Simply Color Lab

April 01, 2012 — Simply Color Lab
www.simplycolorlab.com
Akron, OH
877-803-6366 / info@simplycolorlab.com

Adam Fried started a company with one large-format printer out of a garage in 2005. He called the startup Simply Canvas and, true to its name, it sold gallery wrapped canvases to professional photographers. Simply Canvas grew rapidly, moved into a new building, and began hearing requests for more services. Customers wanted the company to handle paper prints also, for instance.

“Basically after the first four years in business, we realized our customers love us for our quality and customer service, so what other products could we offer them?” Fried says. So in 2009, he launched Simply Color Lab. “We decided to be a one-stop shop for professional photographers,” Fried says. “Anything they need to be successful, we print for them.”

Simply Color, which now operates out of a 45,000-square-foot facility with about 60 employees, spent much of 2011 introducing new lines to become a full-service lab that includes the Simply Canvas brand. Now the company also offers products like digital paper prints, fine art books, press-printed items, canvas backdrops and custom framing.

The lab plans to expand its offerings this year with custom-printed DVDs and DVD cases, metal prints, standouts and photo boxes. Simply Color also expects to launch a Web-based studio management and online ordering system.

Meanwhile, offering good customer service still remains important to Fried. “We open up every image that comes in, and if it’s not going to look great, we don’t print it,” Fried says. The company will contact the customer to see if the problem can be fixed. He says, “My attitude is, if I wouldn’t hang it on my wall, I’m not going to send it out.”