on Yonge just up the street from our Toronto office. With a completely new brand identity and design, the space and the staff are welcoming and you know what this store is about. Black’s is still photography, mobile device photography. Think of it as a bricks and mortar cross between an e-tailer of mobile devices and iPhoto print products, with the added benefit of on-site support when your Instagram photos don’t print as you had hoped.
Black’s operates under the Astral Photo name in Québec which Black’s acquired as a way to enter the Québec market - the same Astral that became Astral Media now part of Bell... It’s not known if the new concept will be rolled-out into the Province.
According to PMB 2013 data, 37% of Canadian adults printed photos in the past year but significantly less did so in Québec at 30%. Quebeckers are also less likely to do so in stores than online. While retailers like Walmart, Black’s, London Drugs, Best Buy, Costco and grocery stores like Loblaws are preferred by Canadians in the RoC, Quebeckers tend to visit Caméra Expert, Japan Camera, Jean Coutu, Uniprix, and Future Shop for their photofinishing needs.
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Posted by: Photo Booth Hire London | April 12, 2017 at 11:22 AM