![Typical drive-up Fotomat booth](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Typical_drive-up_Fotomat_booth.jpg)
Fotomat was an American retail chain of
photo
A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now crea ...
development
drive-through
A drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word ''through''), is a type of take-out service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products without leaving their cars. The format was pioneered in the United ...
kiosk
Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...
s located primarily in shopping center parking lots. Fotomat Corporation was founded by
Preston Fleet Preston Mitchell Fleet (February 26, 1934 – January 31, 1995), nicknamed Sandy, was the founder of Fotomat. Fotomat was a once-widespread retail chain of photo development drive-thru kiosks located in shopping center parking lots. He was a son of ...
in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
, in the 1960s, with the first kiosk opening in
Point Loma, California
Point Loma (Spanish: ''Punta de la Loma'', meaning "Hill Point"; Kumeyaay: ''Amat Kunyily'', meaning "Black Earth") is a seaside community within the city of San Diego, California. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the ...
, in 1965. Fotomat became a public company in 1971 and was listed on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
(NYSE) in 1977. At its peak around 1980, there were over 4,000 Fotomats throughout the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, primarily in suburban areas. Fotomats were distinctive for their pyramid-shaped gold-colored roofs and signs with blue and red lettering. Usually positioned in a large parking area such as a supermarket or
strip mall
A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. ...
, the Fotomat huts required a minimal amount of land and were able to accommodate cars driving up to drop off or pick up film. Fotomat sold
Kodak
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
and Fotomat brand film, as well as other photography-related products, and offered overnight photo finishing. Many people assumed Fotomat was owned by Kodak, because of the yellow roofs and font similar to Kodak packaging. Fotomat also made filmstrips (35mm single frame) for school, when teachers wanted to have a custom captioned or sound filmstrip made, the Teacher could use the Fotomat filmstrip development serve, but teachers would have to take the pictures on blank 35mm single frame film and record the soundtrack on a cassette tape, then they would take them to the Fotomat both and the film and cassette tape would be sent to the Fotomat Lab to be produced.
![Fotomat Brand 35mm Film](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Fotomat_Brand_35mm_Film.jpg)
Fotomat had both company-owned stores and
franchises
Franchise may refer to:
Business and law
* Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees
* Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television ...
. This led to lawsuits between Fotomat and its franchisees over territories.
In the early 1980s, Fotomat Corporation was acquired by
Konishiroku Photo Industry
was a Japanese manufacturer of, among other products, film, film cameras, camera accessories, photographic and photo-processing equipment, photocopiers, fax machines and laser printers, founded in 1873. The company merged with Japanese peer Min ...
Ltd., also known as
Konica
was a Japanese manufacturer of, among other products, film, film cameras, camera accessories, photographic and photo-processing equipment, photocopiers, fax machines and laser printers, founded in 1873. The company merged with Japanese peer M ...
Photo Imaging in 1986. Eventually, it was sold to
Viewpoint Corporation in 2002.
The company's main product, overnight film development, was rendered noncompetitive by the late 1980s development of the
minilab
A minilab is a small photographic developing and printing system or machine, as opposed to large centralized photo developing labs. Many retail stores use film or digital minilabs to provide on-site photo finishing services.
With the increase in ...
, which provided one-hour photo development and could be installed on-site without a large capital investment. After the introduction of
digital cameras
A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile device ...
, overnight service eventually became obsolete and Fotomat switched to online digital imaging at Fotomat.com where users could edit and store their images. This site ceased operations September 1, 2009.
Many former Fotomat huts still exist, several having been converted into drive-thru coffee kiosks. Competitors of Fotomat included
Foto Hut,
Fox Photo
Fox Photo Inc. was an American chain of photo stores, which sold cameras, photographic equipment and developed film.
The Fox company started as a small photo studio by a man named Arthur C. Fox in San Antonio, Texas. Carl Newton, a Canadian, move ...
, and
Kodak
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
itself.
Video rental service
In addition to photo developing, Fotomat was one of the first companies to offer movies for rent on
videocassette
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassette ...
—a new concept then—starting in December 1979. Customers would browse through a small catalog, call a number and order the movie or movies of their choice. The following day, the customer would pick up the cassette at the Fotomat kiosk of their choice. The rental cost was $12 per title () and the customer could keep it for five days. The price was later reduced to $9.95 for a five-day rental. The service was called "Fotomat Drive-Thru Movies."
Initially, only
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
entered into an agreement with the chain to offer their movies for rent. Fotomat also offered lesser-known titles from smaller distributors such as Brandon Chase's Group I Releasing and VCI from Tulsa, Oklahoma (one of the first independent video labels at the dawn of the format), but these releases would not be prominently credited to these sources as the Paramount titles. Fotomat also carried certain exclusive releases, such as ''
I Go Pogo
''Pogo'' was a daily comic strip that was created by cartoonist Walt Kelly and syndicated to American newspapers from 1948 until 1975. Set in the Okefenokee Swamp in the Southeastern United States, ''Pogo'' followed the adventures of its anthr ...
''.
These titles were distributed directly by Fotomat and were of a uniform design with a black, die-cut cardboard case and a black label that included a white title (as well as Paramount's stylized logo for their films), but otherwise no artwork or color. In addition, a Fotomat logo accompanied by a four-tone sound would play before the start of each movie. The logo included an artistic representation of the company's yellow mansard roof.
On March 4, 1980,
Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, an ...
began offering their first videos for rental through Fotomat.
thisdayindisneyhistory.homestead.com
1980: Disney releases its very first video tapes to the home VHS market. The 13 titles are licensed for rental to Fotomat Later on, MCA struck a deal with Fotomat to distribute its titles through rental.
By 1982, local video stores had begun to offer customers cheaper video rentals without the overnight wait time and Fotomat discontinued the service.
References
External links
Partial List of Fotomat-Distributed Films
1980s Fotomat Commercial
FotoMat Store 1984 Commercial
Fotomat Spot – 1981
Fotomat film processing commercial 1986
{{Konica
Photography companies of the United States
Photographic retailers
Kiosks
American companies established in 1965
Retail companies established in 1965