Olan Mills, Inc. was a privately owned American company founded in 1932 by Olan Mills Sr. and Mary Mills which was headquartered in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. It provided

portrait photography Portrait photography, or portraiture, is a type of photography aimed toward capturing the personality of a person or group of people by using effective Photographic lighting, lighting, Painted photography backdrops, backdrops, and poses. A portr ...

and church directories through its two main corporate divisions: Olan Mills Portrait Studios and Olan Mills Church Division. Its

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

division, based in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

and with numerous studios based in

Mothercare Mothercare plc is a British retailer which specialises in products for expectant mothers and in general merchandise for children up to eight years of age. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap In ...

stores, stopped trading on December 26, 2008. That was in preparation for the firm being placed into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

. On November 9, 2011,

Lifetouch Lifetouch Inc. is an American-based photography company headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Eden Prairie, Minnesota, with its Canadian operations based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was founded as National School Studios (NSS) in 1936 by Eldon ...

Inc. announced that it had purchased the Olan Mills photography business, Olan Mills Church Directories and Olan Mills Portrait Studios, its corporate functions, and the production operations in Chattanooga. In January 2012, Lifetouch announced the closing of two of Olan Mills' three facilities in Chattanooga with 383 job losses.

References

Photography companies of the United States Companies based in Chattanooga, Tennessee Design companies established in 1932 1932 establishments in Tennessee Design companies disestablished in 2011 2011 disestablishments in Tennessee 2011 mergers and acquisitions Publishing companies established in 1932 Publishing companies disestablished in 2011 {{US-media-company-stub