Dwayne's is an interesting place. They were around for years before anyone
not in the photofinishing business had heard of them. Their business was
photofinishing for small town drug and food stores and the like. They had
route men that drove from place to place to pick up and deliver. Somewhere
along the line, Dwayne got smart.
Parsons is a small town about an hour and a half from me. It is totally
lacking in any form of distinction, but is like every other little place
that lacks major manufacturing and access to an interstate highway. If they
have a hundred employees, which I don't doubt, then they are likely one of
the area's biggest employers. At the same time that they were servicing the
retail photo business, there were three large operations here. Now? None.
We once had four pro labs. Now one. Like our remaining lab, Dwayne decided
to evolve rather than face the fate of our now-petroleum ancestors. I'm told
that he still does thousands of discs each month. He still prints 126 and
110. He still does slides, even if he does use the crappy paper mounts. From
a regional supplier, he has grown to a national resource. I think he
probably deserves to be a business school example.
That said, remember: he is a retail photofinisher. Not a pro lab. He's good
at what he does, but he caters to the mass, cookie-cutter market. Don't
expect too much in the way of special services.
Bill Pearce
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