Archiver's Memory Lab and Achiver's Chapter 11

                                                


Ok, last Friday's ScrapMania, I tried the new Memory Lab. You have to set up a free account with the Memory Lab to be able to print photos. I had an email that gave me some money off my photos for trying the new Lab. I had my camera and its memory card so I easily upload some photos to view before ordering. I had selected the photos I wanted to order but I had neglected to select the quantity of the photos. So I had to select the photos again, adding the quantity this time. I didn't realize that I could choose matte or glossy so my photos were matte. The Archiver's clerk was too busy to help me with the whole process of getting to know the new lab. It is similar to the Kodak or Sony kiosks but slightly different.  But once I had placed the order, she quickly processed my order. The lab was a computer setup with several options of linking various memory cards to the computer and very similar to ordering online with Shutterfly or Walgreen's.

Here's Archiver's price list for photos. They can do scrapbook pages, cards, and calendars and more as they add more products to the Memory Lab. The photo list is below. I think the prices are about the same as going to Walgreen's or Shutterfly before their coupons and sales. Archiver's prices will be high if they don't have a coupon or percentage off. The Memory Lab will be OK for me when I need one or two photos as I'm creating a layout but I'm not sure I would use it for lots of photos. Walgreen's will still get most of my quick-need photos and Shutterfly will be my go-to online developer when I have lots and lots of vacation photos to print. The price list is longer than shown here but it included pricing for other items that I don't need right now so I didn't add the other pricing.

The Memory Lab printed the photos nicely. They felt differently than other photos - smoother. The colors were good but maybe could have been a bit sharper. The Lab didn't add any marking to the back of the picture, which I do like. The Lab might have an option to do that but I didn't think of when I did my first order.

Standard Prints

Product	Price
4x6 Matte	$0.29
4x6 Glossy	$0.29
5x7 Matte	$1.49
5x7 Glossy	$1.49
6x8 Matte	$1.99
6x8 Glossy	$1.99

Square Prints

Product	Price
4x4 Print	$0.29
8x8 Print	$1.49
12x12 Print	$2.99

Enlargements

Product	Price
8.5x11 Print	$1.49
8x10 Print	$1.49
11x14 Print	$2.99
12x18 Print	$2.99
13x19 Print	$2.99

 

 Archiver's Chapter 11

Here's part of an email from Archiver's. They are going through Chapter 11. I guess that is why they had been closing several stores this first part of the year. The Easton store where I scrap at Table 7 is doing well and Archiver's main office is working to fix its finances. I do hope that Archiver's will make good changes. Most of the LSS had gone out of business and I personally think that it is due to the big box stores and Archiver's. Joann's and Michael's have increased their scrapbook/paper crafts aisles and have coupons all the time. Hopefully, Archiver's can develop a competitive coupon policy and maybe more/better sales. I have noticed more sales - they have this weekend where you buy any patterned paper sheet and get one sheet free. I will be missing that sale this weekend due to some family fun.




Well, thanks for listening to my opinions and reviews. Go try the Memory Lab. Explore it before you really need to order photos.

SandyBear

A Big Change at Archiver's

Archiver's has been working for weeks on their new Memory Lab, which seems like a good idea for a place called Archiver's. I think there have been lots of people looking to print photos so they can also get the right stuff to store the photos safely. And there is not a place in Easton to get print developed (Walmart is across the road and so is Target). But the Lab also doesn't seem to really belong in Archiver's because most scrapbookers (that I notice on ScrapMania nights) get their photos developed by Shutterfly or Snapfish. Hopefully, Archiver's will have a good price on the Lab development. Their photo copying of 12x12" pages and the Sony and Kodak photo machines' photo development are rather expensive.

 The store have been using one of the restrooms for a storage closet as they rearranged the store for the new Lab. That has been a pain during the full house ScrapManias, especially the week the open restroom wasn't working.  They discontinued the Sony photo machine and the Kodak Picture Maker, though the machines are still in the store. They had to move practically all the items in the store to empty one of the display bays. They had a training session the other night but I heard the trainer was running late so

 I'm not sure the session went as planned.

On Friday night, one of the new croppers was trying to use the new Memory Lab. 

But the new Lab wasn't working right. The lady had forgotten her photos and was trying to print some so she had something to work on. But the Lab wasn't working and the Sony and Kodak machines were not available either.

Here's a couple of pictures of the Memory Lab. It took over the area where wedding and birthday items used to be and a lot of racks of paper. The moving of all the items has made the store a bit crowded and you can't find stuff. The Lab seems like a lot of space for what little equipment is really in the area. It looks like a photo area for Walgreen's or Walmart.  It seems like the area is missing a big table in the middle of the empty space. I don't know what I was expecting for the Lab but I'm not sure this was it. I didn't explore the area as they were having a glitch in it. I was surprised that we didn't get a coupon when we signed in for the ScrapMania.

Hopefully, next week, the new Memory Lab will be working better and I get a better look at it all. I'll let you know next week.