The Story of Fotomat Begins....
Founded by Preston Mitchell Fleet, of San Diego in 1965,
Fotomat Corporation was a once thriving widespread retail chain of drive-thru kiosks located in shopping center parking lots across America. The stores offered photo development services, film, accessories, and eventually video cassette tapes. They were one of the first to offer video cassette rentals. Initially, only Paramount Pictures movies were available. There were 131 total movie titles offered. By 1980, Walt Disney Home Entertainment began offering. for the first time, their movie line.
At one time, there were more than 4,000 Fotomats all over the US. Most were found in suburban supermarket and stip mall parking lots. Fotomat kiosks were easily recognized for their golden yellow pyramid shaped roofs. 
Female Fotomat employees were refered to as Fotomates while male employees were called Fotomacs. Their uniforms were a royal blue and yellow smock for the ladies and a light blue polo for the men.
(Our Fotomat story continues in Part 2. Go to the top of the page and select "The History of Fotomat, Part 2.")
