Shutterfly acquires BorrowLenses, adds photo and video equipment rentals to its offerings

Shutterfly has acquired BorrowLenses, a move that will earn the personalized products and service manufacturer a bigger presence in influencing how people capture and display their memories. Terms of the deal weren’t released.

BorrowLenses is a popular camera equipment rental store spread throughout the United States that enables customers to test out gear when they want. You order it online and can either pick it up at one of their retail outlets or have it shipped to you by FedEx. In most cases, it’s cheaper than buying the camera or lenses from Amazon, B&H Photos, or Best Buy, especially if you need it on a short-term basis.

Jeffrey Housenbold, Shutterfly’s president and CEO, said in a statement that the addition of BorrowLenses to its ranks gives it a “presence in the rapidly expanding sharing economy. We now have a greater ability to diversify our revenue streams, reduce fourth quarter seasonality and improve upsell and cross-sell opportunities among our family of brands.”

The deal certainly will enable BorrowLenses to rapidly expand its offering beyond the 9 states it’s already in, including California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Virginia, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Washington, DC. On its website, BorrowLenses said that all existing orders will continue to be fulfilled on time and that the company isn’t shutting down.

Shutterfly now has the ability to manage the entire photo and video order chain, enabling customers to not only pick out cameras that they would like to test out, but also process and apply them to memorabilia like frames, books, calendars or even store them online for others to view.

Stock in Shutterfly ended up 0.18 percent to close at $54.83 following the news.

Photo credit: Shutterstock