You probably never heard of it but if you had any film developed during yesteryear you probably used their service without even realizing it.
Qualex was a subsidiary of Kodak. Its primary purpose was to develop film and process prints, mostly as an overnight service. Nearly every major retailer who offered send-out film processing used Qualex. It was founded in 1988 as a joint venture with Fuqua Industries (later Actava Corporation), but Kodak bought it out entirely in 1994 for $150 million with an additional $218 million debt assumption. Until that year, Kodak was legally barred from having majority ownership in photo processing – known as “bundling” – in a law dating back to 1921.
At its peak, Qualex operated 53 regional photo processing facilities across the U.S. and Canada with annual sales exceeding $1 billion. It was down to 22 facilities in 2004 as the shift in digital eroded the film business. Even at that, Qualex still serviced more than 13,000 stores, from local independents to national chains like Target and CVS. The film just had to travel further to be processed, and in some cases became a two- or three-day turnaround instead of overnight. Five years later, in 2009, Qualex shuttered its final three facilities.
Send-Out Service
When you wanted a roll of standard C-41 film developed into prints, you had two primary choices. One was to pay a pretty penny for one hour finishing, or in some cases marketed as same-day service. The other, and more popular option because of its lower cost, was overnight processing.
When dropping off your roll of film, you’d fill out an envelope with your contact information and elect various options. One option was the size of print, which until the 1990s was most commonly 3.5”x5” and then 4”x6” became predominant, mostly coinciding with the decline of the smaller 110 film’s popularity in favor of 35mm, also known as 135 film. You’d also choose between singles or doubles, although you could order as many copies as desired. Most retailers offered doubles for only a marginal upgrade or even free – although the free doubles usually came with an extra day or two turnaround time. A later option was a premium upgrade, most commonly marketed as Kodak PerfectTouch, which included thicker paper, index print, sleeved negatives, and enhancements like automatic red eye reduction for a slightly higher cost.
After completing the envelope and depositing your roll of film into it – one roll per envelope, you’d deposit the envelop in some kind of drop which was collected daily by a Qualex driver to be transported to a regional processing facility, processed, and returned to the same store usually the very next day as long as you made the drop deadline.
On-Site Service
Qualex wasn’t entirely overnight service. It also stocked and serviced one-hour photo labs, stocking the chemicals and paper supply while also leasing and maintaining the photo equipment. So, in most cases, regardless of whether you had your film developed in an hour or overnight, you utilized Qualex in some capacity. The only difference was who was doing the processing – a Qualex regional facility or a retail store.
Comparing Service Options
Of course, the biggest advantage of send-out service compared to in-store service, when available, was cost. A standard set of doubles for send-out service was about $6.99 compared to $9.99 for one-hour service. Sometimes an in-store lab’s limitations necessitated send-out too. For instance, maybe the in-store lab didn’t stock matte paper.
The quality difference between in-store finishing and send-out varied greatly depending on the store. Generally speaking, the on-site labs produced slightly better quality, but that depended on the local lab’s staff diligence. Chemicals needed to be tested and replenished regularly… the machines cleaned and maintained. Busier one-hour labs were usually better quality than slower labs because the chemicals were replenished faster, again assuming other maintenance was being taken care of properly.
Qualex’s Inevitable Failure?
People blame Kodak for failing to adapt to digital, but it knew doing so would end business as it knew it. Certainly, Kodak earned significant revenue from film itself, but Kodak made most of its revenue from film processing, which digital has no need for.
Personal Reflection
I worked in the photo labs of both CVS and Kmart back in the day. The CVS stores did much more one-hour processing than send-out, but at the Kmart store I worked at, we averaged anywhere from 30-50 rolls daily sent to Qualex overnight. At Christmas, we’d get hundreds daily. I remember once it was more than 1,000 rolls in a single day. Our counters and floors would literally be full of trays of completed photo envelopes. At first, Qualex transported our local film orders about 100 miles north, then once that facility closed orders traveled 200 miles east, and then when that one closed a whopping 450 miles east.
Some footage featured from this source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTl_v58Wsz0
