DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Anabel Chen handles digital imaging, restorations, and birthday and wedding invitations for Fromex One Hour Photo Systems in Kailua. She runs the business with her husband, Kai, back, who started out with Anabel's brother.

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Family photo business
the picture of adaptation
to digital snapshots

Kai and Anabel Chen now do
90% of their work in digital photos

Several years ago, the husband-wife team of Kai and Anabel Chen took a mental snapshot of their photo finishing business and decided the picture wasn't quite right.

They already were offering quality and customer service to set them apart from their larger competitors, but that wasn't enough in a photography world where technology was evolving to digital.

So the Chens looked into the digital phenomenon and the answer became obvious about what they needed to do. They had to invest in the equipment to go digital, too.

"That has had a major impact on our business," said Kai, who together with Anabel operates Fromex One Hour Photo Systems in Kailua. "Since then, we've enjoyed a lot of success from digital photo. Based on the last two years of sales volume that we've had, I would say that 90 percent of our business comes from digital."

Kai got his start in the business when he partnered with Anabel's brother, Arthur Lo, to open the shop in 1990 at its current Oneawa Street location across from Zippy's. In the mid-1990s, Kai and Anabel bought out Lo's stake in the company.

Still, it hasn't been easy for them as stores like Longs and Safeway entice customers with low-cost photo processing services.

"It's always a challenge because we can't compete with them in terms of prices," Kai said. "So we focus a lot on personal service. We try to focus on things that they don't do. We have a lot of services that Longs and Safeway don't offer, which is more of a personal type of service where we sit down with the client and find out exactly what they want and take the time to evaluate their needs and work with them."

Among Fromex's services are film processing, digital imaging, restoration, passport pictures, birthday and wedding invitations and enlargements, as well as personalized cards like Christmas cards, thank-you cards and Valentine's Day cards.

Although Fromex is on one of Kailua's main thoroughfares, it is not anchored by a supermarket or drug store that could increase foot traffic. Nevertheless, Kai is reluctant to move because customers are familiar with the shop's location and the Chens have a good relationship with the landlord.

"Not everybody knows us because we're in a strange location," Kai said. "Plus, we don't do a lot of advertising because our business is basically word of mouth. But we've been blessed because more and more people enjoy our business and they refer their friends."

Anabel, who handled the paperwork and finances at first, has grown with the business and now takes care of digital imaging, restorations, birthday invitations and wedding invitations among other things.

"We can give fast service," Anabel said. "We can do film processing in 30 minutes, and especially with digital people can wait for it. They just give me the digital media cards and I can do it right away."

Anabel said she enjoys the flexibility provided by a family business and the time it gives her and her husband to spend with their two children, Cassandra, 16, and Justin, 13.

"We can schedule when to open and close," she said. "And we can decide the pricing if people come in and want a discount."

Kai, a business management major at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, always had considered his passion for photography to be a hobby rather than a livelihood. But the opportunity to invest in Fromex came along after he got out of school and Kai said he decided to "give it a shot."

"I'm always amazed by what a camera can do and the technology behind it, and the opportunity (to get involved with the business) came at the right time," he said.

Even though digital has overtaken firm as the preferred method for taking pictures, Kai said customers often need help in getting their photos printed.

"A lot of people have digital cameras nowadays, but they have a hard time printing on their own," he said. "It's a little different from a regular camera. When they come in, we basically educate them and try to show them and save them money when they print with us rather than doing it on their own. When they do their own prints, it often doesn't come out as it should be, and they do a lot of color corrections and the printing paper is expensive."

Kai said he "definitely" agrees with the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words because he never knows what he'll see when he comes in to work each day.

"Sometimes, when I come in on a good day and look at pictures and see people with angry expressions, sometimes I wish that they can be in my position and be happy," he said.

"Pictures show the expressions of how people are feeling that day. Sometimes, people bring in pictures because they were in an accident and it was someone else's fault and you can see the pain in their face. They're trying to get a picture so they can file a lawsuit. And vice versa, sometimes when I come in and feel down, I look at pictures and see people laughing and I wish my day was like that."

All in all, though, Kai said he considers himself blessed.

"A lot of my friends work for people or do something they don't really enjoy," he said. "But for myself, I'm really fortunate because I'm able to combine my pastime and start a business on my own. I'm able to do something I enjoy doing. That's really a great satisfaction for me."