Kodak's Qualex Processing to Close March 2009

Around here in Plano, my local Walmart uses Fuji labs, and has for at least the last year. They don't process in-store anymore, only send-out. So since I never got the nice Kodak boxen, I guess I won't know what I'm missing.

TerryM said:

Without Qualex, Super8 and small-scale independent Super16 users will be seriously harmed, and may have to quit Film.

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All movie and slide film put throug Qualex goes to Dwyane's photo (dwaynesphoto.com) in Parsons, Kansas. You can always mail it to Dwayne's yourself as many other users such as myself do.

Ektagraphic said:

All movie and slide film put throug Qualex goes to Dwyane's photo (dwaynesphoto.com) in Parsons, Kansas. You can always mail it to Dwayne's yourself as many other users such as myself do.

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The two-way return Postage to Dwayne's and back to Canada would be about $20-$25. I wouldn't be willing to spend that kind of money to use Super8. Kodak is making a big mistake in closing Qualex. This will make Film developing more expensive which will result in less Film use -- i.e. less Film sales for Kodak! Ilford Imaging in Switzerland has also made a big mistake by not buying into Qualex which would have enabled them to drastically expand use of their Ilfochrome in North America.

As Bob noted, Qualex made some poor business decisions. However, these mistakes could have been rectified over time if Kodak had given Qualex a little more time. It is now impossible to salvage Qualex as a Film Developing "Business". Kodak has been selling off its assets. I'm still going to try to find a purchaser for the Dallas Lab which can be used to expand Film developing services into Mexico. The Dallas Lab is perfectly located to serve Film customers in Mexico. I'm now talking to Fuji Canada about how they can take over Qualex's business in Canada, and take over Qualex's Canadian Store affiliates. Running a successful business requires smart people with good ideas -- which Qualex unfortunately lacked. For example, their pickup & delivery was 5 days a week! Had they been smart enough to reduce that to 2 days a week (Tuesday & Friday) and even 1 day a week for affiliates who would want that, they could have cut their delivery costs to their affiliates by 60% to 80%! That's just one example of how they could have adjusted to the diminished Film market without abandoning their customers. It's too bad that Kodak and Qualex have such dim-witted people running them.

How about WalMart send out??

WalMart in Canada

Ektagraphic said:

How about WalMart send out??

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Walmart in Canada no longer has any send out. They ended their relationship with Qualex a year ago, and they don't deal with Fuji. All they do is "in house" developing of 35mm -- nothing else. I'm going to try to convince Fuji to take over Qualex's customers, and to offer delivery to Dwaynes. So far they seem interested in expanding their business.

After Qualex lost my negatives, there response was very slow and inappropriate by both my standards and Costco's standards. I worked very hard with Costco, to get Costco to drop Qualex. After Qualex was dropped I contacted Qualex to let them know that their handling of me had an impact on getting them dropped. The response I got was "Oh, your were serious about following up on that problem."

Steve

Sirius Glass said:

After Qualex lost my negatives, there response was very slow and inappropriate by both my standards and Costco's standards. I worked very hard with Costco, to get Costco to drop Qualex. After Qualex was dropped I contacted Qualex to let them know that their handling of me had an impact on getting them dropped. The response I got was "Oh, your were serious about following up on that problem."

Steve

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Wanna know what the rest of their response was after you hung up the phone ?

Bob H

BobNewYork said:

Wanna know what the rest of their response was after you hung up the phone ?

Bob H

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So would I. I tried very hard to get Qualex to do a search for the lost negatives, described the content ... they frankly did not care. After their contract was canceled they wanted to know how to satisfy me! But they would not conduct a through search.

sigh
Steve

Urgent Information for Film Developers!

If you operate a Film Developing company in North America, you have the opportunity to purchase Film Developing equipment from Qualex for a bargain before it closes down in a week or so. Some of the available equipment is: Film Processors, Paper Processors, Splicers, and Optical Printers.

Contact the following Qualex Executive to enquire. Don't delay!
Mr. Bill Lapp
Director of Purchasing, Qualex Inc.
Phone: 919-382-2438, Fax: 919-382-2322
E-Mail: william.lapp@kodak.com

Sirius Glass said:

After Qualex lost my negatives, there response was very slow and inappropriate by both my standards and Costco's standards. I worked very hard with Costco, to get Costco to drop Qualex. ... Steve

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Steve,
I agree that there were problems with "quality" at Qualex which was the fault of Kodak for demanding excessive cost-cutting! For myself, in addition to scrupulously PRINTING my Name, Address & Phone Number on the Qualex Envelope -- don't use illegible handwriting, I also put this information on a piece of paper taped to the Film Cartridge Case -- just in case a worker misplaces that Envelope. I would suggest doing this for yourself as extra protection against loss.

TerryM, In your opinion, is there anything as far as equipment that a small professional lab might be interested in? I would assume one machine would not fit in our whole downstairs, but maybe I am wrong.

jerk151 said:

TerryM, In your opinion, is there anything as far as equipment that a small professional lab might be interested in? I would assume one machine would not fit in our whole downstairs, but maybe I am wrong.

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They should have some smaller Optical Printers. I'm not sure how big Splicers are. Give Bill Lapp an E-Mail, and ask him what smaller equipment is available, and what are the physical dimensions. It won't hurt to enquire.

TerryM said:

For myself, in addition to scrupulously PRINTING my Name, Address & Phone Number on the Qualex Envelope -- don't use illegible handwriting, I also put this information on a piece of paper taped to the Film Cartridge Case -- just in case a worker misplaces that Envelope. I would suggest doing this for yourself as extra protection against loss.

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One trick I heard of and used a lot many moons ago was to take one photo of a card with your name and address on it. That way, even if the film gets completely separated from its envelope and cartridge, the processed film will itself have the information needed to help somebody direct it home.

That said, I've never had this trick pay off, and of course it cost me a lot of exposures over the years.

Size of Equipment

jerk151 said:

TerryM, In your opinion, is there anything as far as equipment that a small professional lab might be interested in? I would assume one machine would not fit in our whole downstairs, but maybe I am wrong.

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I talked to Mr. Lapp, and he said that some equipment is as small as 4x3 feet.

Good News from Qualex!

I've got some great news about Kodachrome from Qualex whom I talked to today. I've been trying to find a buyer for Qualex's Labs to prevent this further loss to Film users in North America. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that at least one of the Labs can be saved. I asked him about what Kodachrome Developing Machines they still had -- I wanted to arrange to have them put in safe storage. Well, apparently Qualex gave their Kodachrome Machines to Dwayne's Photo -- including the Kodachrome Machines that were at the Swiss Lab! This is GREAT NEWS as I had feared that they might have been scrapped.

Suggestion for Film Labs

Jody, I wanted to suggest that you and other local Labs might borrow a page from Qualex's book to increase your business. You should approach some Grocery Stores that are within a half-hour's driving distance of your Lab, and ask them if they can operate a Film pickup / delivery service for you. It could be located at the checkout counter. They could charge a fee to the customer of perhaps 50 or 75 Cents per Order -- it would be up to them. You could undertake pickup / delivery one day a week, and charge an additional 50 Cents to the customer to cover travel costs. This arrangement of course would increase your business, and the Grocery Store would benefit by providing a convenience to their customers in addition to the small amount of revenue they would receive.
There would need to be a sign in the Store advertising "Film and Picture Processing", and you would want to provide the Store an information Sheet to clearly indicate all of the Films you develop and the sizes of Photographs you can print. You could also offer the service of producing a picture CD -- I would suggest charging $1 for the CD and then 10 Cents per Picture File ($3.40 for 24). Since you also do E-processing, I would suggest offering Ilfochrome Photographs from Slides. The Ilfochrome paper can be purchased from Ilford Imaging in the U. S. by calling 1-888-453-6731 or (201) 265-6000. This would help retain Slide customers.
Qualex conducted five day a week delivery which is too expensive and caused them to lose Stores, but one day a week would keep your travel costs low. One reason people go digital is because of the inconvenience of getting Film developed. Since everyone goes to the Grocery Store, this is the most convenient place for them to drop off Film.