MirkoBoeddecker
Good news.
We’ve got through the first round and made a profit.
The insolvency administrator has authorised a provisional arrangement for production ;)
At the same time, the factory is being downsized and employees who are no longer eligible for protection are being made redundant (with severance pay where possible).
Initial talks with potential investors are set to follow.
We expect to receive our goods in the second half of February.
Unfortunately, however, we still have to pre-finance all production volumes, which means we cannot order as much or as flexibly as we would like.
There is no longer a stock of semi-finished products from which we can cut flexibly.
We are always obliged to have complete batches produced.
We therefore continue to welcome enquiries regarding larger orders for specific gradients or finishes, as well as long-term pre-orders.
Mirko
kessler
Hi Mirko,
Would it be technically and logistically feasible for you to make your current stock of Forte paper available online in some way? That way, small-scale buyers like me wouldn’t have to keep bothering you with phone or email enquiries.
Best regards,
Martin
MirkoBoeddecker
Martin,
you’ve taken the words right out of my mouth – that would be like a land of milk and honey for us.
Unfortunately, though, we’ve been trying unsuccessfully for over a year to implement a stock flow system in our cramped premises that would allow us to reconcile stock levels with the IT system.
Everything is simply too small here and chaos reigns everywhere. Wherever there’s space, something gets stored.
When stock arrives, customers snatch it right out of our hands before we even get a chance to count it, and so on.
There’s only one way to change that: move the dispatch and warehouse and organise a proper goods-in and goods-out system.
But that would mean hiring at least two new full-time staff members, who would then have to run the shop due to the opening hours. They’d have almost nothing to do and wouldn’t be able to help with dispatch anymore. Plus, half the shop would be empty and we’d have double the rent costs, and an extra runner would have to drive back and forth between the shop and dispatch every day to move goods from A to B.
That would mean we’d start making losses straight away, run out of money to buy new photographic paper, and be bankrupt within a few months :( :(
All I’m saying is: that’s the reason for my sleepless nights ;) B)
So we’ll just muddle through and hope that one day we’ll generate enough turnover to somehow cover the costs.
Until then, we’ll just have to make do as best we can.
>> There’s plenty of glossy paper in the standard sizes <<
With matt and fixed gradients, things really only run smoothly if you pre-order.
Best regards,
Mirko
kessler
Hi Mirko,
>> There’s plenty of glossy paper in the standard sizes <<
That’s a good sign, at any rate!
micha
Everything’s just too small here and it’s chaos everywhere.
How small is it? How did you manage that in Reinhardstrasse? Somehow it was still great there...
:ph34r:
Best regards, Micha
MirkoBoeddecker
Micha,
The ceilings on Rheinhardtstraße were 5.4 metres high.
The 100 m² there actually offered more volume than the 180 m² here.
The sales area was much smaller, but there was a huge storeroom at the back.
Now the front is spacious and the back is crammed full.
Best regards,
Mirko
Gast
Hi Mirko,
I just wanted to check: is there any news regarding the delivery date for the documents from Forte? Have you received anything yet?
Best regards,
Joost
MirkoBoeddecker
Hi Joost,
Yes, it looks like something arrived today. I can’t say exactly what it is yet.
I’m on the flight back from the US. It’ll take us two days to unpack everything, and we’ll probably start sending things out on Monday.
I think it’ll mainly be Polywarmton glossy.
Best regards,
Mirko
heinrich
Hello,
Will the Polykalt tone be available soon? Or do you have any tips on how to make the Polywarm tone more neutral?
Best regards,
Heinrich
Gast
Hello,
There are simple developer additives that alter the warm-black behaviour of certain papers to a neutral or cool-black tone, e.g. the BL20 additive from Labaphot or additives from the W. Moersch range!
Best regards,
Maurizio
MirkoBoeddecker
Heinrich,
We still have hundreds of boxes of (unsellable) Polykaltton on our shelves.
Since the new, improved ADOX Fine Print Vario Classic came out, sales have been virtually zero.
However, for those who still wish to stick with the old Polykaltton, we can order this paper at any time.
We just no longer stock it.
We are selling off the remaining stock at the old Polykaltton list price.
Best regards,
Mirko
heinrich
Mirko,
So the ADOX Fine Print Vario Classic FB is actually available? In that case, they must have misunderstood me in your shop on Friday; when I asked, they had neither Polykalton nor Adox Vario Classic FB, so I ended up stocking up on Kodak Polymax Fine Art and Classic Arts Polywarmton. It’s a shame, really – I made a special detour via Berlin, as it was practically on my way home from Greifswald to Fürth. I just need both types – warm-tone and cool-tone. There are some prints where I simply prefer a neutral to cool-tone paper. Besides, it’s much quicker. When printing from 35mm film, I easily achieve an exposure time of 60 to 120 seconds for 24x30 prints using the warm-tone paper.
Question: the box says Classic Arts Polywarmton (PW-14) – is that the old Polywarmton with the extra-thick paper, or the new ADOX with the 280gsm base?
I really like the Kodak, by the way, so it wasn’t a bad buy. I haven’t tried the Warmton yet.
Regards
Heinrich
Gast
Hi Heinrich,
Do you, or anyone else, know whether Kodak has any developer in stock?
Best regards, Stephan
heinrich
Hello,
Given how quickly the Kodak starts to show signs of weakness in the developer, it must certainly have some developer residue in it; it starts to break down almost as soon as it’s in the developer. I can’t vouch for this, though; perhaps the lads and lasses at Impex know more about it.
Best regards,
Heinrich
P.S. The above applies to the RC paper; the baryta is still sitting in the box and will receive exposure soon.
MirkoBoeddecker
Hello Heinrich,
Hmm, I think we need to distinguish between theoretical and practical ‘availability’ ;-)
In theory, the Vario Classic is always ‘available’ because it isn’t made by Forte or Ilford – in practice, however, due to the loss of capacity at Ilford and Forte, all other factories are currently (temporarily) working flat out.
That’s why, unfortunately, the Vario Classic, which had only just been launched, was completely sold out after a good two weeks.
A new delivery is coming next week.
Unlike products from Forte, we can order this paper at any time and it is then produced within a reasonable timeframe. So we don’t have to pre-finance a year’s supply. This naturally improves “theoretical availability” and allows us to offer all sizes and two finishes.
That is what my comments above referred to.
Polymax: yes, of course it has developer stored in it. It cannot be, or is very difficult to, lithograph or process. This paper is specially made to be as consistent as possible to accommodate the main users (small portrait studios in the USA that work with analogue) and to avoid any "glitches" if the temporary lab assistant has once again not performed the dilution of the chemicals quite correctly.
Best regards,
Mirko
Gast
Hello Mirko,
I recently tried to order the ADOX Vario Classic Polykaltton PE from you. Unfortunately, the sizes I needed were out of stock. As an alternative, I then ordered FOMA. I was initially told that
the sizes 13x18, 18x24, 24x30 and 30x40 were all available. I then went ahead and ordered the FOMA. Yesterday (after a week!) I received a message saying that not all sizes were available after all!
Is the Classic Polykaltton PE glossy still available in the sizes mentioned above?
Best regards
Volker Schulz
MirkoBoeddecker
Hi Volker,
At the moment, we don’t have a full range of any paper size in stock.
Not even from Kodak.
We get bits and pieces here and there, but never enough. It changes from day to day. What’s available now could be out of stock in the next hour.
If you really need all sizes at once, we can only try to get hold of Agfa. Apparently, they sometimes deliver the full range...
The next stock arriving is Vario Classic Baryt and some Vario Classic PE in matt in two sizes.
Foma is also due in the next few days, but it’ll surely only be half of what we ordered again. They only let us know a day before dispatch what they’ve actually managed to deliver...
Best regards,
Mirko
MirkoBoeddecker
...slowly, the first memories of the GDR era are starting to come back... we’re managing the shortages, so to speak ;-)
MirkoBoeddecker
I’ve just had a quick look: Foma is only missing 18x24 glossy – everything else is in stock.
It’s been on back order for six weeks now – something should be arriving next week.
Best regards,
Mirko
Gast
Let’s move away from paper and talk about film for a moment – what’s the verdict on the new Adox roll films (you know, the ones that start with ‘I-’ and end with ‘-lford’, and come in those brilliant little plastic tins)? A friend of mine in Vienna was just about to order some, so I wanted to join in to save on postage, but I was told they aren’t available yet...
