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 Electronics - November/October 2007  |
Getting on the Stick?
Even as traditional cameras and film fade, new digital recording media for photos and just about anything else are coming into vogue. First it was film. Then it was disks. Now, maybe, it’s memory sticks. These tiny but very high capacity recording media are getting more exposure in private label, albeit thus far only at electronics and office supply retailers. Electronic media and the Internet are where it’s at today when it comes to pictures, music downloads and even videos. Sharing digital photos at websites devoted to that purpose is as common as taking film to the local food or drug store for processing used to be. Since the advent of digital cameras, sales of conventional cameras and film have steadily declined; likewise sales for store brand single-use analog cameras. Single-use digital cameras in private label with in-store service haven’t spread beyond a few retailers like CVS, Woonsocket, RI, Rite Aid, Harrisburg, PA; and Longs, Walnut Creek, CA. All three drug chains offer two models of single-use digital cameras, with or without picture preview–at Longs, the first retails for $19.98, the second for $9.98. Like those at CVS and Rite-Aid, they both offer 25 shots and a delete feature. These have to be brought back to the store for prints and CDs, but owners of regular digital cameras can order prints online from photo centers at all three retailers. CVS and Rite-Aid also market private label camcorders, good for 20 minutes worth of taping, but Longs has passed on that. So have the big discount chains like Target, Minneapolis, MN. You can’t even find private label cameras or film at Target any more, but you can upload digital photos and pick up the prints in as little as an hour, with a choice of Kodak or Shutterfly as “photo partners.” It’s still a volatile market out there. Office Depot, Del Ray Beach, FL, one of the Big Three office supply chains, markets single-use cameras-including an underwater model and one with a set of prints and a CD built into the purchase price. But it devotes a lot more space to a range of blank CDs and DVDs, photo paper and printer cartridges far greater that can be found at any food, drug or discount retailer. Best Buy, Minneapolis, MN, may have been the first to introduce flash drives, also known as memory sticks, under the Geek Squad brand. As reported by Electronic News, it “has a flip-off cap that remains attached, unlike a popular brand whose top comes all the way off and is easily misplaced.” Geek Squad flash drives come in 512 MB ($11.99), one gigabyte ($25.99), two GB ($36.99) and four GB ($68.99) versions. Office Depot, under the Ativa brand, offers one, two, four and eight GB flash drives at $24.99, $39.99, $79.99 and $129.99; they too feature an “integrated cap design.” Staples, Framingham, MA, markets one, two and four GB versions at $24.98, $39.98 and $69.98, respectively, and is promoting its brand with a free 128 MB trial size in a bonus pack DVD-R disks. An online catalog listing points out that its private label flash drives feature a swivel design: “no more lost caps.” The office supply chains keep their flash drives in locked cabinets to deter theft: they’re packaged on small cards that would be easy to sneak out of the store. But Best Buy displays its Geek Squad line on open racks in fancy plastic containers that catch shoppers’ eyes. Best Buy also has a sense of humor in the origin story offered on the back of the pack: A select group of Geek Squad Agents were locked away for months in a top secret research facility rumored to be in the dense Uruguay jungle developing USB drives fit for the Geek Squad name. The Agents resurfaced—their skin pale, their eyes sensitive to the blinding light—but hey, now you’ve got a better USB drive. It’s facetious, but essentially true: the chain has even refined designs of MP3 and DVD players for its private labels to make them more user-friendly, according to Electronic News. Computer disks–both CD and DVD–are still marketed under the Computer Essentials private label at Walgreens, Deerfield, IL, but store brands have disappeared at discount chains like Target and Wal-Mart, Bentonville, AR. Their Trutech and Durabrand labels, respectively, are now being used for only high ticket items–especially TV sets. Wal-Mart has also gotten rid of its Jazz single-use cameras, but has gotten on the online digital photo bandwagon. Fancy paper for printing photos has become big business for store brands; Walgreens has gotten in on that too, although most of the action is at office supply chains. The drug chain charges $8.49 for a 60-sheet pack of premium 4 x 6 inch glossy photo paper. In a related deal, it offers a free 4 x 6 inch magnetic photo frame (a $1.49 value) with purchase of a four-pack of 35mm film at $5.99. Office supply chains offer a broader range of photo paper. At Office Depot, for example, brilliant matte grade is $21.99 for 100 4 x 6 sheets and $15.99 for 50, whereas merely premium goes for $9.39 in the 50-sheet count. In 8.5 x 11 inches, brilliant matte is priced at $61.99 and plain at $38.99. It’s much the same at Staples, with Basic, Plus and Supreme photo papers–except that Staples also offers 4-pack magnetic sheets at $13.98 and 100-count post card sheets at $10.49. A shift towards color printers has led to a shift in inkjet and laserjet cartridges, according to Image Source magazine. But it will be harder for retailers to match national brand programs in replacement cartridges, and indeed there doesn’t seem be any increase in store displays or facings for private label at Staples and Office Max. Moreover, consumers and office managers trying to save money may opt for refills: Walgreens is offering refills at $10 for black and white and $15 for color inkjet cartridges. Recommended suppliers
Products described or shown in this article are not necessarily available from these suppliers. For more suppliers see current Private Label Directory & Buyer’s Guide. |
