About Us
Photo courtesy of Adam Zaremba
Retail Imaging was founded in 2000 by Brad Eamon to provide field technical
support for the one hour photo labs in Fred Meyer stores in the Pacific
Northwest. The Retail Imaging business model provided a service team dedicated
exclusively to Fred Meyer that supports all photo devices present in the
department regardless of the manufacturer. This unique approach allowed Fred Meyer
to purchase photo equipment,
software, and consumable supplies and be free from the headaches associated with
requiring maintenance support from multiple vendors.
The Retail Imaging service model caught on and over the next ten years and
Ralph’s Grocery, Smiths Food and Drug, King Soopers, Duane Reade, Hi-School
Pharmacy, Rite Aid, Costco, and Sam’s Club all selected Retail Imaging to
develop and implement customized service packages for them.
Along the way Retail Imaging continued to respond to the requests from their
loyal customers. Some of the challenges presented to us by our customers that we
are most proud of include:
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Costco
asked Retail Imaging to develop a customized kiosk solution in 2003. We have now
sold over 3,000 kiosks and anticipate that our newest version the
Blade Digital Kiosk System (DKS) will
be our best seller yet.
-
Rite Aid
asked Retail Imaging to build a Call Center that could support not only the
wide assortment of equipment present in their stores but also provide advanced
technical support to their internal field service group. We responded to the
Rite Aid challenge and built the industry’s largest and only photo dedicated
Call Center.
-
PNI Digital Media asked Retail Imaging to build from the ground up a consumer
call center to support uploading images from home to the Costco, Wal-Mart
Canada, and Loblaws websites. PNI challenged us to be operational with-in six
weeks. We met the challenge and were successfully taking over 1000 calls per day
six weeks after the PNI request was made.
We learned early that if you are the low cost provider of products and services
and if you specifically tailored them to your customer’s unique needs, then you
will grow and prosper. The results speak for themselves. In the ten years since
Retail Imaging has been in business we have grown 400% in sales while the
industry as a whole has shrunk 50%. Our motto is “It Can Be Done” and we heartily
thank our great customers for giving us the opportunity to get the job done for
them! We are now over 200 people strong supporting the retail photo industry
from coast to coast.
Leadership Team
Brad Eamon
Chief Executive Officer
Brad Eamon is a graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota where he majored in history and literature. He went on to study theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He has been in the photo business since 1980. He began his professional career with Eastman Kodak in Rochester, New York and held numerous sales, marketing and business planning positions until 1999 when he left to found Retail Imaging Management Group. Currently Brad is focusing on strategic planning, financial management and new business development for Retail Imaging. In an effort to get closer to key customers and develop new business opportunities Brad will be relocating to the New York City area for the remainder of 2011. He is married with two children. His personal interests include snow-skiing, biking, tennis, literature, and the cinema.
Veronica Plance
Vice President of Account Management
Veronica Plance graduated with high honors from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon with a B.A. in Speech Communications and Psychology. She joined Retail Imaging in 2002 initially to develop and implement customized photo lab operator training programs. Currently, as the Vice President of Account Management, she oversees the direct Customer Relationships and Field Service Personnel for Fred Meyer, Duane Reade, Smith’s Marketplace, Hi-School Pharmacy and Maceys. She also leads our Sales Administration, Parts Order Dept, R&D and Software Development teams. Recently, Veronica became an equity owner with Retail Imaging as part of her commitment to continue to grow the company well into the future. She competes in several long-distance foot races each year, such as, the Portland Marathon and Hood-to-Coast Relay. She also enjoys hiking, camping, snow-shoeing, traveling and other outdoor activities with her husband and Saint Bernard..
Dale Owenby
President, Chief Operating Officer
Dale Owenby is a graduate of the Management Program at the University of Washington’s Graduate School of Business. Dale began his professional career and his photo industry experience at Gretag/CX (a division of Ciba Geigy Ltd.) in 1972. He has an extensive background in all aspects of operations, having held management positions in Manufacturing, Product Development, Strategic Planning, Engineering, Sales and Marketing. Dale joined Retail Imaging in 2006, as Sr. Vice President of Sales and Account Management, and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2007, and then to President, C.O.O. in 2008. Prior to joining Retail Imaging, Dale held positions at Fujifilm for approximately 12 years, focusing on National Retail Account Management in the photo imaging business. Dale also holds certifications as a Class I Certified Environmental Engineer, Certified Business Broker, and served as the President of the Professional Environmental Marketing Association (PEMA). Dale is an equity owner in Retail Imaging and is committed to the growth and development of the company. Dale served in the U.S. Air Force as an electronic technician and computer systems repairman during the Vietnam conflict. He moved to Portland in 2008, and is married and has two sons..
Jonas Sturr
VP, Sam’s Club Program Manager
Jonas joined Retail Imaging in 2003 as an account manager for Fred Meyer. In 2004 he was promoted to Regional Technical Manager and in 2006 Call Center Manager. He has been in the photofinishing industry for the last 14 years, his previous work experience includes retail store management for Ritz Camera and later a position as technical service manager. In 2009 Jonas was promoted to Sam’s Club Program Manager and currently leads a team of service technicians in support of Sam’s Club locations. In his off time Jonas enjoys taking pictures and hiking with his wife..