Thursday, May 31, 2007 Photo company mulls expansion
AFTER establishing its presence in the local digital photo business for two decades now, a Cebu-grown digital photo company has plans of putting up additional branches in the Visayas and Mindanao.
They are only looking for available spaces inside malls so they could be accessible to clients.
“I think we covered every major area in Cebu,” said Kelly Uy, Colours Digital Foto (Colours) president and founder.
Colours currently has five branches located in SM City Cebu, Gaisano Mactan, Ayala Center Cebu, Banilad Town Center and on Colon street.
Uy said they also do not have plans of going into franchising, despite several inquiries from interested investors.
Uy said that unlike the food business, managing a digital photo company is “tedious,” thus, more time and energy is required to do it.
He also has heard of a digital photo company eventually closing all its franchise shops, which he feared will also happen to Colours if it would venture into franchising.
In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu, Uy said he prefers situating future branches inside malls where it is most convenient for customers.
He revealed that despite the popularity of digital technology, like cellular phones having built-in cameras, Cebuanos prefer to have their photos taken from instamatic cameras.
“There is still a huge market for that,” he said. Many customers also prefer having digital cameras since the quality of the pictures still “supersedes” that of the camera-cellphones.
Uy also admitted that its printing service is a bit expensive compared to its competitors. But he said their printouts have better quality and lasts for ages, thus, giving customers more value for their money.
Technology
While the company is threatened with the popularity of camera phones, Uy said Colours have adapted to the age of “industry-merging technology” by introducing a technology that allows customers print pictures stored in their cellphones. Pictures on file could be transferred via Bluetooth or infrared.
Having foreseen the growing demand for digital cameras as early as 2000, the company was the first to introduce these cameras in the local market, he said.
Colours is also a retailer of camera brands like Sony, Canon, Kodak, Olympus and Pentax. (MMM)
