Apartment chain founder takes aim at photo 'minilabs'.

Apartment chain founder takes aim at photo `minilabs'

An entrepreneur who made his fortune in real estate wants to shrink the huge share of the photofinishing business that one-hour "minilabs" have captured.

Howard Ruby, chairman of Santa Monica-based Print Technologies Inc., is touting a tiny, $36,000 desktop film processing franchise system that he says can be installed in any retail store. Ruby figures the system will enable retailers to lure amateur photographers away from the one-hour photo labs, which in less than a decade have grabbed 40 percent of the $5 billion-a-year photofinishing industry.

Ruby introduced his tiny Photogo processors at the Photo Marketing Association International's convention in Las Vegas last month, hoping to reach 25 cities and 10 countries by the end 1990.

"Fifteen years ago, virtually all photofinishing was done it retail shops. This little machine will make it possible for retailers to re-enter the field of photo processing," said Ruby, 54, who launched Oakwood Garden Apartments and manages a $3 billion real estate portfolio today. "We've made the Photogo center so small it can fit behind the counter at a drug store, a video store or even a small kiosk in an office building. The price of installing a system is two to five times less than installing a minilab. And you can teach a clerk in a store how to work with the machine within a day."

About the size of a small office copier, the Photogo system needs no plumbing and little monitoring, Ruby says. It processes 12-, 24-, or 36-exposure rolls of 35mm color film -- a 24-exposure roll can be developed and printed in about 30 minutes. The system requires about 18 square feet of retail space.

"It could change the whole distribution pattern of photo processing," said an eager Ruby. "The beauty is that it doesn't try to do everything. The machine does 35mm film only. It doesn't do every size -- only 4-inch-by-6-inch prints. It may be limited, but then again the PC (personal computer) didn't try to do everything either."

Ruby's challenge: He must convince retailers, who would sink $36,000 into each Photogo machine, that they should be in the quick-processing business and that he will be able to service each franchisee effectively.

Cleveland-born Ruby started in real estate 30 years ago, building his first four-unit apartment building with $500 in seed money and lots of leverage. The self-described creator of the singles-only apartment building concept, Ruby's R&B Enterprises owns or operates over 35,000 units in 75 locations, as well as 13 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space in 81 U.S. locations.

And there already are some takers for his Photogo franchises. La Habra-based Alpha Beta Co., which offers overnight processing, has agreed to give the Photogo machine a four-month trial. The Alpha Beta at 10772 Jefferson Blvd. in Culver City is one of the 12 Photogo centers up and running in Los Angeles.

"From a volume standpoint this might be something to complement our next-day service," said Tom Cook, Alpha Beta's photo lab manager.

Among the other Photogo franchises sold by Print Technologies to Los Angeles retailers are at the Westwood Ho Market at 11666 National Blvd., Postal Parcels at 444 Lincoln Blvd. and Pacific Palisades Camera at 1014 Swarthmore Ave.

In the best of all possible worlds, Ruby said that 5,000 Photogo machines could be sold worldwide in 1990.