Blog Archives
-
Memorial Day: Remembering Our Heroes And Their Sacrifice
By Alfonso Flores - Thursday May 23, 2013
With Memorial Day around the corner, it’s important that we salute the veterans who have risked and are currently risking their lives for our freedom. Memorial Day is a celebration and a reminder of the sacrifices these men and women have made, but there are other ways to honor veterans as well. Veterans coming back from overseas have historically struggled transitioning back to everyday life. In fact, according to a March 2013 report by Time Magazine, of a randomly surveyed 4,000 veterans 16 percent said they were unemployed. The same article reported that 60 percent of veterans have stated that transitioning their military service to civilian employment was a significant challenge. It is important that we as a society do... -
Ode To The Family Business
By Emily Refermat - Thursday May 16, 2013
Many people feel nostalgic about a family business. They dream of spending time with their loved ones everyday while also providing for them financially. They believe it will cement relationships, foster a positive sense of morale and produce a strong organization with people who all have the same goal. Not to mention lead to a legacy that can be passed on to the next generation. For some, this is the case. However, my experience with a family business has taught me that relatives and employment shouldn’t mix. For one thing there are the holiday dinners. Over turkey, three individuals are discussing the day’s sales, the problem customers and arguing about marketing strategies. They do this while other members sip wine and try... -
Slender Vender Criticism Uncalled For
By Alfonso Flores - Thursday May 9, 2013
Recently Coca-Cola released a 7-inch width Diet Coke vending machine cleverly named the “Slender Vender.” The ad accompanying the ultra-thin machine depicted it in places such as between treadmills at gyms and between lanes at bowling alleys, among others. The first thing that came to mind when seeing the “Slender Vender” was its unique design. The design of a soda machine has been the same for a number of years. Sure, things have been added for convenience and they have been modified to look more modern, but the size has pretty much been the same forever. When I saw the Slender Vender, I thought a machine like this could really benefit the vending industry. It could lead to a more versatile machine that is sleek and eye-catching... -
Just What We Need – More Competition!
By Paul Schlossberg - Tuesday May 7, 2013
The Columbus Dispatch featured an article “ Drugstores become shopping ‘destinations,’ with fresh food and more ” about this relatively new development. According to Rite Aid’s chief operating officer, Ken Martindale, “Drugstores are trying to figure out what their role is. We’re in a new environment where everyone is selling everything.” Walgreens, including their Duane Reade chain, is creating destination drug stores offering a wide array of product and services. They have six flagship stores across the country. I’ve been to the Duane Reade store at 40 Wall Street in New York’s Financial District. It is a retail wonder. You can see what they’ve accomplished from a video report of their grand opening reception... -
A Point Of No Return
By Emily Refermat - Thursday May 2, 2013
This year’s NAMA OneShow was filled with optimism. As I walked around and talked to attendees, I got the sense that we’ve reached a turning point as an industry. Gone are the days when an operator would stop, and during our discussion about payment systems, say: “Cashless is stupid, these young people just need to learn to carry cash.” An operator actually did say this to me at one of my first tradeshows. Instead, operators filled the room at the V-engineering session to learn about the technological innovations in the vending industry. I spoke with a number of operators who came to the show to investigate telemetry units, the return on investment for cashless, micro market systems and several other vending industry... -
Don't Give Up On Vending
By Emily Refermat - Thursday April 18, 2013
Fact of life No. 71: everyone likes new and exciting. Because of that fact, we hear (or in my case report) a lot on the new stuff in the industry. Lately, it has been micro markets, and don't get me wrong -- they are terrific. In the right location with the right service, they can really increase revenues. And they are nothing but new and exciting for operators and locations alike. But in my opinion, micro markets will never take over the quintessential vending machine -- the hero of the late night cramming college student or starving office worker who has 10 minutes before the next meeting. Why won't vending machines fade to be some obscure piece of equipment we see in reruns – like the rotary landline telephone? First and foremost... -
Food Is Our Future
By Paul Schlossberg - Thursday April 11, 2013
Our industry is changing as micro markets take a bigger share of the deployments at locations we serve. Food has become even more important to those companies operating micro-markets. How many vending locations offer food versus only offering cold drinks and snacks? That snack lineup is usually limited to confections, salty snacks, cookies, crackers, gums, mints and, maybe, pastries. An excellent article from Convenience Store Decisions – posted through their daily email newsletter supports my point. The article explores how convenience store foodservice is adapting “to meet the latest food trends.” One critical data point popped out in the story Grab-and-Go Continues to Grow . Market research about pricing, from a study by... -
Blog: Punishment Doesn’t Fit The Crime
- Thursday April 4, 2013
Featured yesterday in the VendingMarketWatch Daily Update was an article regarding a vending company in Illinois that is currently being sued for having cockroaches in a coffee vending machine. Hometown Suburban Vending in Oak Lawn, Ill. is facing three separate cases each seeking $50,000 in damages. Now, I don’t condone allowing cockroaches in vending machines, and I am in no way saying that the vending company has no fault in the incident, but $150,000 in total damages seems awfully harsh for the crime committed. Vending machines aren’t air-tight contraptions that are impenetrable by bugs. If cockroaches exist in an area, they are likely to migrate to places that are warm, and have a food source. A vending machine that dispenses... -
The Importance Of Details
By Emily Refermat - Thursday March 28, 2013
When someone sends me an email, the first thing I look for is how they spell my name. My married surname is difficult for newbie's, but if the writer took the time to double check, it automatically puts me in a better frame of mind and more open to whatever I'm about to read. The second piece is the name of the magazine. This isn't difficult for most people. The magazine has been Automatic Merchandiser for decades. Those words were in the title even when the magazine began. So when I received an email for an article submission and the name of the magazine was incorrect, I was a bit dismayed. There were other problems as well, but I kept coming back to the name of the magazine. I couldn't help but think, if this were truly important to... -
Plan-O-Grams And Seasonal Products Are A Must
By Paul Schlossberg - Friday March 8, 2013Are you using a plan-o-gram for your candy/snack machines or bottle drop machines? Let's hope so! Plan-o-grams are equally important for micro-markets. And OCS operators can use much more effective product merchandising strategies and tactics. Plan-o-grams are better than what a very smart operator once described as "hand-grenade" merchandising. This is a crucial merchandising tactic to deploy what we sell in the most appealing way. Putting the "right" products in the "right" places will increase sales and profits. My own experience, and that of many others, includes research-based proof that a plan-o-gram generates better bottom-line results than not using one. Plan-o-grams are great. There are lots of ways to do it. Odds are that...
