The History of Olan Mills
Olan Mills is a photographic company best known for portraiture work. Founded by Olan Mills Sr. and his wife, Mary, in 1932, the company created an "instantly recognizable" portrait style: "the black and white bust vignette with airbrushed background." According to the Olan Mills website, each portrait was hand-signed and featured the Olan Mills logo. Today, Olan Mills Photography operates 125 studios in the United States and is the "worldwide leader in portrait photography," according to Trintech.com.
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Early History
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Olan Mills and his wife founded the Olan Mills company in Selma, Alabama, in 1932. Initially, the couple worked out of an old woodshed that they had converted into a darkroom. Mills and his wife began by restoring photographs but they already had plans to create studio-quality portraits that were "available to the average person." In order to promote this portrait "concept," the couple went door-to-door and took photographs in customers' homes. The photos were processed at a "bankrupt studio" in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. According to Fundinguniverse.com, Mary Mills put her "distinctive touch" on the photos by adding color which gave them a more "refined" look. By 1935, the Mills had created the definitive "bust vignette" style that would characterize Olan Mills portraiture.
1st Permanent Studios
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In 1938, Olan Mills opened its first permanent studios in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and Terre Haute, Indiana. By 1940, the company would have studios in 29 states, along with a growing stable of photographers. But World War II slowed the growth of the company and presented problems. As a result of the military's need for raw material and spare parts, Olan Mills salespeople had difficulty getting gasoline to travel their sales routes. But there was a bigger problem: film and development chemicals were becoming difficult to obtain. But Mills devised a solution. This was a film innovation called "four-way sliding backs." This film could accommodate four separate photos on one 5 x 7 piece of film.
But while the war caused some problems for the company, it also provided some opportunities. Mills took advantage of the military bases that were opened across the country by opening nearby photo studios, as there was a huge demand for photographs to be taken of service men and women. -
Telemarketing
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Olan Mills also has the (perhaps dubious) distinction of being one of the first companies to use telemarketing as a selling tool. According to a story related in the Fundinguniverse.com website, one of the Mills salesmen overheard someone "pitching his product" over the telephone. The Mills salesman tried this technique to sell photos and his weekly sales rocketed 400 percent. Olan Mills seized upon the concept of sales by telephone, and installed additional phone lines and hired telephone salesmen. Although other companies gravitated toward this new selling technique, none of them "possessed the same level of commitment" to what would become known as "telemarketing."
Second Generation
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In the 1960s, Olan Mills II and Charles George Mills began to assume "greater control over the family business," and in 1972, the sons took over the business entirely. According to Fundinguniverse.com, Olan Mills II owned 51%, while his brother owned 49%. At the time they assumed control, Olan Mills Sr. was making $20 million a year.
New Headquarters
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The Mills brothers moved the company headquarters to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Olan Mills studios opened across the country, in both cities and small towns. Like their father, the brothers used new available technology, implementing computers and laser scanners to their operation. They also focused on new markets, such as school yearbooks, glamour photography and church directories. In 1981, Olan Mills opened a U.K. branch in Northhamptonshire which would remain in business until early 2009.
Financial Problems
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Since its founding , Olan Mills had long had a firm hold on the photography market. But in the mid-1990s, Olan Mills began to lose this grip, as its competitors signed lucrative deals with corporations such as Sears, JCPennney and Target. In 1998, Olan Mills did the same, by signing with Kmart. In this same year, Charles Mills died, leaving Olan in charge. Also around this time, Olan Mills sold part of the business, Olan Mills School Portraits, so that the company could focus on its partnership with Kmart and the new "church directory" market. But Kmart would file for bankruptcy protection in 2002, and Olan Mills lost "close to 250 Kmart studios," according to Fundinguniverse.com. To offset this loss, the company opened studios in Toys R Us stores.
U.K. Stores Close
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In December 2009, the BBC announced that Olan Mills had become the "latest High Street casualty," and that all of its U.K. stores would close. At the time of this announcement, Olan Williams had 34 stores in England and Wales.
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