Kenro's Spring Collection 'Frames' Profit For The Trade

The proactive distributor has brand new frames, albums, hardware and lighting solutions to share with the trade, both here and on Stand G53 at The Photography Show. Find out why you should be ordering in each and every one.

Kenro’s latest product line up for spring 2020 evolves and expands on its existing high quality yet affordable product offerings, on which there is always a competitive margin to be made. Whether you’re looking for photo frames, photo albums, film scanners or portable lighting for studio and on location, the distributor has all bases covered.

Top of the new frames line up is the Prestige Oak addition to the already established Senator Series, which expands on this popular product line with well-constructed frames in a natural coloured solid oak. Available in 14 popular photo and square sizes, for prints from 6x4 inches all the way up to A2, these frames come supplied shrink wrapped with protective card corners in an individual bubble bag.

New to Kenro’s ‘Décor’ frame line up are the Reveal Series of floating frames (above), the Kington Shadow Box Series, which has a wide profile and white wood finish, the Horizon Series in dark oak or light ash colours, the Designa Series of champagnecoloured frames with distressed wood effect, plus the Lytton Series. The latter offers a rounded cushioned profile and a taupe coloured wood effect finish. The Horizon and Reveal Series are available in two colours for 6x4 inch or 7x5 inch photos, with the other ranges having one colour and four sizes.

Boasting a striking contemporary look, also new for spring 2020 is the Bergamo Charcoal Series. These photo frames are a deep charcoal brown colour with an attractive wood grain effect finish, and can either be displayed on a desk or hung on the wall. Available in four single aperture sizes ranging from 6x4 inches to 8x10 inches, there’s a fifth option that boasts a triple aperture mount to display three 6x4 inch prints.

“We’re keeping everything fresh for a new year and a new decade with these new frames based on market trends,” enthuses Kenro MD Paul Kench. “They’re high quality yet affordable and come in the range of popular sizes that dealers prefer, alongside triple aperture frames which are always customer favourites.”

Perfect for pictures: Kenro’s new spring 2020 frame offerings, as shown above and described in the text below, should ‘display’ a great profit for photo retailers

NOVEL IDEAS BECOME BEST SELLERS

Kenro’s acrylic and novelty frame range has also grown. As well as slim-profile L-shaped Acrylic Display Frames (below, left), which can hold prints from 6x4 inches up to A4, the distributor also is offering up a fun Shake Frame and Shake Globe (below); these two separate products contain reflective silver sequins that swirl and sparkle when shaken. While the Shake Frame holds one 6x4 inch photo, the Shake Globe can display two 2.5x2.5 inch shots, trimmed to fit. “We’ve kept the facepaper for these simple and classic, not specific to any one season,” Paul advises. “This should ensure they’re strong sellers all year round.”

Those wanting something even smarter in appearance – perhaps with gifting potential for weddings, christenings and graduation ceremonies – are directed to take a look at the Symphony Style Series. This real silver plated frame features a tarnish resistant bevelled surround that is 12mm wide by 13mm deep. Available in four popular single aperture sizes, there’s also a twin aperture frame for two 6x4 inch photos.

Moving on to Kenro’s perennially popular albums, new for spring 2020 are a couple of Travel Series options: I Love Travel (below) and Let’s Go Travel. The first album is the more contemporary of the two, whereas the latter is more ‘classic’ and retro looking. Each album can hold 200 6x4 inch prints, as can Kenro’s equally new and self-explanatory ‘It’s a Boy’ and ‘It’s a Girl’ baby albums. While these albums are blue and pink respectively, there is also a new non-gender specific option in the Baby Giraffe Album – all three of which are destined to be steady sellers.

Lastly for albums, Kenro’s already popular, contemporary Aztec albums have been refreshed with royal blue and dove grey colour cover options. Also take a look at the distributor’s new Wildflower album series, with attractive sketchbook style floral design and an eco-friendly aesthetic.

All Kenro’s latest album and frame offerings can been seen in their new 2020 catalogue, available to download from www.kenro.co.uk/catalogues

SCAN THESE GREAT OFFERINGS

As well as albums and frames suitable for any high street lab, Kenro hasn’t forgotten hardware for the photo retailer. Newly arrived is its Kenro Film Scanner KNSC202 (below), an entry-level option for those looking to digitise 35mm film negatives and slides. It hooks up directly to a computer, with the customer just needing to download and install the relevant software to start scanning. Images are digitised at a resolution of 5 megapixels, with an interpolated 10 megapixel JPEG option also available. SRP is £47.94.

Also new for photographers is the Kenro Slimline LED Light Panel (below, left), which offers a daylight colour corrected 4x5-inch viewing area for film slides and negatives at £42 SRP.

Panel games: NanLite’s new MixPanel, the shooting scenario it might be used in, and the kind of image that can result, all shown above

We’ve learned on previous occasions about the benefits of the high quality yet affordable, Chinese-made NanLite product range (formerly NanGuang), on which there is also a very competitive margin to be made. Many of its existing products have been rebranded, and it has just launched a new flagship range: the MixPanel light series.

These combine three LED light sources into one compact unit, providing the ability to switch between hard light and soft light as well as CCT and coloured light quickly and easily. “These superbright, portable lights feature a very broad colour spectrum, from 7500 to 2700K,” Paul Kench explains. “If you’re using them as a studio light there is a lot of creative potential in there, while the fact that they can be powered via optional V-Mount batteries means that they can also be used on location.”

The MixPanels include nine preprogrammed special effects for videographers, including emergency services and lightning storm, along with 43 gel presets and a built-in diffuser that can be enabled and disabled at the touch of a button. You can save your settings and reproduce them very quickly too. Simply put, these are incredibly versatile lights, whatever you’re shooting.

The halo effect: NanLite is also offering new ring lights, as demonstrated at The Societies Convention last month

There are two sizes and two prices to choose from in the smaller MixPanel 60 (£879.96 SRP) and the larger MixPanel 150 (£1199.94). Both are supplied with removable barn doors.

Finally, also new from NanLite are two Halo Series ring lights. First up is the Halo 14U, a highly portable 14 inch ring light with integral battery lasting over two hours. It has a cold shoe to attach a microphone, and boasts a colour spectrum of 2700 to 6500K. Perfect for ‘vloggers’, it comes with a smartphone clamp, allowing a phone to be mounted in the middle, as well as a make up mirror. The second new ring light is the Halo 16C, a 16 inch option with RGB functionality, making it suitable for portraits and product photography, because of its ability to deliver a nice, even light. This light is also supplied with smartphone clamp and make up mirror. SRP for the 14U is £179.94 while the 16C is £239.94. As Kenro notes, the vast majority of new lights coming out are tailored to both photography and video.

Thankfully, you’ll have the chance to check out all of the above hardware in person at The Photography Show in March. Once again, the destination you need to head for is Stand G53, Hall 5. Or, if you won’t be at the show, just use the direct contact details at the bottom of the page.

www.kenro.co.uk