Polaroid Planning Launch of Fotobar Stores for Wireless Smartphone Printing and Image Editing

Here’s a name that’ll bring back memories (particularly memories of waving photos ‘til your hands hurt): Polaroid. The company is fighting its way back into the market with the just-announced Polaroid Fotobar, which is a retail location that lets you print the photos stored on your phone. It sounds as though Polaroid is following in the footsteps of the Apple Store with a focus on customer experience. According to Polaroid, the world is shooting 1.5 billion pictures every day.

Nope, this isn't an Apple Store. It's a Polaroid Fotobar. Image credit: Polaroid

Polaroid, which will have more details on the Fotobar at CES next week, describes the experience of printing your photos at a Fotobar as “hassle-free.” You’ll walk in, choose your favorite shot from your phone’s library, and send it to a Fotobar workstation wirelessly. (Instagram, Facebook, and Picasa will be supported, among other services.) Then, you’ll choose the way you want it printed – and what you want it printed on. Polaroid plans to have lots of materials available, including frames, for creating gift-worthy prints. It sounds like the Fotobar will ship you the pictures if you choose exotic options that require assembly.

As many as 10 Fotobars will open this year, in Boston, Las Vegas, New York, and other cities. The flagship location is the Delray Beach, FL Fotobar, which will offer photo-taking classes. It’s an interesting idea, considering how many people never bother to move their pics from their phones.