Olan Mills

Olan Mills Inc.

Industry	Portrait photography, Church Directories
Founded	Tennessee, 1932, by Olan Mills Sr. and Mary Mills
Fate	Acquired by Lifetouch (2011)
Headquarters	Chattanooga, Tennessee
Key people	Olan Mills II, Chairman Emeritus, Robert L. McDowell, CEO and President Laura Carden, Vice-President of Finance and CFO David Butler, President of Church Directories Division
Revenue	unknown
Operating income	unknown
Net income	unknown
Number of employees	3,700 (2001 est.)
Website	lifetouch.com

Olan Mills, Inc. was a privately owned American company founded in 1932 by Olan Mills Sr. and Mary Mills that was headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It provided portrait photography and church directories through its two main corporate divisions: Olan Mills Portrait Studios and Olan Mills Church Division.

History

In 1932, Olan Mills Sr. and Mary Mills founded Olan Mills, Inc., with headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee.^{[ citation needed ]}

On December 26, 2008, the United Kingdom division of Olan Mills, based in Northamptonshire and with numerous studios based in Mothercare stores, stopped trading, in preparation for the firm being placed into administration. ^[1]

On November 9, 2011, Lifetouch Inc. announced that it had purchased the Olan Mills photography business, including Olan Mills Church Directories and Olan Mills Portrait Studios, along with its corporate functions, as well as the production operations in Chattanooga. ^[2]

In January 2012, Lifetouch announced the closing of two of three Olan Mills facilities in Chattanooga, with a loss of 383 jobs. ^[3]

In 2019, Lifetouch closed the third remaining facility, with a loss of an additional 150 jobs. ^[4]

See also

• Lifetouch

References

1. "Photography studio ceases trading". BBC News. 2008-12-30. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
2. Pare, Mike (2011-11-09). "Lifetouch Acquires Olan Mills". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
3. Pare, Mike; O'Neil, Carey (2012-01-31). "Lifetouch closes Olan Mills photography facilities: 383 jobs lost". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
4. Pare, Mike (2019-02-05). "Lifetouch to close Chattanooga operations, with shutdown of Bonny Oaks facility to cost 150 jobs". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved 2025-03-24.

Bibliography

• "Olan Mills joins Lifetouch". Lifetouch Church Directories. Archived from the original on 2018-06-19. Olan Mills has now joined the Lifetouch family. Together, we have proudly been serving organizations for over 125 years combined.
• "Lifetouch Church Directories". Lifetouch Church Directories. Archived from the original on 2022-07-18. Unfortunately, due to the tremendous continued and unforeseen impact of COVID-19 on our business and our community, Lifetouch Church Photography has permanently stopped our operations.

External links

• Current redirect for Olan Mills site to Lifetouch.