As part of a new strategy and retail concept, Polaroid will be unveiling to start ten Fotobar locations in the new year. The company plans to showcase the specifics of their stores at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) with selected locations already scheduled to open the following month that will revolve around the liberation of pictures from consumer devices.
The word “experiential”-relating to or derived from experience-was clearly chosen to offer a one of kind experience. The stores are designed to “Easily liberate their favorite images from the confines of their digital devices and turn them into museum-quality art.” There are plans to open more than a dozen Polaroid Fotobar venues along with a 2000 square feet retail branch in Delray Beach, Fl.
“There are currently around 1.5 billion pictures taken every single day, and that number continues to grow in tandem with the popularity and quality of camera phones,” said Warren Struhl, founder and CEO of Fotobar, LLC. “Unfortunately, even the very best of those pictures rarely ever escape the camera phone with which they were taken to be put on display around our homes and offices. Why? Because turning those pictures into something tangible, creative and permanent is neither easy nor fun. Polaroid Fotobar stores are going to change all of that.”
We learned in 2012 that the power of images resonated with virtually most social networks. The proliferation of Pinterest and Instagram fueled this obsession over pictures. Naturally, all of the efforts are focused on developing ubiquitous tools around the use of pictures.
“Polaroid has always been about much more than just taking pictures,” said Polaroid President and CEO Scott W. Hardy. “Polaroid is about sharing life’s most precious and memorable moments. We have been, and continue to be, about self-expression, creativity and fun. Polaroid Fotobar retail stores represent a perfect modern expression of the values for which we have stood for 75 years. We are very excited about the opening of these stores, and the opportunities they will create for millions of consumers to have classic Polaroid experiences.”
Features of Polaroid experiential stores
- Many questions arise as to how the operations will be carried out. What devices will be accepted? What capacity? What model? What Brand? What format? These are just a handful of common questions that come to mind.
- The store will be equipped with a patent-pending proprietary technology, which will assist with the photo-transfer process. Customers will have the ability to choose photos from their own digital device and transmit them to one of the store’s bar-top workstations, according to the press release.
- To assist with this customer experience, these retail locations will have employee staff known as “Phototenders”. They will be trained photography enthusiasts in charge of carrying out these functions. The Florida location will offer photo classes, private parties and a studio location for portrait photos.
Takeaways from Polaroid retail stores
- Its without a doubt a revolutionary concept and an aggressive move in the world of retail. There are lots of novel ideas and concepts put together to pave the way for a successful venture. Its a reminiscing feeling of an Apple store and how they transformed the customer experience with its popular gadgets (iPhone, iPod and iPad).
- The ideas are somewhat parallel to Tim Cook’s company, but we’re talking about two different things. The success will all depend on if they can fill the void with the services they provide and if the customer is completely satisfied. The company will build future store locations in 2013 in New York, Las Vegas, Boston and more coming.
- What kind of success it will have depends on many factors, but the excitement of a comeback by Polaroid has fans intrigued without a doubt.
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