USA Today reports:
Imagine a camera store that instead of just selling cameras, accessories, film processing and prints also staged birthday parties and let camera-phone owners view and print their phone shots in the store.
"Retailers have to redefine what a camera store is," says analyst Ron Glaz at technology research firm IDC. "If they continue to just focus on prints, they won't be around in two years."
With camera sales declining, retailers can no longer just focus on men by selling hardware, says Glenn Omura, who teaches marketing at Michigan State University. He helped design the concept store for the PMAI.
"Why not throw a birthday party at the store and have the kids design photo magnets for the refrigerator?" he says. "The idea is to connect with moms and show them how to do more than just prints."
Customers want to make scrapbooks, posters, big prints and photo albums, and retailers need to do a better job of showing them how, Omura says.
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