NIEMANN USING PHOTO PROCESSING TO HELP FILM SALES DEVELOP

JOEL ELSON

QUINCY, Ill. -- Niemann Foods has instituted aggressive film-processing promotions in order to turn around flat sales.

The promotions include: free film offered twice a week, $2.99 processing price specials and a free second set of prints every day.

Every Wednesday and Friday 24-exposure 200 speed Kodak color film is given away with processed orders. The retailer also has cut the retail for processing a 24-exposure roll of film with double 3.5-inch prints by $1 to $2.99 once a month. The chain continues to offer a free second set of 3.5-inch and 4-inch prints with all processing orders.

"This keeps customers focused, especially in the fourth quarter when we can get some of our photo business back at Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas," said Art Awerkamp, supervisor for general merchandise and health and beauty care at Niemann.

Processing volume doubled soon after the promotions began this summer at 18 Niemann Foods, County Markets and Cub Foods, said Awerkamp. By the beginning of this month, the chain had distributed some 1,000 rolls of the film to customers, said Awerkamp.

"We're putting film back in the consumers' cameras so that they'll remember where they bought it, and then drop it back at our stores for developing," he explained.

Taking a more aggressive stance not only has boosted photo-finishing sales, but it has improved the retailer's visibility among shoppers for photo processing, said Awerkamp. "We're promoting more in ads and trying to build that business," he added.

Shoppers leave their raw film at photo drop boxes near the customer service desk, and get the free film back with their developed prints from the chain's photo outlab.

Promoting free film twice a week also has attracted new customers, said Awerkamp, who added no other retailer in the area offers free film.

He admitted the chain let its film processing business slip. "We're kind of starting it fresh by hammering it every week in ads,"he said.

While the promotions bring people into the store, they have lowered margins for the retailer below the everyday 20% margin, said Awerkamp.

Stores have mounted in-store signing and window posters "to scream we have photo finishing," commented Awerkamp. The retailer avoids next day delivery claims in its film developing program."Nobody can deliver on that promise unless the work is done through an in-store one-hour minilab. If something happens with [a late] delivery you're leaving yourself wide open, and this makes people unhappy."

Awerkamp said "being up front and letting customers know that film processing takes one or two days prevents them from making an extra trip."

In addition to this effort to boost photo processing, Niemann has shifted from its outlab developer Qualex to a new photo processor, Sundance Photo, Jackson, Wis.