T h e A u t o m a t ic A ge
15
VENDING MACHINES FOR APARTM ENT
HOUSES
E M E R G E N C Y N E ED S A U T O M A T IC A L L Y M E T A T A L L HOURS,
R E P O R T SHOW S
The use o f the apartment house as a
means o f distributing food and drug staples
through the medium o f automatic venders
is being recognized by coin-operated ma
chine manufacturers as having extensive
possibilities, acording to an oral statement
Mar. 11 by J. A. G. Pennington o f the spe
cialties division o f the Departement o f
Commerce.
These locations, manufacturers believe,
offer opportunities fo r establishing individ
ual automatic market centers in carrying
out the “ emergency shopping idea” which
is looked upon as the most promising de
velopment in machine merchandising, Mr.
Pennington declared.
Emergency shopping, as conceived by ex
ponents o f automatic retailing, entails the
dispensing o f such commodities as bread,
milk, razor blades, drug specialties, and
other articles often needed in a hurry. The
convenience afforded to apartment dwellers
in making these necessities immediately
available at all hours o f the day or night
should result in stimulating the use o f au
tomatic venders, it was stated.
The recent annual exposition o f coin ma
chine operators in Chicago indicated the
interest taken by the industry in adapting
machines to dispense perishable foodstuffs,
Mr. Pennington said. Manufacturers re
vealed plans incorporating refrigerating
units fo r vending machines to retail bever
ages, ice cream, and frozen confections.
Some o f the leading beverage manufactur
ers are reported to be watching closely the
experiments leading toward the develop
ment o f miniature automatic soda foun
tains which mix carbonated water and
syrups, he said.
The general trend o f the industry is
toward the high class merchandising and
amusement machines, with quality rather
than price the priniciple incentive to sales,
it was stated. Manufacturers are also giv
ing more attention to supplying the mer
chandise to be dispensed by the machines
and in some cases are also manufacturing
the articles fo r which their machines are
designed to hold. Frequently, also, coin
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machine producers sell their entire output
directly to packaged goods manufacturers
who distribute their products through these
automatic venders, it was pointed out.
The development o f coin machines to
fit various commodities, especially the
electrically operated devices, is receiving
the serious consideration o f manufacturers.
The trend toward the electric phonograph
and the radio, the latter operated by coins
and permitting free selection o f stations, is
already apparent in the music machines,
and some progress has been reported in
adapting domestic apparatus, notably elec
tric washers, to coin operation, it was
stated.
The industry is still faced with tw o ma
jo r problems, however, which at present
are believed to retard an even more rapid
development. These are the slug evil and
the question o f coin adjustment. W hile a
slug detecting device has made its appear
ance, few machines have yet been equipped
with this safety feature, manufacturers be
ing largely o f the opinion that the present
price discourages its adoption. The neces
sity o f adjusting machines to the price o f
frequently changing commodities is also a
problem which must be solved. A djust
able coin chutes now in the process o f de
velopment are believed practicable to this
end, it was declared.
Women’s Wants Increase
A nationally known merchandising ex
pert says the wants o f our grandmothers
could be divided into 74 sorts o f purchases.
Feminine wants have increased to 1,500
classifications. And what if some o f these
wants cannot be satisfied? Does this mean
that the modern woman, not getting what
she wants, may be made about 20 times as
unhappy as her old-fashioned grandmother?
W ell you know how restless they are. It
is no small chore to satisfy the lady shop
per but it helps mightily in keeping the
wheels o f trade going round. *
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