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Calumet Photographic

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Calumet Photographic
Company typePrivate
IndustryPhotographic products and services
Founded1939
FounderKenneth Becker
FatePurchase by C&A Marketing in bankruptcy auction
Headquarters2 Bergen Turnpike
Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660,
United States
Number of locations
5
Area served
United States
Key people
Eric Moseson, Executive Vice President[1]
ProductsCameras, video, film, accessories.
Number of employees
70
Websitewww.calumetphoto.com

Calumet Photographic, Inc. better known as Calumet Photographic or Calumet Photo and formerly known as Calumet Manufacturing Company[1] is a photographic retail and photofinishing specialty store, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. In 2012, the company owned and operated a chain of 32 locations worldwide. The company had 15 locations in the United States, 8 in the United Kingdom, 6 in Germany, 2 in the Netherlands and 1 in Belgium,[2] with 200 employees and an annual revenue of $10 million.[1]

On March 12, 2014, Calumet Photographic Inc filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. C&A Marketing Inc., the New Jersey-based owners of a number of retail photo brands including Ritz Camera, Wolf Camera, Inkley's, Camera World, and RitzPix, purchased the US-based assets on May 1, 2014 for $4 million.

On May 7, 2014, the company announced that it would reopen its Oak Brook, Illinois, retail store location, and did so on May 11; it served as the anchor for the brand.[3][4] The final three stores closed in January 2016.

History

In 1939, Kenneth Becker founded the sporting goods store Calumet Manufacturing Company that sold an occasional camera in Chicago.[5] After several years of manufacturing darkroom equipment, in 1955 the company bought the rights to Kodak's Master View 4x5 camera, enabling Kodak to leave the view camera business.[6] In the 1960s, the company innovated the Caltar large format lens line, the C-2 roll film holder and the nitrogen burst film and print processors.[6]

In 1980, the company transitioned from being a large format proprietary product vendor to being a full-line photographic product supplier.[6] In 1983, the company left the view camera manufacturing business and outsourced production to the Netherlands.[7] In 1989, Calumet made a notable improvement on Polaroid instant film technology.[8] In 1992, the company leased 85,000 square feet (7,900 m2) of office space in Bensenville, Illinois, and relocated its corporate headquarters.[9] The current headquarters are on West Bliss Street in Chicago.[10]

In the 1990s, Calumet acquired the United Kingdom photo retail chain Keith, Johnson and Pelling and as recently as early 2009, the company had 20 locations in Europe.[11] In 2007, the retail location in Bensenville was moved next to the Oakbrook Center shopping mall in Oak Brook, Illinois.[11] In February 2012, the company acquired the three remaining Washington, DC, area Penn Camera locations after a United States bankruptcy court ruling following Penn Camera's elimination of 5 of its 8 locations.[12] In October 2012, the company opened three new locations in Maryland, Florida and Illinois following the bankruptcy and liquidation of Ritz Camera.[2]

Calumet stores hosted free classes, seminars and demonstrations in dedicated spaces.[11]

On March 13, 2014, the following was posted on the company's Facebook page: "After 75 years of business it is with a heavy heart that we announce our immediate closing in the United States (our European stores will continue). It has been a joy to share our passion for photography with you all of these years. We'll miss each other and we'll miss all of our customers. Thank you for everything." At the same time their website and Twitter account also went offline. Shortly after, the same message was posted on the locked doors of the closed stores. According to Crain's Chicago Business, the company filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy after a lender opted not to continue its financing.[13]

In April 2014, some of the principals bid on the inventory, store leases and other assets.[14] On May 2, C&A Marketing Inc. acquired most of the assets and announced plans to reopen both calumetphoto.com and the equipment rental business.[15][16] Less than one week later, the C&A announced that it would reopen the Oak Brook, Illinois location on May 11.[17][18]

In January 2016 C&A Marketing closed all remaining Calumet locations due to failed revenue performance, poor upper level decision making, and became a cost more than revenue maker.[19]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "Calumet Photographic, Inc". Inside View. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Store Locations". Calumetphoto.com. Retrieved 9 September 2012. Cite error: The named reference "SL" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ C&A Marketing Will Reopen Calumet Photographic’s Oak Brook Location Sunday May 11, C&A Marketing Inc. May 7, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  4. ^ Kukec, Annie Marie (May 14, 2014). "Shuttered Calumet Photo reopens in Oak Brook". Daily Herald. Retrieved August 6, 2015. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "Calumet Photographic". Business Review USA. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  6. ^ a b c "About Calumet Photographic". Calumetphoto.com. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  7. ^ Foerstner, Abigail (16 August 1985). "Handmade Deardorff View Cameras Give Old-time Value". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  8. ^ Thall, Larry (26 May 1989). "New Film Designed To Improve Photos Of Stars And Planets". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  9. ^ Kerch, Steve (13 December 1992). "`Largest Auction` Comes Up Big". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  10. ^ "Company Overview of Calumet Photographic, Inc". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  11. ^ a b c Schiffner, Bill (January–February 2009). "Calumet Photographic". Imaging Info. Retrieved United Kingdom. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  12. ^ Douglas, Danielle (8 February 2012). "Penn Camera locations scooped up by Calumet Photo". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  13. ^ Strahler, Steven R. (2014-03-13). "Calumet Photo shutters, files for bankruptcy". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  14. ^ Palank, Jacqueline (2014-04-08). "Calumet Photographic Finds a Buyer". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
  15. ^ Nikitas, Theano (2014-05-02). "C&A Marketing acquires Calumet, some services to be restored". Digital Photography Review. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
  16. ^ Ruminski, Bill (2014-05-02). "New owner to revive Calumet Photo". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
  17. ^ Nikitas, Theano (2014-05-09). "Calumet Oak Brook, Illinois store reopens this Sunday". Digital Photography Review. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
  18. ^ Ruminski, Bill (2014-05-07). "Calumet Photo's Oak Brook store to reopen Sunday". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
  19. ^ Sweeney, Brigid (2016-01-26). "Calumet Photo closes last three stores". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
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