Jc Penney vs Target-portrait studios

[KAYLI'S DAD]

We used to go to Target because we loved the girl who took the pictures. We always requested her and she knew we wanted her. She transferred to JCP because it is the same company here and she let us know she was going over to JCP so we would know. She does an amazing job getting good pictures. Probably different in each geography though.

 

[mcdona4]

i work at lifetouch

FYI: LifeTouch is a portrait company.... they do school portraits, church portraits seniors, etc. They own the portrait studios in Target and JCP. The training is identical for the studios as are the props, backgrounds, etc. The pricing used to be identical and the coupons very very similar until JCP went with the no coupon policy store wide. The prices are similar now still. Employees who work at a Target will sometime work at a JCP to help out and vice versa. The quality of portraits you receive are a variable of circumstances beyond basic training, camera equipment, etc.

LifeTouch also aquired OlanMills, but OlanMills is still separate.

Anyway..... a studio experience with a highly trained and wonderful photographer could be great one day and horrible the next. There are tons of variables. For example... during the Christmas rush, if you go online and schedule your own appointment, you can't tell when the other appointments are. This means that on a busy Saturday, you may get a 10 minute slot. A studio could be booked with 10 minute appointments all day, and if a person is late by 10 to 20 minutes like they often are, they just missed their appointment and set the studio back in time and will be outraged if they are turned away. Not all children are in the mood for photographs. For example...a parent said, "i don't know why my child isn't smiling", and acted as if it was my fault....5 seconds later the child threw up all over the props. Then there was an oh yeah.... they've been sick discussion. The job of a photographer in one of these situations is tough. Especially when you care. Babies may be cranky, hungry, sick, tired, scared....etc. But we have to make them smile or look sweet. We deal with rude customers who expect the world to stop for them. The job is physically and emotionally exhausting and when it is busy, we don't get the breaks we are promised and work straight through meals. We have to work with a smile no matter how bad we feel or how rude customers may be. The pay is not enough. This being said.... if we are there and suffering through the holiday season, we probably love what we do or else we wouldn't put up with the worst of it. Just keep in mind that the photographers at the studio are not the ones who set policy or determine the length of time that is allowed for appointments. When there are appointments every 10 minutes apart we are trying to give everyone our best and stay on time, but in all honesty it is impossible. If you want a more personal experience go somewhere you have to pay more. I mean that as nicely as possible. Understand that you get what you pay for. Prices are low, and the holidays are when the company makes the most. This means longer waits because they need to see more customers to keep the prices low.

My tips for getting the most out of your money are simply don't judge a studio based on it's busiest day. Try to avoid the busy times. Schedule during the week in the mornings if possible or after work.... for holidays, get your portraits done well in advance. Beat the rush, so you don't get forced into the 10 minute slots where everyone wants there pictures at the very last possible minute. Talk to the studio before hand. Actually let them set up your appointment. Be upfront about what you want and expect from them. Tell them your tastes and what you are going to use the portraits for. And if you have to go when it is busy and you have a family, don't let your children see you get frustrated. They will do much better in the camera room if you are calm and prepared. Bring a toy and snack... and if it looks like it is going to be a while ask if you can leave a number for them while you walk around the store to kill time. don't bring in sick kids and don't fight or yell or get them upset before you come. Be positive. Don't forget your coupons at Target.... I hate when people get mad that we don't just give people discounts because they said they meant to bring a coupon... where else would you be able to say i had a coupon but i didn't bring it, so i expect the discount anyway.... like the extreme coupon ladies... maybe they have $200 worth of groceries that with smart coupons might come up to $10. Do you just cut the $190 because they said they had the coupons at home or do they pay like everyone else? Don't get made because you didn't bring the coupon.


JCP and Target are a great value and they photographers are allowed a lot of freedom for creativity and you can get some great images. They are better than SEARS and walmart for sure. Just plan ahead and understand what you are getting yourself in for. Even the best photographers can have an off day. Don't be afraid to tell them what you are unhappy with if anything. We want to provide you with a WOW experience. Hope this helps people understand why you shouldn't write off a studio and how to avoid some of the nightmares that people mention from time to time.

 

[theparsons]

. The pricing used to be identical and the coupons very very similar until JCP went with the no coupon policy store wide..

All great information, but I wanted to disagree with the above sentence. JCP most certainly does still offer coupons for their portrait studio. Perhaps the main store doesn't do coupons anymore, but the portrait studio does.

Just go to their website: jcportraits.com and click on offers. Or, use this link: http://www.jcpportraits.com/offers/portrait-studio-coupons

Now you can also google JCP portait coupons and very often find better than what's available on the offer page.....including free sittings, free 8x10s and the same $4 sheets.

All that said, I doubt I'll be going back to JCP after this session. They keep raising the price of the CD (originally it was $89, then it was $99 for several years and now it's jumped to $149). I could probably live with the price jump if they didn't also lower AGAIN the number of portraits they could take. When it was $89 they took "up to" 50.....then it was 30, and now it's 20 photos. I have two kids....I want individual photos and together so 20 is simply not enough. And to increase the price by 50% while they also reduce the photos by 30%....ummm, nope, last time for me.

The fact that I had to tell the photographer how to pose them because all she wanted to do was have them stand in front of various backgrounds, didn't help either. They used to have experienced photographers.....this last time it was a college student and she claimed to be the manager! The middle aged woman we'd had for a couple years apparently had quit.

 

[B&Bforever]

I hard much better luck with Cup. They are much more creative

 

[ConnieB]

I hard much better luck with Cup. They are much more creative

What is Cup?

 

[Angeni11]

We use JCPenny and have for almost 4 years. Although many of the girls who work there have moved on there are still a few left who we love. One in particular does a great job with our boys.

If any pictures come out fuzzy (lol my 2 year old does not sit still ) they have always offered to refund or replace it with another picture and in a few cases reshot them right then if they weren't busy (and even tossed in a few with both boys). I guess we have been spoiled as we have some wonderful people working there and even though we have moved a bit further away will still go back there for the boys birthday pictures. If we walk in the store (we always use that entrance at the mall) they recognize the boys when we walk by and always have us stop to say hi so they can see the boys.

I always use the online cupons on their site as you get the free sitting and the $3.99 or $4.99 sheets.

 

[Pooh2]

Definitely hit or miss on the photographers. When I worked Target studio, they paid $8 an hour, not exactly enticing to anyone with experience in the field. The photographers were moms working parttime in the mornings, high school kids in the afternoon.

 

[IWorkForLifetouch]

1. All great information, but I wanted to disagree with the above sentence. JCP most certainly does still offer coupons for their portrait studio. Perhaps the main store doesn't do coupons anymore, but the portrait studio does.

2. They keep raising the price of the CD (originally it was $89, then it was $99 for several years and now it's jumped to $149).

3.I could probably live with the price jump if they didn't also lower AGAIN the number of portraits they could take. When it was $89 they took "up to" 50.....then it was 30, and now it's 20 photos. I have two kids....I want individual photos and together so 20 is simply not enough. And to increase the price by 50% while they also reduce the photos by 30%....ummm, nope, last time for me.

Hi! I saw this website then this post, and wanted to elaborate on some things!

1.The page you are seeing on the JCP Portraits website does not contain coupons. They are to promote new everyday low prices, and they are prices extended to everyone, offer or not. Where traditional portrait sheets used to start at 9.99, they now start at $4, everyday. (even online or for reorders!) As far as the $8 May value, it is a similar tactic to what the store does with their "month long values", and also not a coupon. As of now, you will see MLV's on a three month rotation, varying between "free sitting fees with $4 everyday" "6 sheets for $20" and "$8 one pose package"

2. As far as the complaints on the cd and image limitations, when the cd was only $89 it only contained our base traditional images, nothing else. At $119.99, it also contained black and white, sepia, or vignetted images. Now, at $149.99, the CD is AMAZING; it is loaded onto a very user friendly software that includes every traditional image as it always has, but now includes ALL enhanced images, including borders and collages. Two additional new features include integration with Facebook and Twitter, and you also have the editing capability of image tinting (black and white or sepia) right on the software of your disc. Trust me, the company is always eager to hear what guests have to say, and they turned that CD into something that none of our other competitors have yet to match, and it is the lowest priced cd when compared with our direct competitors! (note: the Portrait Innovations cd that they give away for "free" is encoded and can only be used when you want to reorder at their studio- you can't freely edit or make your own prints like with ours!)

3. Also, last thing- as far as images are concerned, in the 5 years I've been with the company, the goal has ALWAYS been 15-20 distinct images. When we had the capability of going to 50, there was always a NUMBER of duplicates, it was taking more time and not resulting in a better experience, etc. so they began slowly decreasing that number. Just so you know, if you ever come in with a family of 10 and Grandma Suzy wants every grouping you could possibly think of, we DO have the ability of increasing a session all the way up to 35 images, it is just something that we do not openly advertise because it is reserved for such occasions that it is impossible to do a session in less than 20 images. Even with groups that large, I rarely take that many, and I've never had complaints about it. It's going to matter largely about the type of photographer you get, and how well they work with you and your children to give you stunning and visually different images.


Also, Target Portraits, JCP Portraits, Flash! Portrait Studios, Cilento Photography, and Olan Mills are all owned by the same company! We also have a new division in testing to compete with Our 365 in hospitals. I don't see our awesome company going anywhere for awhile!

 

[ConnieB]

Hi! I saw this website then this post, and wanted to elaborate on some things!

1.The page you are seeing on the JCP Portraits website does not contain coupons. They are to promote new everyday low prices, and they are prices extended to everyone, offer or not. Where traditional portrait sheets used to start at 9.99, they now start at $4, everyday. (even online or for reorders!) As far as the $8 May value, it is a similar tactic to what the store does with their "month long values", and also not a coupon. As of now, you will see MLV's on a three month rotation, varying between "free sitting fees with $4 everyday" "6 sheets for $20" and "$8 one pose package"

2. As far as the complaints on the cd and image limitations, when the cd was only $89 it only contained our base traditional images, nothing else. At $119.99, it also contained black and white, sepia, or vignetted images. Now, at $149.99, the CD is AMAZING; it is loaded onto a very user friendly software that includes every traditional image as it always has, but now includes ALL enhanced images, including borders and collages. Two additional new features include integration with Facebook and Twitter, and you also have the editing capability of image tinting (black and white or sepia) right on the software of your disc. Trust me, the company is always eager to hear what guests have to say, and they turned that CD into something that none of our other competitors have yet to match, and it is the lowest priced cd when compared with our direct competitors! (note: the Portrait Innovations cd that they give away for "free" is encoded and can only be used when you want to reorder at their studio- you can't freely edit or make your own prints like with ours!)

3. Also, last thing- as far as images are concerned, in the 5 years I've been with the company, the goal has ALWAYS been 15-20 distinct images. When we had the capability of going to 50, there was always a NUMBER of duplicates, it was taking more time and not resulting in a better experience, etc. so they began slowly decreasing that number. Just so you know, if you ever come in with a family of 10 and Grandma Suzy wants every grouping you could possibly think of, we DO have the ability of increasing a session all the way up to 35 images, it is just something that we do not openly advertise because it is reserved for such occasions that it is impossible to do a session in less than 20 images. Even with groups that large, I rarely take that many, and I've never had complaints about it. It's going to matter largely about the type of photographer you get, and how well they work with you and your children to give you stunning and visually different images.


Also, Target Portraits, JCP Portraits, Flash! Portrait Studios, Cilento Photography, and Olan Mills are all owned by the same company! We also have a new division in testing to compete with Our 365 in hospitals. I don't see our awesome company going anywhere for awhile!

Sorry, but I have to disagree (and also note that this is your first post....and it sounds like a commercial).

First....the prices are NOT given to everyone. I was in JCP at the end of April....we did the whole picture taking process, got to the end where she did all the enhancements and suddenly the price quoted was $7.99 per sheet or $150 for the CD plus sitting fees (even though I had my membership card, somehow it wasn't in the computer and therefore wouldn't be honored...despite the card in my hand). I said but your website said $4.00 per sheet.....and was asked for the coupon, which of course I didn't have. So I walked out. To be honest I was hoping if I left they'd call me back and honor their website prices, but nope. So a waste of my time and the photographers time and the loss of a long time customer.

And second, I've used JCP seven times in the last 5 years....and the CDs I have sitting on this shelf tell a different story. The two from the first year have 48 and 50 on them.....the most recent (last fall) has 32. The session last month was 20 and there were 2 where my kids had strange facial features from moving.....she said they could only erase a certain number too. With twins it's tough to get both smiling at the same time...never a problem before, but apparently it is now.

As for the "enhanced" CD.....I have absolutely no interest in the enhanced photos. They're tacky, plain and staged looking. Anyone with 30 minutes experience using a graphic program (many of which are free online) can do a better composition. Scrapbooking has made so much available to the average user that we really don't need JCP to charge us outrageous upgrade fees for a few pennies worth of graphic art time. And the 4 enhanced photos that were offered last month on the package I walked out on....they were definitely not worth $50 more (plus missing about 20 photos).......not even if they had been printed out. So...here is a FORMER customer who most definitely is not thrilled with the new CD. Perhaps they should offer the $99 CD with just the portraits.....for those who don't want plain uninspired photos extras.

Instead, I found an independent photographer who charged me $199 and gave me a CD with 71 photos......some taken outdoors, some indoors, all aimed at bringing out my daughters's personality....and the first set of photos taken were the poses I requested. I doubt I'll be back to a studio. Yes, I paid more than JCP, but I got so much more! Contact smaller independent photographers in your area...not the big portrait studios, but the hungry, eager photographers. Their portfolio is available so you also know whether you like their style and experience. I went through several photographers portfolios knowing many were new and "hobby" photographers. A little more work than I wanted, but end result was worth it! Now I regret all those years I put up with places like Target, Sears and JCP.


And at JCP I specfically mentioned when she got to 20 and stopped (without having completed the basic poses I had requested) that was told she was not allowed to go over...period. Now I didn't have 10 people, but I did come in with a list of what poses I wanted and we had 2 outfit changes.....and I have twins......all of which made 20 portraits inadequate. If she had the discretion to do what I asked for (and I spelled it all out on the online appointment I made, so it wasn't a surprise)....then I probably would have been happier at the idea of paying so much more.

Lifetouch may be around for a long time....not quite so sure about JCP.....they're making so many bad decision (the news this past week proves that right, lol).

 

[happygirl]

LOL this thread is 5 years old. I hope OP found the photographer by now if not maybe her kids could take there own photos

 

[IWorkForLifetouch]

The bold are my responses.

Sorry, but I have to disagree (and also note that this is your first post....and it sounds like a commercial).
Sorry for trying to be informative and enjoying working for the company that I work for! lol

First....the prices are NOT given to everyone. I was in JCP at the end of April....we did the whole picture taking process, got to the end where she did all the enhancements and suddenly the price quoted was $7.99 per sheet or $150 for the CD plus sitting fees (even though I had my membership card, somehow it wasn't in the computer and therefore wouldn't be honored...despite the card in my hand). I said but your website said $4.00 per sheet.....and was asked for the coupon, which of course I didn't have. So I walked out. To be honest I was hoping if I left they'd call me back and honor their website prices, but nope. So a waste of my time and the photographers time and the loss of a long time customer.

This should not be the case, ever. When I worked in the JCP division (I'm at a Target now, but was in JCP through the first 3 months of Everyday Pricing) we were instructed by our corporate office to ask if you had a coupon since there were still a lot of valid ones out and about, but if not, that you were to be given the new pricing, with a smile. We've never even ran a 7.99 per sheet option, is there a chance you had a 30% off coupon that day? If so, they should have checked both pricing formats, and I would have personally asked to speak to a manager or guest services. Sorry they did that to you, but it is absolutely the exception, not the rule, and sad to hear.

And second, I've used JCP seven times in the last 5 years....and the CDs I have sitting on this shelf tell a different story. The two from the first year have 48 and 50 on them.....the most recent (last fall) has 32. The session last month was 20 and there were 2 where my kids had strange facial features from moving.....she said they could only erase a certain number too. With twins it's tough to get both smiling at the same time...never a problem before, but apparently it is now.

This sounds like you got a fresh photographer who wasn't ready to be in the camera room. I again would've gone elsewhere to voice concerns, and I always recommend to everyone to ask for the photographer with the most experience. If you're ever unhappy with the result, you are not obligated to purchase your photos and can request a reshoot for no charge.

As for the "enhanced" CD.....I have absolutely no interest in the enhanced photos. They're tacky, plain and staged looking. Anyone with 30 minutes experience using a graphic program (many of which are free online) can do a better composition. Scrapbooking has made so much available to the average user that we really don't need JCP to charge us outrageous upgrade fees for a few pennies worth of graphic art time. And the 4 enhanced photos that were offered last month on the package I walked out on....they were definitely not worth $50 more (plus missing about 20 photos).......not even if they had been printed out. So...here is a FORMER customer who most definitely is not thrilled with the new CD. Perhaps they should offer the $99 CD with just the portraits.....for those who don't want plain uninspired photos extras.

Sorry that you feel that way. They have always been huge sellers, and for those guests who don't like them, I always recommend the 3.99 sheets. We do offer a traditional cd, but since it is burned within 10 minutes of your session, the price is still $149.

Instead, I found an independent photographer who charged me $199 and gave me a CD with 71 photos......some taken outdoors, some indoors, all aimed at bringing out my daughters's personality....and the first set of photos taken were the poses I requested. I doubt I'll be back to a studio. Yes, I paid more than JCP, but I got so much more! Contact smaller independent photographers in your area...not the big portrait studios, but the hungry, eager photographers. Their portfolio is available so you also know whether you like their style and experience. I went through several photographers portfolios knowing many were new and "hobby" photographers. A little more work than I wanted, but end result was worth it! Now I regret all those years I put up with places like Target, Sears and JCP.

Freelance photographers are great choices, and more often then not take a "lifestyle" photography approach which is fresh and modern, so I understand that. One thing people need to realize is that you're entering a retail enviroment, so while you should get satisfactory portraits, you should not expect to be treated as if you just dropped hundreds of dollars with an independent who will book out hours for you (instead of 10 minutes) and allow you unlimited outfit changes, etc. Before anything is said, I am an experienced photographer with a college degree and I do freelance as well, and I have a respect for both areas of the field. I have stayed in the studio even with a successful freelance business because it keeps me on my toes and I get benefits, such as vacation and holiday time, insurance, employee stock and retirement funding, etc.

And at JCP I specfically mentioned when she got to 20 and stopped (without having completed the basic poses I had requested) that was told she was not allowed to go over...period. Now I didn't have 10 people, but I did come in with a list of what poses I wanted and we had 2 outfit changes.....and I have twins......all of which made 20 portraits inadequate. If she had the discretion to do what I asked for (and I spelled it all out on the online appointment I made, so it wasn't a surprise)....then I probably would have been happier at the idea of paying so much more.

again, it just sounds like you had someone inexperienced (the only times I will personally call a session are if children are past the point of no return to where they will not calm down to take some portraits, if a parent gets verbally or physically abusive with their child, myself, or my staff, if the guest is late or expecting more than a 10 minute session without prior approval, or if a guest pulls out there own phone or camera and starts taking pictures behind my shoulder - keep in mind they get one warning)

Lifetouch may be around for a long time....not quite so sure about JCP.....they're making so many bad decision (the news this past week proves that right, lol).

what's going on with JCP right now is saddening... I personally like the everyday prices, but I was also around for 5 years and seeing prices of their other items to realize and know that I really AM getting a better deal without having to bring in a coupon... it was a very risky move and I hope this next quarter is better for them.

Sorry guys, I get very winded sometimes!