Articles on Kodak branded merch

warden

Subscriber
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Messages
3,033
Location
Philadelphia
Format
Medium Format
NYT behind a paywall, probably.

The article states that Kodak earns approximately $20 million/year licensing their name to products.


"Its ubiquity is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in South Korea, where there are 123 and counting brick-and-mortar stores that just sell products from Kodak Apparel, the name of the clothing line. There are no Kodak Apparel stores in the United States."​
​

Kodak Corner Shop in Korea has vintage-style graphic tees & more

Kodak Corner Shop in Korea is Kodak's flaghship merch store with vintage-style graphic tees, bags, caps, and so much more!
confirmgood.com
 

David Lindquist

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 18, 2006
Messages
281
Location
California foothills
Format
4x5 Format
Many years ago, maybe the late 1970's, I got a Kodak beach towel and one of those insulated bags. Still have the beach towel; it covers my dry-mount press. I'm probably not the only one who feels that if this ploy aids Kodak's financial viability and thereby contributes to their continuing to make film, well I'm all for it.

David
 

Alan Edward Klein

Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2017
Messages
9,444
Location
New Jersey formerly NYC
Format
Multi Format
Bell and Howell, another former famous camera manufacturer, sells its name too for odd ball products. This happens a lot. You;ve heard of Klein Tools?
 

abruzzi

Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2018
Messages
3,056
Location
New Mexico, USA
Format
Large Format

It made look to see if I could get Kodak Apparrel in the US, which seems harder than it should be. I had to look on ebay, but my worry would be low quality knockoffs. I just would love a yellow t-shirt with the red Kodak logo like this:

 

MattKing

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Apr 24, 2005
Messages
52,873
Location
Delta, BC Canada
Format
Medium Format
I've seen some of this apparel in stores in a mall - although as I'm rarely in a mall, that might be a thing in the past as well.
I see more Kodak branding on things like portable SSD hard drives:
e.g.:
 

Alan Edward Klein

Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2017
Messages
9,444
Location
New Jersey formerly NYC
Format
Multi Format
MattKing said:
I've seen some of this apparel in stores in a mall - although as I'm rarely in a mall, that might be a thing in the past as well.
I see more Kodak branding on things like portable SSD hard drives:
e.g.:
View attachment 401998
Click to expand...

Kodak makes batteries, too. Don't know if they do it directly or just sell their name out.
 

Alan Edward Klein

Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2017
Messages
9,444
Location
New Jersey formerly NYC
Format
Multi Format
abruzzi said:
It made look to see if I could get Kodak Apparrel in the US, which seems harder than it should be. I had to look on ebay, but my worry would be low quality knockoffs. I just would love a yellow t-shirt with the red Kodak logo like this:
Click to expand...

Check this

Amazon.com: Vintage 'We Sell Kodak Film' Retail sign design T-Shirt : Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry

Buy Vintage 'We Sell Kodak Film' Retail sign design T-Shirt: Shop top fashion brands T-Shirts at Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY and Returns possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com
 

MattKing

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Apr 24, 2005
Messages
52,873
Location
Delta, BC Canada
Format
Medium Format

cmacd123

Subscriber
Joined
May 24, 2007
Messages
4,312
Location
Stittsville, Ontario
Format
35mm
Alan Edward Klein said:
Bell and Howell, another former famous camera manufacturer, sells its name too for odd ball products. This happens a lot. You;ve heard of Klein Tools?
Click to expand...

I think that name was sold off many years ago to a company that just licenses names. all the b&h business, Mail Room Equipment, Micro-graphics, and yes even film projectors, were sold or closed years ago. the brand mostly appears as BELL+HOWELL on goods that probably have both founders spinning in their graves.
 

Agulliver

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2015
Messages
3,550
Location
Luton, United Kingdom
Format
Multi Format
As others have said, no part of Kodak manufactures batteries. Strand Europe is a fairly longstanding licencing company which has a history of putting familiar, trusted names on mid quality items. The Kodak branded batteries are often found in Poundland over here in the UK, £1 or £2 for a pack of 8 or 10. Duracell they are not, but they are fine for remote controls, pocket radios, wi-fi keyboards/mice etc.

Strand distribute a number of items with the Kodak brand...the batteries have been particularly successful. They also market Kodak branded inkjet photo paper. The torches/flashlights seem appropriate. Things like media players and headphones kind of make sense....razors, less so. But at the end of it, as long as the products are fit for purpose it's more exposure for the Kodak name and logo.

I've seen Kodak branded socks appearing in my social media feed. I might just buy some.
 
OP
OP

warden

Subscriber
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Messages
3,033
Location
Philadelphia
Format
Medium Format
abruzzi said:
It made look to see if I could get Kodak Apparrel in the US, which seems harder than it should be. I had to look on ebay, but my worry would be low quality knockoffs. I just would love a yellow t-shirt with the red Kodak logo like this:
Click to expand...
The stuff at the Korean store looks high quality, and is priced accordingly. (Some tees over $80USD)

I can see why these all-Kodak stores probably wouldn't fly in the US, but many of the items in the Korean stores look great to me.
 

Daniël Oosterhuis

Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2017
Messages
23
Location
Earth
Format
Multi Format
I have seen the Korean Kodak merchandise before, when looking into Kodamatic cameras (for the purposes of making those shoot Instax film).
They actually have (or had, not sure if this is still on sale) a jacket + pants set based on the Kodamatic 980L, which I find highly amusing given the history of Kodamatic film and how it ended in a nearly billion dollar payout to Polaroid.



You'd figure Kodak would want to completely forget about that chapter of their history...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…