Telus buys Black's Photo

Canadian cell phone giant Telus aquires Canadian photo retailer Black's. It's a very odd marriage.

I worked for Black's during my highschool and university days, it was great experience for later things in life. I worked in a number of areas; from the photo lab, retail assitant manager, then in the head office MIS department. So I had a pretty good idea of how the company ran and even met some of the original Black's familiy when they still ran it.

I was fortunate to work in a number of flagship stores: Yonge & St. Clair (Original Store), TD Center (flagship concept location), Toronto Eaton Center, Yonge and Bloor to name a few. Black's was also famous worldwide, celebrities like Annie Lennox and Elton John would stop by. Alot of times you'd develop a friendly relationship to repeat customers, some you'd see a couple times a week.

In it's heyday the iconic commercials on TV and radio played the catchy tune, "Black's is photography". Comedian Martin Short was used in a number of TV spots, usually around Christmas time. I can't recall the last time I heard or saw a Black's commerical.

And who could forget the vinyl cooler bags. The Yellow or Silver bags given out during the summer promotions could be seen around the world by Canadians travelling abroad.

Black's was a pioneer in developing infrastructure to recycle waste water and chemistry from the photofinishing process, known as System Crystal. They were thinking green before Al Gore knew what carbon was. But Black's was eventually sold off to a number of companies like Scott's Hospitality (KFC) and later Fuji. It's changed hands at least a few more times.

In terms of profitability highest margins came from photofinishing and accessories, e.g. frames and camera accessories. Camera's and camcorders themselves were not money makers. In fact I recall discounting some in order to keep the customer from going elsewhere.

The digital age has all but decimated the traditional photo retailer. Camera's can be bought like calculators as Best Buy and Staples. You no longer need the expertise of someone behind the counter who happens to also be a photo-enthusiast. People don't print off 24 or 36 shots anymore, they pick and choose from the comfort of their own home. It's all quite sad actually but that's technology for you.

So when Telus said today that there was a synergy to be had from combining cell phone, video and media; I'm not sure who sold the M&A guy at Telus the Koolaid but it really doesn't make any sense any way you look at it. In reality all Telus bought was $25million bucks of retail space, most likely playing catchup to Bell buying The Source a few months back. I can't foresee alot of people buying a cell phone at a camera store.

Thanks again to capitalism for adding more gray to an already bland retail landscape.