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Lifetouch history
Lifetouch company history timeline
Lifetouch became the world’s largest photography company “one portrait at a time”. The Lifetouch story began in 1936, when Bruce Reinecker and Eldon Rothgeb made plans to bring their “School Photography of Distinction” to one-room schoolhouses throughout rural Minnesota.
In 1939, the company began offering enlarged three- by five-inch photos.
1940's1940’s: Partnership Model Rapid expansion through partnerships with regional photographers
1950's1950’s: Color PhotographyCompany pioneers use of color in school photographs
Erickson joined the company in Michigan in 1955 as a salesman/photographer who drove from town to town.
In 1968 the company began to offer the eight- by ten-inch enlargement as part of the packages available to customers, which resulted in the company nearly doubling its sales.
Following Eldon’s death in 1972, Richard Erickson, one of the more successful territory managers, joined Bruce in running the Company.
Along with the company’s growth at this time came the implementation, in 1976, of a new paper conservation program, which cut waste by 61 percent in the first year.
Especially important to the company’s development, however, was Reinecker’s initiation in 1977 of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), which transferred 100 percent ownership of the company to its employees.
19781978: ESOP FormedBruce Reinecker, Founder, gives full ownership to employees
In 1983, National School Studios purchased the studio business of Kinderfoto.
The name change was one of the first major decisions made by a new leader, Richard P. Erickson, who had become chairman and CEO of the company in 1983.
19841984: Lifetouch Inc.Company is renamed Lifetouch
Bruce Reinecker, the remaining company founder, died in 1987.
1990's1990’s: ExpansionProducts and services offering greatly expanded
In 1993, T.D. Brown began investing in digital imaging photographic equipment and created an electronic tracking system to streamline the process for identifying individual photos among the thousands in production at any given time.
In 1994, Lifetouch entered the church photography market by acquiring United Photographic Industries.
By 1994, then, Lifetouch had become the largest school photography business in the country; it also stood as the fourth largest retail photography operation, close behind the photography companies allied with Wal-Mart, Sears, and Kmart.
Adding to its school photo business, its studios inside J.C. Penney stores, and its yearbook publishing business, in 1994 Lifetouch decided to jump on the next bandwagon of retail photography opportunities with a move into the adult market and the growing area of glamour photography.
In July 1998, Lifetouch finalized the purchase of a major competitor in school photography, T.D. Brown, of Cranston, Rhode Island.
Yanity, Kathleen, “Rhode Island-based School Photo Studio Is Sold to Minnesota Competitor,” Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News, August 19, 1998.
In the spring of 2001, Express Digital, with headquarters in the metropolitan area of Denver, Colorado, signed a long-term contract with Lifetouch to provide software, ongoing support, and custom development for its digital portrait studios.
In 2002, the year in which Paul Harmel was named chairman and CEO, the company officially entered the digital era with the launch of a new studio concept, FLASH! Digital Portraits.
In 2003, the yearbook publishing arm of the company had invested $12 million for expansion into the secondary yearbook market.
In 2004 Life-touch began a partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and schools around the United States to unveil a rapid-response system and child safety program called SmileSafe Kids.
In the academic year 2005-06, more than 10,000 schools used online tools developed by Lifetouch to design and produce high-quality yearbooks.
20182018: Shutterfly Inc.Shutterfly purchased Lifetouch for $825MM
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Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Lifetouch, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Lifetouch. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Lifetouch. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Lifetouch. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Lifetouch and its employees or that of Zippia.
Lifetouch may also be known as or be related to Lifetouch, Lifetouch Church Directories and Portraits and Shutterfly Lifetouch LLC.