“Selling the action” – An interview with The Florida Times-Union

GLOSSY FINISH USES A PORTABLE PRINT SHOP TO STREAMLINE ITS ON-SITE PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS

By MARK BASCH, The Florida Times-Union

When a21 Inc. executive Haim Ariav left that company last spring, he knew he wanted to stay in Jacksonville, and he also knew he wanted to develop a new business idea. As it turned out, the former chief creative officer of a21 didn’t stray far from his roots in photography.

Ariav last August started a company called Glossy Finish, which focuses on taking professional photographs of youth sporting events.

That idea may not sound revolutionary, but what’s different about Glossy Finish is the way it markets and sells its photos to families of the young athletes. Ariav has customized a 32-foot trailer into a portable retail store that he takes to weekend tournaments. The trailer is equipped with 16 computer viewing stations where parents can view photos of their children in action, taken by freelance photographers hired by Glossy Finish. If they like the photos, the parents can purchase them at a cashier station and get them printed at a small graphics studio inside the trailer.

“It’s that instant gratification you don’t get when you use the Internet as your delivery system,” Ariav said.

“We can turn it around in five or 10 minutes.”

The company does also make photos available after the tournament through its Web site (www.glossyfinish.com). In fact, Ariav started the company as a portal for sports photographers to sell their images.

But he realized there was an opportunity to do more. Ariav had seen businesses trying to market photos on site at tournaments using laptop computers and tents, but it was a cumbersome project taking up to three hours to set up.

“I said there has to be a better way. Our set-up time [with the trailer ready to go] is literally 30 minutes.”

Glossy Finish contracts with tournament directors to be the official photographer for a weekend event. Ariav said the trailer can be used for a number of purposes, including corporate events. But right now he’s targeting the 8-to-12-year-old youth sports market, because that’s an age where parents like to collect photos of their children. The photographers capture not only team photos and action shots, but also candid close-ups of the athletes. “We try to cover every kid so we have a chance to sell to every family,” Ariav said.

Glossy Finish can print the photos in a variety of ways at a range of prices. For example, an 8-by-10-inch photo costs $18.

Back behind the lens

Ariav is a former fashion and beauty photographer who was recruited to a21 in 2000 when it was a start-up company looking for acquisition opportunities. The company three years ago acquired Jacksonville-based SuperStock, which provides photos and other images to the creative opportunity.

Ariav resigned from a21 last June with the intent of starting a new business.

“I’m more of the landscape architect than the groundskeeper,” he said. “I wanted to go back to a start-up mode.”

With the one trailer, Glossy Finish right now is somewhat limited in what it can cover. But Ariav thinks he has a unique business model that can be expanded to other cities.

“What we have is a potential franchise,” he said. “If it’s successful, we will start franchising.”

Originally published in The Florida Times-Union on Jacksonville.com.