Atlanta Canvas and Print

I was the former Quality Control manager for a very large volume photo lab in Tennessee. Retirement from that career allowed me to raise cattle and life was good! It was however boring…

My family and I decided to return to Atlanta and purchase a small photo lab there in Decatur. I have always enjoyed startup and organizational challenges and wanted to live near my daughter and Grandkids. The really old and outdated equipment and physical plant from that purchase was not totally usable, so I had to move what was capable and proceeded to place it in a more convenient location in nearby Tucker, GA. By this time the industrial changeover to digital was in high gear and vendors eagerly figured out how to convince entrepreneurial types to gear up in a conversion mode! The new system really put my business on the map. While the technology format was new, the old procedural policies were sound and good quality prints become available with a much faster delivery capability. My labor was cut from 18 people to 9. Big boost to the bottom line. Upon selling this business I started Atlanta Canvas and Print. Digital was in a solid position now to increase quality and decrease labor. However, the way to be found as a business was much more difficult for me with all the website and marketing responsibility. I have many longtime customers, but the need to gather new business (customers) still exists. I have begun to offer large prints as a new product and have achieved a little improvement mainly because it is an unusual offering with fewer competitors. Shipping is also a difficult hurdle with the inherent high cost now associated with labor and transportation. I have begun to offer unmounted canvas prints to customer to allow them to ship more inexpensively and to have the print mounted locally after cheaper shipping. This is usually through the USPS service.