Customized Machine Fronts and Area Treatments Gain Favor as Selling Tools

Take a good look at your break areas. Do they look like fun places to visit? Sometimes a bank of plain, dark machines in a room with vinyl floors, sourrounded by laminated counters and metal-framed furniture aren't very exciting. Especially if the people working there have to visit it every day.

It doesn't have to be this way. For the employee, an obvious escape is to go to McDonald's or 7-Eleven; where there is always something new to see, and the meal areas often are colorful, inviting and sometimes even entertaining.

On the other hand, the vending machine break area can be fun, too. Who says the machines can't have any character? That the furniture has to be hard and drab? That the employee eating area has to be an afterthought?

Design processes make strides

Break room d?cor specialists are taking advantage of new graphic design processes to enhance the aesthetic appeal of employee break areas. Vending machines in particular are beginning to come alive, thanks to the efforts of progressive graphic specialists and vending operators willing to use their services.

In October of 1998, Automatic Merchandiser predicted a new day was dawning in an editorial titled, "Canteen wires the industry for change." That column noted that Canteen Vending Service's Market Central marked a new beginning for vending. One of the most dramatic elements of Market Central was a series of machine design concepts, all of which featured visual designs that in 1998 were nothing short of revolutionary. The colorful designs were made of polycarbonate that fit over the top of the machines. The design covered the entire flat surface of the machine. Panel headers, including signs cut into decorative shapes, gave added visual effect.

Design movement gains momentum

Six years later, the design movement is gaining momentum as more and more operators recognize the need to dress up their machines with more exciting graphics, along with the machine environments.

"Operators must ask themselves, what experiences can their customers get from a black box placed in a corner with no compelling message?" asked Jon Ford, president, All State Manufacturing Inc., whose company produces customized area treatments. "By using d?cor, customized door fronts, signage, customized floor mats, and other customer unique offerings, operators can change the view of their service from a commoditized service to a premium service."

Competition drives the change

It would be incorrect to say that all vending operators ignored the visual appeal of machines and break area before 1998. From the very beginning, some operators designed wood panels and vinyl overlays for machine fronts, and gave similar attention to the comfort and appearance of furniture and condiment stands. But these operators were the exception and not the rule.

Today, more operators are aware of the importance of aesthetics. Competition is pushing the envelope, and new graphic design technologies are bringing more products to the market.

Premier Services Inc., based in Denver, Colo., began offering customized treatments two years ago to compete against Canteen. In many cases, owner George Yost simply has a carpenter attach a plastic film with the account's logo on a central panel that hangs over a header atop the machine. In some cases, he places the logo over a piece of plastic, then installs track lighting behind it.

Yost offers some accounts standard area treatments from C. Robert Hutchinson Co. as well.

The process is simpler than ever

He has treated about 20 locations in the last two years, and rarely spends over $1,000 per site. "You can really jazz it up a lot," Yost said. "From a construction standpoint, there's really nothing complicated about area treatments."