It has been lambasted in popular culture and is often held up as a prime example of 90s fashion gone awry, but as it nears its 40th anniversary, retailer Glamour Shots is reinventing itself with a high-tech, low-footprint approach.
The company, which currently boasts 46 1,000-sq.ft. portrait studios, recently opened its first mall kiosk in Oklahoma City. As with the full-sized studios, patrons — mostly women, marketing director Alison Counts noted — come in for a full hair and makeup job, followed by a portrait session. But now, instead of posing in front of cardboard photo backdrops, they pose in front of a green screen, opening up a whole world of digital possibilities. A typical Glamour Shots store would have six backgrounds on hand, but in the new digital format, hundreds are possible.
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"Without the need for all of those backgrounds, all of a sudden our space requirements were reduced," said Counts. The new kiosk design takes up a mere 250 sq. ft., and is lined with digital signs that run like a ribbon all the way around the unit's periphery. "We also wanted to go in and have a completely new design, to convey that there is something new and different about our concept, so people know that they're getting something different than a typical Glamour Shots studio."
Once photography is complete, the customer works with an associate to select backgrounds and place an order. Counts said the kiosk optimally requires three associates but can work with just two, since many of the tasks can be done by customers on their own. The whole process for the customer takes about two hours, she says.
Glamour Shots owns two company stores, with the rest operated by franchisees. Franchise fees are way down, Counts added, noting the plummeting costs of equipment — cameras that used to cost $20,000 a piece are now down to $4,000, for instance.
Costs are also lower given the much smaller size of the store, and that's got the company focused on this format going forward.
"It's not that we necessarily don't want to put in traditional studios, we just don't need that kind of space to operate anymore," she said. "This concept is what we're going to be pushing to potential franchisees."
PHOTO GALLERY: Step inside the new Glamour Shots store design
Paul Flanigan, retail consultant and former chief of customer experience for Best Buy, thinks the concept could be a big hit.
"I am not aware of any free-standing mall store or kiosk that has the potential to attract attention like this does," he said, noting the digital screens that cry out to potential patrons in all directions. "By creating an almost 360-degree screen, this could really have impact with the right content." He does think those screens need to be higher, though, since at their current height they impact the immediate neighborhood but don't work as navigational beacons for shoppers further down the concourse.
Jason Goldberg, vice president of strategy and customer experience for CrossView, thinks the time could be right for a portrait studio renaissance, thanks to the popularity of social media. (After all, everybody wants their Facebook profile picture to be as cute as possible.)
But he wonders what a customer's initial reaction is going to be upon seeing the green screen.
"To many consumers, the green screen will immediately invoke the impression of some sort of video-based service rather than a high-quality portrait. So it will be imperative that the kiosks are wrapped in clear visual storytelling to let consumers know what services are offered."
Counts confirmed that the company is testing video products and services for possible future deployment.
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