In the press
1. PRESS RELEASE - March 2007
VAN ENDE & DEITMERS INVESTS IN ALBUMPRINTER
Amsterdam, March 22, 2007. Van den Ende & Deitmers Crossmedia Fund, the venture capital firm of Endemol founder Joop van den Ende and former Endemol Executive Board member Hubert Deitmers, acquires a 30% stake in Albumprinter, the leading European producer of photo books. Albumprinter expects to accelerate international growth .
Albumprinter, founded in 2001 and based in Amsterdam, produces professionally printed and bound books, calendars and agenda’s from digital pictures. Consumers simply download the award-winning Albumprinter software to lay-out their own personal photo books and upload the resulting project. In addition to its own Albumprinter.com label, the company also supplies leading European and US-based retailers with their own private labeled version.
International growth
Joris Keijzer, CEO of Albumprinter about the Van den Ende & Deitmers : “We can further accelerate our spectacular growth rate of the past three years and become the leading global photo book supplier. Van den Ende & Deitmers also brings a strong passion and access to a phenomenal network in different media sectors.”
Hubert Deitmers: ‘Albumprinter is uniquely positioned in a nascent market sector. We value the way the company has been able to build a market leading position. Combining our international experience will help Albumprinter in furthering its international ambitions.”
About Albumprinter
Albumprinter has evolved to the European leader in photo book solutions with customers in nearly all European countries. In 2006 Albumprinter started operations in the US, where is it poised to enjoy the same spectacular growth as it has seen in Europe.
About Van den Ende & Deitmers
Van den Ende & Deitmers is a venture capital firm that focuses on investments in West European companies with good international growth prospects through two venture capital funds, the Crossmedia Fund and the Crossborder Fund. The Crossmedia Fund is a so-called sector fund which focuses on content, social networks, e-commerce and ICT Services. The Crossborder Fund on the other hand, invests in already successfully established companies in their homeland -operational in any sector-, that are looking to expand in the international arena. In the past, stakes have been acquired in the television producer Eyeworks, the developer of interactive television formats Fruitlounge Media, the service provider in business process outsourcing Unamic and the crossmedia platform Bright.
For further information and/or interviews please contact:
Van den Ende & Deitmers
Hubert Deitmers
Phone +31 20 794 77 77
www.endeit.nl
Albumprinter
Mariette Neumann, PR
Phone +31 6 4640 7876
1. PRESS RELEASE - January 2007
Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy Chooses Albumprinter
Client-Based System Powers Mass Retailer’s
New Consumer Photo Book Offerings
Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy has selected the popular photo book creation system from Albumprinter Inc. to power its new Brooks Eckerd-branded consumer photo book service, according to Jim Dugan, Albumprinter’s Vice President for North American sales. The instructions and downloadable software are now available at www.bephotobooks.com.
Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy’s BE Photo Books is an easy-to-use, desktop program that allows consumers to turn their digital pictures – of weddings, vacations, teen parties and other memorable events – into attractive photo keepsakes from the convenience of their home computers. The user simply downloads the program onto their computer and drops their favorite images into a design template. The requested design is then printed and sent to the user within 10 business days, according to the companies.
Product options include quality hard-copy photo books, personalized calendars, trendy youth-oriented picture books, post cards and other photo-based keepsakes. The client-based version of Albumprinter software – Europe’s leading photo book program – is specially branded for Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy and provides the technological engine for the service, Dugan said.
“In this age of digital photography – when memory cards are lost, CDs are scratched and hard drives crash – we recognize that people want easy access to their pictures, and they enjoy creating cherished keepsakes from them,” said Jay Huber, Brooks Eckerd Manager for Photo Operations for Consumer Imaging. “Our goal has been to provide a system that enables our customers to print, share and preserve their family memories. With BE Photo Books, we now provide the bridge for customers to simply and creatively convert their prized digital photos into beautifully bound, printed photo books and other keepsakes.”
Growth, Profitability
“Albumprinter has done a great job creating feature-rich software that’s very intuitive and simple to use,” Huber continued. “They brought the years of experience they gained from developing and proving this software in Europe, and they worked with us to develop the products and market launch tools we needed. We’ve found that Albumprinter’s photo book system provides exactly what Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy wanted: growth potential, profitability, low capital investment and a very high degree of customer excitement. It’s wonderful when customers are truly excited about a new product, and that’s what we’re seeing with our BE Photo Books system.”
“Needless to say, we’re very excited to have the opportunity to partner with Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy,” Dugan said. “The BE Photo Books system provides an entirely new ‘touch point’ between Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy and its customers. Consumers downloading the free desktop application from the BE Photo Books site find that it’s easily accessible and frequently updated with new products and promotions. That means additional products and profits for Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy, and very satisfied Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy customers.”
To further enhance the consumer’s imaging experience, Pixel Magic Imaging Inc., which supplies Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy with walk-up photo kiosks, has installed Albumprinter’s Brooks Eckerd-branded software into its equipment, Huber said. That means picture CDs created on the Pixel Magic kiosks have a copy of the BE Photo Books software on them for subsequent use at home, he said.
How It Works
Consumers, photo hobbyists, even professional photographers can download the software from www.bephotobooks.com. From their personal computer, they organize and place their images using Albumprinter Editor, a highly intuitive design program that offers multiple page templates, themed “looks” and other design elements. They also can edit the images, add text, a table of contents and personal commentary to their photo layouts. When the photo book or other keepsake design is complete, the design is automatically uploaded, printed and shipped to the consumer. The photo book, calendar or other keepsake arrives in about 10 business days.
Huber said Albumprinter provided the best solution from among the vendors Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy investigated. “Albumprinter was able to produce samples at retail of the latest 12-by-12-inch wrap-around hard cover photo books. As a result, we were able to demonstrate these profitable, value-added products to our customers well before our competitors,” he said.
“Albumprinter also provided us with a complete marketing concept, providing us with counter cards, sample books, wall posters, finishing envelopes, circular and internet advertising – almost everything we needed to help ensure the project’s success,” Huber added. “This type of leadership is invaluable to us. In a rapidly developing market like photo books, choosing a partner who will keep Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy at the forefront of new products was critical. We’re satisfied that we’ve found that partner in Albumprinter.”
About Albumprinter B.V.
Founded in 2003, Amsterdam-based Albumprinter is now Europe’s leading provider of end-to-end solutions for the digital imaging industry. It is one of the first companies to offer both front- and back-end software to create and digitally print hard-cover photo books and other photo-related products – products that have earned it a PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award. Multiple business models include a unique easy-to-use client-based editor that resides on users’ computers, as well as an automated production system for photo finishers, photo labs, photo retailers, online photo companies and printing companies.
Visit www.albumprintersoftware.com for more information.
About Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy
The Jean Coutu Group (PJC) USA, Inc, which operates under the name Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy, is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Jean Coutu Group (PJC) Inc, the fourth largest drugstore chain in North America and the second largest in both the eastern United States and Canada. The Company and its combined network of 2,173 corporate and franchised drugstores (under the banners of Brooks and Eckerd Pharmacy, PJC Jean Coutu, PJC Clinique and PJC Santé Beauté) employ more than 60,000 people.
The Jean Coutu Group’s United States operations employ 46,000 people and comprise 1,853 corporate owned stores located in 18 states of the Northeastern, mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States
Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy
50-Service Avenue
Warwick, RI 02886
www.brookseckerd.com
2. AlbumPrinter selected as Editors' Choice for the second time
File: digital photo albums, January 2006
Hema, Albumprinter, Kruidvat and Albert Heijn all offer excellent albums. So to select a winner we have to consider the price, service and options. Albert Heijn charges 31.63 euros for a large photo album (21 x 30 cm) with 21 sheets (42 pages). At Kruidvat you pay 41.84 euros for an identical album. However, you have to collect it from one of their shops. The closest to the Hema and AlbumPrinter product is a 22 x 25 cm album with 20 sheets (40 pages). That costs 29.95 euros, including postage. AlbumPrinter offers more layout options and a greater choice of albums than Hema and is therefore selected as our Editors' Choice.
3. AlbumPrinter: fine quality
“The albums are classy and there is a large choice of backgrounds and themes. The printed faux leather cover looks very good. All photographs are possible in this format. A bleed photograph does not have a white border between the photograph and the edge. Such a De luxe album is not cheap. Expect to pay 50 euros, but you do get a beautifully bound album."
4. Anyone still making photo albums?
Gosh, a photograph album. Is anyone still making those? Does anyone still bring back sugar packets from holiday to stick them in an album? The last few grains always get stuck in the spine of the album. And you can't stick an e-ticket in an album. So perhaps we should all change to e-albums: photograph albums to view on your computer and which you distribute on CD or via the Internet. Or you can go for the analogue alternative. For example, www.albumprinter.com does an excellent job printing and binding the photo album you create with their software. The advantage is you get something physical in your hands (a relief in this virtual age) and it's easier to get out when the in-laws visit unexpectedly.
5.AlbumPrinter preferred choice
“Only AlbumPrinter offers the option to add a full page of text (e.g. a travelogue). AlbumPrinter has the most luxurious product. The album has a hard cover and is sewn. The AlbumPrinter one is the most attractive and possibly also the most durable.”