Olan Mills, Inc. is a privately owned company founded in 1932 by Olan Mills Sr. and Mary Mills headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee that provides portrait photography and church directories through its two main corporate divisions: Olan Mills Portrait Studios and Olan Mills Church Division.
Its United Kingdom division, based in Northamptonshire and with a number of studios based in Mothercare stores, stopped trading on December 26 2008, in preparation for the firm being placed into administration.
The picture is clear for Olan Mills, the world's leading producer of family portraits, with hundreds of photo studios across the US. The company operates through two divisions: Church Directories (its top revenue generator, with about 60% of the national market) and Studio Portrait (featuring several hundred studios in Kmart, Belk, Macy's, and other stores in the US and Puerto Rico). The company serves 11,000 churches and publishes more than 3 million church directories each year. Olan and Mary Mills founded the company in 1932; their son, Olan Mills II, owns the company
Olan Mills, Inc. is one of the largest portrait photography operations in the United States and also operates in the United Kingdom. The Chattanooga, Tennessee-based, privately owned company divides its business into two divisions: Studio Portraits and Church Directories. At one time, Olan Mills operated 1,000 free-standing studios, but in recent years, to keep pace with the competition, it has opted instead to place studios in Kmart stores. Kmart's bankruptcy has complicated this shift in strategy, as Olan Mills has been forced to close studios in many Kmart locations. It continues to operate 125 free-standing studios in the United States and Puerto Rico and another 100 in the United Kingdom. The company is now starting to open studios in the stores of other retailers, such as Meijer's, Value City, and Toys 'R' Us. Olan Mills is owned by its chairman, Olan Mills II, the son of the company's founder.
Olan Mills moved its headquarters to Chattanooga, and new studios sprouted up across the country, virtually one or two every week. They were situated in major cities as well as such small towns as Opelika, Alabama; Puyallup, Washington; and Xenia, Ohio. In addition, new plants were opened and the service departments were upgraded. As had been the case throughout its history, Olan Mills embraced new technology, adding computers and laser scanners to its operations. Second generation ownership also targeted new markets. While the company got its start by focusing on baby pictures, it faced increased competition in the family segment and as a result branched into new areas. It became involved in the school and yearbook business, the lucrative church directory business, and later moved into glamour photography, an upper-end product for people who wanted a more glossy magazine look for themselves. In 1981, Olan Mills expanded overseas, establishing a business in the United Kingdom, transferring the same techniques that proved so successful in the United States. The company's national competition focused on the pre-school market, a segment which now accounted for less than 30 percent of Olan Mills' business. Where Olan Mills prospered was in the follow-up business as customers grew up. In the adult portrait market, no rival could match Olan Mill's name recognition, and the company held numerous advantages over the local mom-and-pop studios that served as its competition in this segment. Having given up on copying Olan Mill's telemarketing program, larger competitors elected to open small studios in retailers like Sears, JC Penney, and Wal-Mart.
Some 20 years after the Mills brothers took charge of the business, Olan Mills was generating approximately $475 million in annual sales, controlling about 10 percent of the $5 billion portrait photography business. Its closest competitor, CPI Corporation, had just half as much market share. However, starting in the mid-1990s, the conservatively run Olan Mills began to lose its grip on the market as the dynamics of the industry changed and the affiliation between studios and big box retailers became a key factor. Olan Mills' top three rivals had such deals: CPI Corporation with Sears, Lifetouch with JC Penney and Target stores, and PCA International Inc. with Kmart and Wal-Mart. With business falling off from more than 30 percent in revenues from its record year, Olan Mills shut down a Waco, Texas, plant and closed some 300 freestanding studios around the country. Then, in August 1998, the company took the plunge and signed a deal with Kmart to start opening studios in some of the retailer's stores, replacing the more downscale PCA operation. For Kmart, adding Olan Mills was part of a strategy to revitalize its business in the wake of the tremendous growth of Wal-Mart. Research indicated that Kmart was attracting customers with much less income than those who shopped at Wal-Mart, on average $10,000 to $20,000 less. To attract customers with more disposable income, Kmart decided to incorporate signature product lines, such as Martha Stewart, Disney, and Sesame Street. The Olan Mills' name was in keeping with this strategy.
The year 1998 was also a time of change for Olan Mills on another front. In January of that year, Charles Mills died, leaving his older brother in charge, although the chief executive responsibilities had been handled by a non-family member since 1990, with Olan Mills II serving as chairman. None of the children of the two brothers were actively engaged in the company's business with their involvement essentially limited to a "cousin's council," which received regular briefings on the state of the business from senior management.
Changes at Olan Mills continued in the final years of the 1990s. Wholly owned subsidiary Olan Mills School Portraits, Inc. was sold in early 1999 to Lifetouch National School Studios. Olan Mills had been involved in this segment since the 1960s but now management decided it would be wiser to focus its attention and resources on the more lucrative church directory business and its Kmart initiative. In addition, Olan Mills eliminated its telemarketing promotions and closed scores of freestanding studios to concentrate on its Kmart studios, leaving just 125 freestanding operations. According to the press, Olan Mills suffered through a poor year in 2001, although business rebounded in 2002.
When Kmart filed for bankruptcy early in 2002, Olan Mills was quick to assert that its portrait business would not be adversely impacted. While Kmart planned on closing several hundred of its more than 2,100 stores, most of these units were performing poorly, and Olan Mills had establishments located primarily in the more successful Big K superstores and other high-volume locations. All told, Olan Mills operated about 850 studios in the Kmart chain. Although losses were generally offset by the opening of new studios in surviving Kmart locations, problems at the giant retailer continued to worsen, and by early 2003 Olan Mills had lost close to 250 Kmart studios. To make up for this loss in business, Olan Mills began opening studios in Meijer's, Value City, and Toy 'R' Us locations. It also made other changes, including the elimination of a Springfield, Ohio, processing plant, the operations of which were consolidated with the main Chattanooga facility. With no third generation of the Mills family willing or ready to take over, and Olan Mills II well into his 70s, the future of the company faced a number of challenges.
Principal Divisions: Church Directories; Studio Portraits.
Principal Competitors: CPI Corporation; Lifetouch Inc.; PCA International, Inc.
Financial Highlights
Fiscal Year End: December
Statistics:
Private Company
Founded: 1932
Employees: 3,700 (est.)
Sales: $290 million (2001 est.)
NAIC: 541921 Photographic Studios, Portrait
Key Dates:
1932: The company is founded.
1938: The company's first permanent studio is opened.
1948: Telemarketing operations begin.
1972: A second generation assumes leadership of company.
1981: A UK operation is launched.
1998: Olan Mills studios open in Kmart stores.
1999: The company's school portrait business is sold.
Key People
• Chairman and CEO: Olan Mills II
• President and COO: David Butler
• VP Finance and CFO: Laura Carden
Contact Information
Address: 6060 Shallowford Rd.
Chattanooga, TN 37422
Its United Kingdom division, based in Northamptonshire and with a number of studios based in Mothercare stores, stopped trading on December 26 2008, in preparation for the firm being placed into administration.
The picture is clear for Olan Mills, the world's leading producer of family portraits, with hundreds of photo studios across the US. The company operates through two divisions: Church Directories (its top revenue generator, with about 60% of the national market) and Studio Portrait (featuring several hundred studios in Kmart, Belk, Macy's, and other stores in the US and Puerto Rico). The company serves 11,000 churches and publishes more than 3 million church directories each year. Olan and Mary Mills founded the company in 1932; their son, Olan Mills II, owns the company
Olan Mills, Inc. is one of the largest portrait photography operations in the United States and also operates in the United Kingdom. The Chattanooga, Tennessee-based, privately owned company divides its business into two divisions: Studio Portraits and Church Directories. At one time, Olan Mills operated 1,000 free-standing studios, but in recent years, to keep pace with the competition, it has opted instead to place studios in Kmart stores. Kmart's bankruptcy has complicated this shift in strategy, as Olan Mills has been forced to close studios in many Kmart locations. It continues to operate 125 free-standing studios in the United States and Puerto Rico and another 100 in the United Kingdom. The company is now starting to open studios in the stores of other retailers, such as Meijer's, Value City, and Toys 'R' Us. Olan Mills is owned by its chairman, Olan Mills II, the son of the company's founder.
Olan Mills moved its headquarters to Chattanooga, and new studios sprouted up across the country, virtually one or two every week. They were situated in major cities as well as such small towns as Opelika, Alabama; Puyallup, Washington; and Xenia, Ohio. In addition, new plants were opened and the service departments were upgraded. As had been the case throughout its history, Olan Mills embraced new technology, adding computers and laser scanners to its operations. Second generation ownership also targeted new markets. While the company got its start by focusing on baby pictures, it faced increased competition in the family segment and as a result branched into new areas. It became involved in the school and yearbook business, the lucrative church directory business, and later moved into glamour photography, an upper-end product for people who wanted a more glossy magazine look for themselves. In 1981, Olan Mills expanded overseas, establishing a business in the United Kingdom, transferring the same techniques that proved so successful in the United States. The company's national competition focused on the pre-school market, a segment which now accounted for less than 30 percent of Olan Mills' business. Where Olan Mills prospered was in the follow-up business as customers grew up. In the adult portrait market, no rival could match Olan Mill's name recognition, and the company held numerous advantages over the local mom-and-pop studios that served as its competition in this segment. Having given up on copying Olan Mill's telemarketing program, larger competitors elected to open small studios in retailers like Sears, JC Penney, and Wal-Mart.
Some 20 years after the Mills brothers took charge of the business, Olan Mills was generating approximately $475 million in annual sales, controlling about 10 percent of the $5 billion portrait photography business. Its closest competitor, CPI Corporation, had just half as much market share. However, starting in the mid-1990s, the conservatively run Olan Mills began to lose its grip on the market as the dynamics of the industry changed and the affiliation between studios and big box retailers became a key factor. Olan Mills' top three rivals had such deals: CPI Corporation with Sears, Lifetouch with JC Penney and Target stores, and PCA International Inc. with Kmart and Wal-Mart. With business falling off from more than 30 percent in revenues from its record year, Olan Mills shut down a Waco, Texas, plant and closed some 300 freestanding studios around the country. Then, in August 1998, the company took the plunge and signed a deal with Kmart to start opening studios in some of the retailer's stores, replacing the more downscale PCA operation. For Kmart, adding Olan Mills was part of a strategy to revitalize its business in the wake of the tremendous growth of Wal-Mart. Research indicated that Kmart was attracting customers with much less income than those who shopped at Wal-Mart, on average $10,000 to $20,000 less. To attract customers with more disposable income, Kmart decided to incorporate signature product lines, such as Martha Stewart, Disney, and Sesame Street. The Olan Mills' name was in keeping with this strategy.
The year 1998 was also a time of change for Olan Mills on another front. In January of that year, Charles Mills died, leaving his older brother in charge, although the chief executive responsibilities had been handled by a non-family member since 1990, with Olan Mills II serving as chairman. None of the children of the two brothers were actively engaged in the company's business with their involvement essentially limited to a "cousin's council," which received regular briefings on the state of the business from senior management.
Changes at Olan Mills continued in the final years of the 1990s. Wholly owned subsidiary Olan Mills School Portraits, Inc. was sold in early 1999 to Lifetouch National School Studios. Olan Mills had been involved in this segment since the 1960s but now management decided it would be wiser to focus its attention and resources on the more lucrative church directory business and its Kmart initiative. In addition, Olan Mills eliminated its telemarketing promotions and closed scores of freestanding studios to concentrate on its Kmart studios, leaving just 125 freestanding operations. According to the press, Olan Mills suffered through a poor year in 2001, although business rebounded in 2002.
When Kmart filed for bankruptcy early in 2002, Olan Mills was quick to assert that its portrait business would not be adversely impacted. While Kmart planned on closing several hundred of its more than 2,100 stores, most of these units were performing poorly, and Olan Mills had establishments located primarily in the more successful Big K superstores and other high-volume locations. All told, Olan Mills operated about 850 studios in the Kmart chain. Although losses were generally offset by the opening of new studios in surviving Kmart locations, problems at the giant retailer continued to worsen, and by early 2003 Olan Mills had lost close to 250 Kmart studios. To make up for this loss in business, Olan Mills began opening studios in Meijer's, Value City, and Toy 'R' Us locations. It also made other changes, including the elimination of a Springfield, Ohio, processing plant, the operations of which were consolidated with the main Chattanooga facility. With no third generation of the Mills family willing or ready to take over, and Olan Mills II well into his 70s, the future of the company faced a number of challenges.
Principal Divisions: Church Directories; Studio Portraits.
Principal Competitors: CPI Corporation; Lifetouch Inc.; PCA International, Inc.
Financial Highlights
Fiscal Year End: December
Statistics:
Private Company
Founded: 1932
Employees: 3,700 (est.)
Sales: $290 million (2001 est.)
NAIC: 541921 Photographic Studios, Portrait
Key Dates:
1932: The company is founded.
1938: The company's first permanent studio is opened.
1948: Telemarketing operations begin.
1972: A second generation assumes leadership of company.
1981: A UK operation is launched.
1998: Olan Mills studios open in Kmart stores.
1999: The company's school portrait business is sold.
Key People
• Chairman and CEO: Olan Mills II
• President and COO: David Butler
• VP Finance and CFO: Laura Carden
Contact Information
Address: 6060 Shallowford Rd.
Chattanooga, TN 37422