Shaping the Photo Booth Industry

We were recently asked to name ways Pixster has had a positive impact on our industry. Here's what we said:

Through Pixster's endless drive to innovate the way people experience and share photos and videos at events, they have been one of the most recognizable names in the events industry for almost a decade. For nearly a decade, Pixster has helped to shape the market by scaling unique services and bringing them to the general public. In the past 12 months, Pixster has helped introduce services such as their signature Glam Booth™, which only celebrities like Kim Kardashian could once afford, into a broader market. In the past year, Pixster has also set the standard for 360 Degree Video booths and VideoFX.

Glam Booth

These offerings were once unobtainable for most of the event industry. Through ease of purchase, affordable pricing (made possible by scale), and finding new cost-effective processes, Pixster has been able to bring these services to the broader market, enhancing client experience and elevating the industry as a whole. Pixster is the clear leader in innovation and is the blueprint for many other event companies when determining trends and forecasting.

Another way in which Pixster has helped positively shape the events industry in the last 12 months was their response to the pandemic. During the pandemic, the events industry came to a drastic halt and Pixster received over 1800 cancellations. Pixster set the standard in the industry on how cancelations and postponements were handled and thus far Pixster has made good on accommodating every single rescheduled event without charging a fee or penalty. By creating an infrastructure that prioritized existing customers who had been forced to cancel their special events over new business, they demonstrated to partners, competitors and clients that sacrificing short terms profits can eventually lead to long term rewards. In addition, Pixster set the standard on what safe reopening of events looked like for photo booth companies. They took necessary steps to ensure the health and safety of employees and event guests. Their systems as well as verbiage on their website for how they were handling the safe reopening was widely adopted and copied by other companies in the industry.

Pixster Photo Booths Launches Chicago Office

The company’s Chicago location will be its 5th US location, granting expanded service to the Midwest and East Coast

(Chicago, IL) - Pixster Photo Booths, one of the largest photo booth rental companies in the United States, announced today the opening of their 5th location in Chicago, IL. The news comes as a surprise given the hard hit the event industry took during the Covid-19 pandemic. Co-founder and CEO McLain Harvey said, “Pixster suffered some tragic losses in 2020. We were forced to layoff almost 100 employees and saw a revenue decline of more than 80%. However, we firmly believe that events are coming back stronger than ever. Now is the time to safely rebuild and expand.”

Founded in San Diego, California, Pixster has expanded over the past 8 years with locations in Orange County, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin. The company says Chicago was a natural choice for them due to wedding and corporate, pre-pandemic demand and believes the same demand is there as restrictions are lifted and events resume. An inside source at the company said, “Our competitors are still in COVID hibernation mode, so we see a clear opportunity to take market share.”

Photo Booth Chicago

Pixster had a banner year in 2019, servicing more than 3,500 events nationally. The strength of their demand was in part thanks to their 360 Photo Booth. Pixster was one of the first companies to offer this innovative service which gives clients and guests a unique 360-degree slow motion video experience. The 360 service attracted many high-end clients, among them were companies such as Nike and Warner Brothers. The first mover advantage brought new revenue streams and raised the company’s over all average price per rental, helping them weather the cash flow crunch of 2020. The company expects to triple their 360 Photo Booth inventory by the end of 2021.

Although 2020 was a challenging year, Pixster was able to implement safety standards to comply with regional and local COVID guidance while maintaining the customer service and experience they’ve become known for. As a result, the company was able to service micro-weddings and small private gatherings towards the end of the year. A representative stated that health and safety measures still remain a high priority, with the health of their employees and event guests taking precedent. According to that same source, the company expects to be at pre-pandemic revenue by January 2022 and anticipates a 20% growth jump that same year.

Pixster Chicago is currently taking event inquires and will begin serving events in May 2021. Given the postponement of events last year, dates are filling up quickly with most weekends in May, June and July already booked. As with its other locations, Pixster Chicago will service not only the state of Illinois but the Midwest including Milwaukee and Indianapolis. Interested parties should contact the company via their website pixsterchicago.com.