Wegmans most likely will position the kiosks at several areas to determine the ideal location for reaching the prime sticker customers: 'teens, mom and kids,' said the source.

Sticker stamp images and backgrounds are regularly updated through program content that is downloaded over the telephone lines. Two different sticker styles are available - general scenes such as holiday themes or cartoon-like content and those with branded illustrations like movie themes, animated characters or sports logos. The concept has become especially popular with teen-age girls in that country, the research firm noted. Strategies, a Boston-based research firm. It has mushroomed into a $2.5 billion business there with one million Japanese consumers using the kiosks daily, according to I.T. The concept of photo stickers emerged in Japan about two years ago primarily at outdoor mini-arcades. Sticker sizes are 1-inch-by-three-quarter inch, and one-inch-by-one-and-a-quarter inch. The kiosk's zoom lens allows from one to four people to fit into an image, pose and interact with scenes or backgrounds that are printed on the stickers.Ī sheet of sixteen stickers retails for $2 to $4, with the retailer getting 30% of the profit, said a Kodak source. Using digital photography, the kiosk produces postage-size stamps that consumers can place photos of their faces on. Kroger Co., Cincinnati and Piggly Wiggly Corp., Memphis, Tenn., also have the kiosk under consideration, according to Kodak.

The photo sticker kiosks, introduced by Kodak last month, will be operated in a shared-revenue arrangement, according to sources. This month Wegmans Food Markets plans to place Image Magic sticker prints kiosks from Eastman Kodak in all 55 stores chainwide.

Kodak picture kiosk image format