News
Superstock Six Months Down the Road: Thriving and Hiring!
The consortium of RF producers who purchased Superstock in a bankruptcy sale in January of this year has kept their promise to keep the business running. Not only is the company, which was put in Chapter 11 bankruptcy under its previous management at A21, still going but according to CEO Lanny Ziering, is profitable and company seeks to fill a couple of key positions.
Ziering says that when he and his partners looked at what Superstock had to offer, it made a good fit with what their own businesses. RGB Ventures, a partnership between Rubber Ball Productions, Glow Images, and members of Blend, had great content of their own but they all lacked strong direct sales capability. Superstock, meanwhile, had an established direct sales operation in Florida, New York, and London, UK, a well-known brand name, a strong and loyal customer base, as well as interesting collections of vintage and fine art content. “The Superstock business was always solid,” Ziering says “but it operated under the burden of too much debt piled on by the A21 Group as well as the high cost of accounting compliance of a publicly traded company.” Ziering says the new owners have managed to stabilize the business by holding on to virtually all the content, all the image partners except one, key employees and most of the photographers. In addition, they have enhanced the company’s RM distribution channels, adding Getty and Masterfile.
The news that Superstock is actually looking to hire more employees will come as a breath of fresh air to an industry beleaguered by waves of lay-offs over the last several years. Superstock currently needs to fill two positions; a controller to work in the company’s head office in Jacksonville, Florida, and an account executive who need not work in Jacksonville. The company is looking for candidates with industry experience for both positions. (For more information on the open positions click here.)
Ziering cautions that not all is rosy. “I don’t want to be overly cheerful. Sales are stable and the business is profitable, but this is a tough year. We’re working hard to make sure we stay profitable – meeting with all major clients to better understand what images they want and how they want to buy them and solidifying relationships Superstock has had with them for years.” When asked how he sees the future for the industry given the current state of the economy and the rise of low-cost alternatives such as subscription and micro-stock licensing, Ziering is still upbeat, at least as far as Superstock is concerned: “Fewer companies will survive. Those that succeed will do so by providing value to their customers efficiently and effectively. Clients will still need to publish books, create websites and advertise and they will still need to manage rights to images. If you have unique imagery and efficient ways to license and deliver that imagery, you’ll make it."
CF
Posted in: A21 Group, News, Stock Photo Companies, Superstock
