The first store will open during February in Delray Beach, Florida, with at least nine more to follow in New York, Boston, Las Vegas, and elsewhere.
– Polaroid thinks there's money to be made in all those photos stored on people's smartphones. It plans to open its first bricks-and-mortar "Fotobar" store next month in Florida—a place where people can transfer images to a work-station, tweak them to their heart's desire, print them out on a fancy material (bamboo, for one), then pick a frame, reports the Next Web. The company plans to have 10 such stores in place around the country this year. "The idea is to make the digital and often forgettable images stored on your smartphone feel like works of art again," writes Nick Summers. "Something which you would want to share with friends or hang in your house or office." The rise of apps such as Instagram and the "analogue aesthetic" is helping bring Polaroid back into vogue again, he adds. "But with online competitors and a fairly niche product, it's a somewhat risky endeavor," writes Adi Robertson at the Verge.