“With this workshop, our goal was to educate our customers and prospective customers on the business of digital printing in the photo specialty printing market,” said David Murray, national sales manager, Photo Specialty Printing, Imaging Division, Fujifilm U.S.A., Inc. “We feel that the best way to tell the story is to show what products the equipment can produce, how to produce those products, and then how to market and sell those products to existing and new customers.”

The seminar was punctuated with the theme of the Five “Ps of Success” as they relate to digital printing: Positioning (creating a perception or desired image of your products and services in the minds of your customers); Products (Xerox DocuColor 242 and Xerox Phaser 7760, paper and specialty media, binding equipment); Pricing (how to price your digital printing products and services in today’s market); Promotion (how to promote your new products and services); and Partnerships (what companies can you work with to make your new business opportunity successful).

"This meeting was really helpful for me as an independent photo specialty business owner,” said Barbara Tucker of Andrew’s Cameras in Virginia, MN. "I learned a lot from Fujifilm about not only how to make these new specialty products, but also about promoting them to my customers. I was most impressed by actually seeing how the products are made, and how easily I can apply what I've learned to grow my business."

The workshop also covered the topic of Photo Celebrations Merchandising, and the meeting concluded with all participants receiving a chocolate bar that was wrapped with a group photo of the attendees taken the day before.

For more information, please visit: www.fujifilmusa.com.

“Ritz Camera has always been focused on providing high quality photos with personalized service to our customers,” said Rich Tranchida, executive vice president, Ritz Camera Centers. “The Frontier Dry Minilab 400 produces prints with rich color tones and image stability that our customers expect, while providing us a flexible and scalable solution to meet our changing store needs.”

The Frontier Dry Minilab 400 is the latest Frontier inkjet printing system that delivers Frontier quality prints with the combination of Fujifilm’s High Quality Dry Photo Paper, inks and Fujifilm’s Image IntelligenceTM technology.

“Consumers still enjoy preserving and sharing their memories with prints, but they are demanding greater quality, flexibility and a variety of choices when it comes to making their prints,” said Thomas Curley, director of marketing, Imaging Group, FUJIFILM U.S.A. “Fujifilm is pleased to work with Ritz Camera Centers to expand their Frontier Solutions with the Frontier Dry Minilab 400, in addition to the Xerox Phaser 7760, which Ritz Camera recently installed in order to meet their customer demands.”

For more information, please visit: www.fujifilmusa.com

FUJIFILM U.S.A., Inc. today announced that it will adopt a price increase on its range of photographic papers, chemistry and other photosensitive products in the U.S. This decision follows the recent announcement from FUJIFILM Corporation that effective July, 2008, prices of its photographic papers and other photosensitive products will increase by 10-20%. Fujifilm’s pricing in the U.S. market will track with this adjustment.

Globally, Fujifilm has undertaken intensive structural reforms to reduce fixed costs and improve productivity. The company has continued to absorb increasing costs associated with raw materials used in the manufacture of films and papers in recent years. However, soaring costs of raw materials, such as, silver and crude oil have made it impossible for Fujifilm to continue to absorb these costs in its manufacturing process.

From its powerful 5X zoom, unique ‘diagonal slide’ lens cover and illuminated ‘Z’ logo, to its eye-catching color combinations, the FinePix Z100fd sets a new standard in sophistication.

Please click here for more information on the FinePix Z100fd.

The FinePix Z20fd is a new ultra-glam digital camera packed with useful features that let you face it, beam it, blog it and now roll it with a new MPEG-4 movie recording mode for the movie-crazed Generation Z.

Please click here for more information on the FinePix Z20fd.

“Our agreement sets the stage for creating a ‘Best in Class’ photo solution for our more than 5,000 Rite Aid stores nationwide,” said John Pollock, Rite Aid vice president category management. “Fujifilm will be our partner and the end-to-end solution provider as we re-launch our photo products business.”

With this new multi-year agreement, Rite Aid customers will enjoy a significantly wider range of state-of-the-art photo products and services through more convenient, easier-to-use technology.

Rite Aid Photo centers will operate using Fujifilm GetPix kiosk instant print solutions and Fujifilm Frontier Dry Lab solutions. Fujifilm will also be the exclusive supplier to Rite Aid for brilliant color film, including a selection of convenient Fujifilm One Time Use Cameras, Fujicolor Crystal Archive Paper and chemical supplies. Fujifilm will also provide send-out photofinishing services by Fujicolor Processing, including prints, photo books, greeting cards, enlargements and a wide range of new heirloom-quality photo gift products, such as blankets, ties and other items.

Rite Aid customers will have the added convenience of an easy-to-use photo website from the comfort of their own homes, which will allow them delivery of their purchases to any Rite Aid store across the country. So if a customer orders traditional 4”x 6” prints or a creative photo gift, relatives who live in another part of the country can pick them up at their local Rite Aid without the added cost of packing and shipping the items.

When customers choose to visit Rite Aid stores in person, they will be able to use a kiosk display similar in design to the Web experience, but with an additional convenience. Customers will be able to get their prints made in minutes, on the same day or in a few days in most stores, depending on the customer’s choice.

“We are proud to be partnering with one of the nation’s leading drug store chains. This agreement is a testament to the confidence Rite Aid has in Fujifilm, and our commitment to the photo retail business,” said Bing Liem, vice president sales, Imaging Group, FUJIFILM U.S.A. “We have a deep understanding of the needs of the retail photo market, and look forward to continuing to innovate on the behalf of consumers, who know they can rely on Fujifilm.”

From its powerful 5X zoom, unique ‘diagonal slide’ lens cover and illuminated ‘Z’ logo, to its eye-catching color combinations, the FinePix Z100fd sets a new standard in sophistication.

Please click here for more information on the FinePix Z100fd.

“If left unmonitored, back up, disaster recovery and archive data assets can become the Achilles heel to any business or an industry – particularly if the data is sensitive,” said Robert Furtado, CEO, SC-Integrity. “Data assets are well-protected in the data center and within a vault or duplicate operations center – but there has been no way to maintain continual chain of custody in real time. Now, with Tape Tracker combined with the LoJack InTransit, there is.” Read more about it here.

“Many of our customers are currently expanding their Frontier solutions to generate revenue from a wide range of products beyond traditional 4”x 6” prints,” said John Placko, senior product manager, Wide Format Inkjet Products, Imaging Division, FUJIFILM U.S.A. “Today’s announcement underlines our commitment to meeting the varied needs of these customers in today’s changing imaging marketplace. Our new, simplified ordering process saves valuable time and directly enables retailers and professional labs to focus on providing their customers with stunning, Frontier-quality prints in a wide range of sizes.”

For additional information on new ordering procedures for Fujifilm’s wide format inkjet products, contact your local Fujifilm Sales Representative or call (888) 676-3719.

For more information, please click here.

Sustainable tourism promotes a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate income, employment, and the conservation of local ecosystems. Fujifilm recently announced its sponsorship of the Rainforest Alliance’s first annual ‘Picture Sustainability Photo Contest’ to raise awareness around issues of sustainability and conservation by inviting US residents to submit photos illustrating sustainable agriculture, forestry and tourism.

To take the brief survey, please click on the following link: Eco-Friendly Travel Survey
The results of the survey will remain anonymous and will be used to help us create awareness for eco-friendly travel.

Also, don’t forget to visit the Rainforest Alliance’s “Picture Sustainability” photo contest web site and enter your sustainable tourism photo to win! http://www.raphotocontest.org

In an effort to reintroduce itself to its employees, Fujifilm put together a corporate video that says, or rather shows it all. For anyone interested in learning more about this other side of Fujifilm, the video can be found on YouTube: Fujifilm Video Enjoy!

With 12 megapixel power, a 3x Optical Zoom and an extra-large 2.7" high resolution LCD, the F50fd also includes Fujifilm's signature Face Detection 2.0 with Automatic Red-Eye Removal.

With the Z10fd, you can Face It, Beam It, Blog It and Roll It with 7.2 MegaPixel power, a 3x Optical Zoom and an extra-large 2.5” LCD at an extremely affordable price.

Please click here for more information.

“As the imaging industry continues to evolve, Fujifilm has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to providing our members with the tools they need to expand their product and service offerings to meet the demands of today’s imaging consumers,” said Brent Bowyer, executive director, Independent Photo Imagers. “The photo specialty products market presents a huge growth opportunity for independent photo retailers, and many of our members have already partnered with Fujifilm to capitalize upon this market. We deployed the Xerox DocuColor 242 Digital Color Printer at our headquarters to provide a tangible example whereby all of our members can experience for themselves the possibilities of this solution.”

In partnership with Xerox, Fujifilm has devised a new photo specialty printing solution for IPI that integrates the Xerox DocuColor® 242 Digital Color Printer/Copier, which will enable the organization to produce a range of collateral documents and other printed materials in-house, including membership brochures, reports and newsletters, for distribution to its membership. IPI will distribute these products to its members to exemplify the capabilities of Fujifilm’s onsite printing solution offerings.

For more information, visit: www.fujifilmusa.com/pma, www.ipiphoto.com, www.xerox.com.