News

CVS stores to get latest Kodak kiosks

May 26, 2003

WOONSOCKET, R.I. -- Consumers will soon be able to turn their digital images into photographic prints at a major drugstore chain while shopping for shampoo, razor blades and other items, according to an article in the (Rochester, N.Y. ) Democrat and Chronicle.

CVS Corp. plans to install Kodak self-service digital imaging kiosks in about 3,000 of its 4,100 stores nationwide. The deployment should begin mid summer.

The Kodak Picture Maker Digital Stations will provide an important link between digital cameras and high-quality photo printers or photo-processing machines. See related story, "Kodak buys Applied Science Fiction's assets; key to photo kiosks."

Consumers will bring digital images stored on CD-ROM or other computer disks to CVS and insert them into the digital machines. They will then be able to preview their pictures on a computer screen, select the ones they want to print, choose sizes and make other adjustments, the article said.

The deal dramatically advances one version of Kodak's view of the future as consumers switch from film to digital photography. Photographers take more pictures with digital cameras than they do on film. But they don't print as many. By making the process simpler, Kodak hopes to encourage more printing and to generate a new stream of revenue, according to the article.

In certain configurations, consumers will receive their prints from an attached printer within minutes while they wait. In other cases, they will come back later to pick up prints routed to high-quality photo-finishing machines.

The CVS deal was announced two months after Kodak suffered a major setback in its effort to move its digital kiosks into the marketplace. Kinko's Inc., the national provider of copying and document services, in March said it would replace about 800 Kodak Picture Makers with similar models made by Sony Corp. See related story, "Sony in, Kodak out at Kinko's."

Kodak said the CVS partnership is the first major national deployment of the new digital kiosks. That's an important endorsement of the company's view of the digital future, said Kathy Rauschenberg, a Kodak spokeswoman.

CVS sees the technology as a way of making digital images tangible. "Our customers don't want their memories stuck on hard drives," said Judy Strauss Sansone, vice president of merchandising/photo for CVS.