Shutterfly taps company veteran Greg Hintz as new head of Lifetouch division

Shutterfly Inc. signaled the possible future direction of its Lifetouch National Studios business with the appointment of company insider Greg Hintz to the president of the division. He succeeds Michael Meek, who shepherded Lifetouch from a profit-starved employee-owned company to a profitable, cash-flow-rich division of Shutterfly. Meek stayed on after the sale, earning more than $5.6 million in total compensation in just over a year with the company, according to Salary.com. According to the Fly, Meek’s departure was determined in late March.

Since the acquisition, Shutterfly announced plans to go private through a complicated three-way acquisition deal that, on its surface, seems driven by the potential continued consolidation of printing plant capacity. Industry watchers have speculated what will happen with Shutterfly’s current plans for “Project Aspen,” an initiative announced by previous CEO Christopher North as a single, next-generation manufacturing platform for Shutterfly’s consumer, commercial printing and Lifetouch.

“The intent is to drive cost synergies through a common manufacturing platform thereby facilitating greater utilization during seasonal peaks and leveraging their newly combined purchasing power and scale,” wrote Mark Schoenrock, PSP Consulting. “The plan is for Project Aspen to result in approximately $130 million in savings over five years.” 

Part of those saving includes the shuttering (pardon the pun) of legacy Lifetouch plants in 2019 in Chico, Calif., Chattanooga, Tenn.; Bloomington, Minn; and Rockford, Ill.

“These plants will be replaced in the first half of 2020 with new technology in a new 237,000 square-foot facility in Texas serving both Lifetouch and Shutterfly,” notes Schoenrock.

What does this have to do with Hintz? Previously, he was Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at Shutterfly, and had held positions as general manager of TinyPrints and interim GM of Shutterfly Business Solutions. His background has a strong financial and marketing background with stints at Yahoo!, Yidio and Goldman Sachs. An impressive pedigree, for sure, but did you notice what’s lacking? Photography, and that’s the difference.

We’re not saying Shutterfly had to promote from within to bring another Lifetouch exec the chance to run the business. But the Hintz hire does say, along with the uncertainty regarding the future of the company post-Apollo acquisition, that management will take a more traditional approach, treating volume photography like any another business unit. Readers of this site know volume photography is not like traditional photofinishing or portraiture, but a unique business model. Properly managed and marketed, Lifetouch could continue to generate the cash Shutterfly desperately needs. If the business is put into caretaker mode, however, this could be a big opportunity for independent studios to out-maneuver the industry giant.

Shutterfly’s management of brand portfolios hasn’t been too successful in recent years, with the trimming of several brands (Wedding Paper Divas, MyPublisher, Treat, ThisLife) while keeping relatively low profile GrooveBook and BorrowLenses. If treated as just a way to feed the production beast, rather than a growth opportunity, Lifetouch could be heading to footnote status.