It was 2007 and my business was in trouble. For the previous 20 years, Unique Photo had been one of the largest distributors of photographic supplies, including film (35mm, 120/220, Polaroid, Kodak, Fujifilm, etc.), cameras, photo paper, chemistry, and accessories. At one time, we even represented 5 percent of all rolls of film sold in the U.S. Our customers were primarily small retail outlets, such as camera stores, photo labs, tourist shops, pharmacies, and professional photographers. They relied on us for low prices, quick delivery, and stellar customer service.
As we entered the early and mid-2000’s, we were plagued with many seemingly insurmountable attacks on our business:
- Film cameras (and film) were replaced by digital cameras at a much faster pace, which no one had anticipated
- Digital cameras became available everywhere, no longer just at small stores - but at places such as Walmart, Target, and Best Buy
- Product became easily accessible via the Internet, aided by the emergence of the big gorilla -- Amazon
- Lifespan of the digital-camera model decreased, making inventory management extremely difficult
- Margin on film was 20 percent, while on digital product it was closer to 10 percent
- Small stores, and in particular local drug stores, were being bought up by large chains – such as CVS and Walgreens
- Digital imaging led the one-hour photo lab to go out of business because customers were no longer forced to develop and print their pictures
- The number of camera stores decreased significantly, from more than 10,000 to a few thousand...and then to a few hundred
Simply put: all our customers were going out of business, our product was losing margin, and our competition was growing in number, capability, and size. New Jersey was our home turf and we watched much of its camera business go to the biggest electronics store in the world, B&H Photo of New York City. I had to do something or my family’s 60-year-old business would also be done.
My solution was to open the Unique Photo camera superstore. Yes, I opened a store when most other stores had gone under. I wanted to reinvent the camera-store concept and build something unique, no pun intended. The problem was, how was I going to execute this new concept with limited time and budget? We were so far behind the competition; we couldn't outspend Best Buy in advertising dollars or surpass Amazon in technological prowess and presence. Unique was a B2B business, new to the retail business, which meant that consumers had never heard of our brand.
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