Olan mills

ljclark said:

Does that mean that KPMG will be engaging an auction house to
dispose of some of the physical assets? Time for folks in the UK
to get some studio gear?

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If they have decided that no futher trading is possible they will consider trying to sell it as a going concern. If they have no hope for that or are unable to do it then they will dispose of the assets (I'm guessing mostly gear, not property) but will likely invite tenders for purchase of the entire assets of the chain as they won't want the hassle of piecemeal disposal. The purchaser could either be a specialist auction house or a photographic dealer with a long suit in pre-owned equipment. The chances of a flood of cheap studio and E-1/10/20 gear on ebaY UK is IMHO slight but it is bound to have a short term lowering effect if it gets out there. KPMG don't tend to hang about so I don't guess we will have long to wait.

My sympathies are with the staff who will have been laid off this close to Christmas and my thoughts and prayers go out to them.

Jim

Olan 1st started the company in 1932 in Selma Alabama. they first worked out of peoples homes, they brought the plate film back to Selma to process
in a wood shed.
They are still going strong in the US.
I think they sold their UK division almost 4 or 5 years ago.

Like every company they have people who do great work,& care about their work & others who are just collecting a paycheck.

I stand corrected there in ONE

--
Dennis Donohue
Freelance Nature and Equine Photographer

Actually there are 125 actual studios, and a bunch more studios related to other establishments. I fail to see how this makes them less professional, though.

I really would rather get a portrait done at a place with a corporate entity than from someone who operates out of their garage or from a webpage.

Olan Mills is professional. That is to say, people who work there derive their income from taking photogrpahic portraits of customers. They are remunerated for their work. It is their "profession".

Olan Mills continues to be one of the largest portrait studios in the United States. Binding themselves to other commercial entities is probably a smart decision because it cuts cost and introduces more cutomers to their studios.

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--
Zach Bellino
'I prefer my lo-mein of the veggie variety.'
--ZJB
'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.'
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

Of course what was I thinking they use Olympus equipment they must be pros, My Bad.

That puts them one step above Sears ;-)

Dennis Donohue
Freelance Nature and Equine Photographer

Not all man, that is not what I am implying? Was your whole point to coming here just to work up to a trolly post like that? Some kind of punchline??? You cold have saved yourself some time and just said you don't like Olympus cameras and waited for people to flame you down.

All I am saying is that they are professional, they would be if they were shooting with disposable cmareas and making money off of it. Does this upset you?

Or is it the contradiction with your wink, that some people are using Olympus cameras professionally? What does it matter to you what someone else takes photographs with?

Olan Mills could jsut as easily use another brand. I fail to see how the type of camera you use makes you more or less professional. If you sell your images to eat and pay rent, you are professional.

--



--
Zach Bellino
'I prefer my lo-mein of the veggie variety.'
--ZJB
'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.'
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

thebard37 said:

I don't understand, are you saying Olan Mills uses Olympus?

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Uhhh... that would be DID, as all Olan Mills studios are now shuttered, at least in the UK.

thebard37 said:

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--
Zach Bellino
'I prefer my lo-mein of the veggie variety.'
--ZJB
'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.'
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

Click to expand...

--
shinndigg

lglass said:

Just a few example major cities:

All 23 within 100 mile radius of NYC are ALL KMarts
All 20 within 100 mile radius of Los Angeles CA are ALL KMarts
All 7 within 100 mile radius of Miami FL are ALL KMats.

Can you find me one that is not in a KMart?

--
Dennis Donohue
Freelance Nature and Equine Photographer

Click to expand...

4 in the Akron Ohio area, ALL NOT in Kmarts. But I still see your point.
--
shinndigg

lglass said:

Of course what was I thinking they use Olympus equipment they must
be pros, My Bad.

That puts them one step above Sears ;-)

Click to expand...

Where they use Canon XTs. ;0)

lglass said:

Dennis Donohue
Freelance Nature and Equine Photographer

Click to expand...

--
shinndigg

E1's , Olan is still here & a family owned company & they chose the E1 for the aspect ratio & image quality,Oly also gave them the best gaurantees.

In my neck of the woods (Florida, USA), they seem to be in just as many Belks stores as KMart. Belks is a very reputable, rather snobby and expensive department store that usually anchors major malls at least in the southeast USA. I also know of at least 3 standalone studios in areas of Florida that I've lived.

Admittedly, I haven't taken my kids there since my older two were about 5 years old (10 years ago), but they were upscale portrait studios then. People used to think we were insane for paying Olan Mills prices when we could just go to...wait a minute...KMart or WalMart and get the same portraits for a lot cheaper! Hey, maybe we shouldn't be looking down on Olan -- maybe they moved into KMart to kill the competition.

We now go to Sears with mixed results. The last time we went there, a real life dragon lady breathed her smokey breath all over my kids and made them cry. She acted so surprised in a rather raspy voice, "I don't know what's wrong -- kids usually love me!" Sure they do, dragon lady, sure they do... LOL

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Just to confirm - it is th Olan Mills Ltd (UK limited company) that has gone bust) - no reference to any other Olan Mills across the globe which may or may not be held by a holding company.

Administrators appointed to Olan Mills Ltd

Dec 15 2006

Myles Halley and Richard Philpott of accountancy firm KPMG LLP have been appointed Joint Administrators of the photographic studio chain Olan Mills Ltd.

The Wellingborough-based firm employs around 950 people across the UK. These are spread mainly across 97 retail outlets, 37 of which are concessions in other stores. The business has made significant losses over recent years and despite several refinancings and management changes, a turnaround in fortunes was not possible.

Administrator Richard Philpott said: “Management have been working hard to secure a sale of the business over recent weeks but despite their best efforts a satisfactory deal could not be concluded. Consequently, they had no other option but to request the immediate appointment of administrators and, given that the sale options have been explored, regrettably we have to cease operations and make the majority of staff redundant. Unfortunately the company is not in a position to honour existing appointments and I hope to be in a position to be able to provide additional information via the company website http://www.olanmills.co.uk shortly.”

--
Darrin

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blazeicehockey/

Jim Attfield said:

ljclark said:

Does that mean that KPMG will be engaging an auction house to
dispose of some of the physical assets? Time for folks in the UK
to get some studio gear?

Click to expand...

If they have decided that no futher trading is possible they will
consider trying to sell it as a going concern. If they have no hope
for that or are unable to do it then they will dispose of the
assets (I'm guessing mostly gear, not property) but will likely
invite tenders for purchase of the entire assets of the chain as
they won't want the hassle of piecemeal disposal. The purchaser
could either be a specialist auction house or a photographic dealer
with a long suit in pre-owned equipment. The chances of a flood of
cheap studio and E-1/10/20 gear on ebaY UK is IMHO slight but it is
bound to have a short term lowering effect if it gets out there.
KPMG don't tend to hang about so I don't guess we will have long to
wait.

My sympathies are with the staff who will have been laid off this
close to Christmas and my thoughts and prayers go out to them.

Jim

Click to expand...

With Christmas being the absoulte bumper season for portrait studios they have been very clever, whether intended or not. With their own endeavours to try to sell the business as a going concern, and their pushing of staff to try to secure as many Christmas orders as possible, the heartless manner in which staff where then told the news, I can't help but see it as perfect timing that the announcement was public around 14th December - means maxium income minimum outgoing. I would be very curious to know of any internal slips in fulfillment of the orders.

The question has to be asked who knew ? And was production deliberately altered ? Did directors take outstanding holiday prior to announcement ? It's amazing what business's in administration can do when they themselves appoint the administrators in line with their own time frames.

I suggest anyone who is owed outstanding pictures kicks up a fuss - the timimg is just too convienient for my liking . . . a quiet august would have surely been when they were suffering the most this year, and thus the more honourable time to have chosen to appoint administrators of their choice. I feel they have taken advantage of the Christmas sales boom.

Regards,
Kev

That would be blatant trading while insolvent, and they'd get done.

More likely they needed to get a load of supplies in for XMas and the bank pulled the plug.
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acam
http://www.pbase.com/acam/

ljclark said:

blazeicehockey said:

• the news proper...

http://www.itn.co.uk/news/business_780e3df377d87a797b797194aa77454a.html

Click to expand...

Does that mean that KPMG will be engaging an auction house to
dispose of some of the physical assets? Time for folks in the UK
to get some studio gear?

Click to expand...

I dunno, but given Olan Mills in the USA at least is a high volume photography studio, I would want to inspect any gear before purchasing it. It may have been used quite a bit and near the end of its lifetime (or it may have just been bought, you never know). I do suspect with cheaper digital cameras, that these places may have some leaner times ahead.

If someone makes a bid for the stuff, and repackages the items, it might be interesting. I was thinking more about lighting equipment than cameras.

I was just going to say that Sears also (at least last Christmas) was using E-1's. I was pleasantly surprised to see that when I took the little creatures in for their annual pics. BTW - they provided excellent results.
--
Brian