CPI Corp. acquires Bella Pictures

 

By Kavita Kumar, 314-340-8017, kkumar@post-dispatch.com

www.STLtoday.com

January 28, 2011 12:01 pm

 

 

St. Louis-based CPI Corp. announced today that it is entering the wedding photography industry with the acquisition of Bella Pictures.

Bella Pictures, which is based in San Francisco, Calif., offers wedding photography and videography services in most major U.S. markets through a network of nearly 1,000 photographers.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. CPI said it had "substantially" acquired all of the assets of the company.

"We are very excited to enter the $6 billion dollar wedding photography and videography industry and significantly expand our mobile photography operations," said David Meyer, CPI's chairman, in a statement. "CPI's strong digital capabilities and infrastructure combined with Bella's outstanding customer service skills and extensive wedding experience will allow us to provide exceptional value to brides across a wide spectrum of offerings and price points."

Last year, CPI bid $2.6 million at an auction for the assets of Kiddie Kandids, a Utah-based company that operated photo studios in Babies R Us. Kiddie Kandids was in bankruptcy and had closed its studios. But since taking it over, CPI has re-opened many of the photo studios.

CPI runs about 3,000 portrait photo studios mostly in Sears and Walmart.

It has been battling declining sales recently, with a 5 percent dip in sales during the holiday season. And in third quarter, CPI lost $7.7 million and revenue dropped 1 percent.

Officials have blamed the weak performance on the struggling economy, which has led many of its customers to cut back on family portraits.