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By HAROLD S. KAHM
One of the most dependable opportunities
in the coin machine industry has for the
most part been completely overlooked. It is
the small hotel, numbering into the thous·
ands, and outnumbering the big hotels on
a twenty·to·one·scale.
Let's take a look at the hotel situation
for a moment. The big, first·class hotels
whose rates may start at $2.50 per night
for a single room, are usually centrally 10'
cated. Likely as not there is a drug store
at the corner. There is a coffee shop in the
hotel, and perhaps two or three more res·
taurants besides. There may be a flower
shop, and there is certainly a cigar stand
handling tobacco, candy, postcards and
magazines. Such hotels may afford excel·
lent locations for various types of amuse·
ment machines.
But now let's look at the other hotels-
those whose rates range from $1.00 per
night for a single room, to $1.50 (with
bath), and in the south and other lower·
scale economic sections, 75c up. The cheap·
est hotels, the "flop·houses" are not in·
cluded in this study. There is generally a
wide difference between the man who pays
35c a night for a room to sleep in, and one
who pays 75c or $1.00, or more. The great
majority of hotels in the United States are
in the 1.00 category despite the fact that
they seem less visible to the stranger ar·
riving in town. The big first·class hotels
command the eye by virtue of size and
location. The smaller hotels, on the side
streets, likely as not make but a small biCl
for attentio!l. They do business quietly.
And many of these little hotels are models
of cleanliness, good service and they offer
every comfort and convenience. They lack
size, loca tion and "fran t." Such a hotel
may have thirty or forty rooms as opposed
to the multi·hundred rooms of the giants.
But there is a significant point: Ten lit·
tle forty·room hotels are twice as big as
one impressive 200·room hostelry with a
roof garden. Four hundred guests are twice
as many as two hundred. These figures are
mentioned only to show that because a
hotel is small and comparatively obscure it
doesn't mean that it is beyond considera·
tion. These small hotels make money.
Now we approach some facts concerning
the relationship between these little hotels
(don't forget there are thousands of
them!) and the coin machine operator who
is interested in finding new locations.
First, there is the fact about the small
hotel seldom being handily located near a
drug store. In fact, the out·of·the·way loca·
tion, likely as not, may be the reason for
the low rates. The drug store that is 10'
cated next to a hotel does a good deal of
business with the guests of that hotel. They
drop in for razor blades, tooth paste, shav·
ing cream, candy, refreshments, and a
variety of other merchandise. But the guest
of the small hotel, however much his con·
sumption of these items is comparable to
that of the big·hotel guest, must do one of
two things: He can walk to the nearest
drug store, which may be anywhere from
one to five blocks or more distant, or he
can go without.
Convenient location has been proved by
exhaustive tests and research to be one of
the biggest business· getting factors in ex·
istence. Human beings follow the path of
least resistance, and you will patronize the
store nearest to you. As the guest of a
small hotel you will patronize a candy mao
chine in the lobby before you will walk
to the corner, or to the next block to make
the same purchase. And if the nearest
store is three blocks away you will certainly
patronize the machine in the lobby!
I have personally investigated literally
hundreds of small, out·of·the·way hotels.
Many of them deal with transients, others
specialize in guests who stay on a weekly
or monthly basis. Some of these hotels
have installed miniature candy and cigar·
ette counters of their own as a convenience
for guests, but the majority have not done
this. It is too much trouble for them. A
few have amusement machines, generally
pin·ball games, in the lobbies, but most of
them have nothing of this sort. Some of
them carry soft drinks as a service to the
guests, but most of them do not.
Well, gentlemen, here is a wide·open,
little·touched field for coin machine oper·
ators. And the beauty of it is that the
hotel owners are anxious to give every
additional service they can to their guests
-and coin machines can offer this service.
Coin machines can make up for the fact
that the hotel has no convenient drug store.
Let's get down to cases. What are the
exact types of machines and merchandise
suited for the small hotel locations? In the
drug store field we find razor blades, both
single and double·edged, sanitary napkins,
shaving cream, tooth paste, candy, cig.
arettes, cigars, soft drinks, and other items.
Hotel guests are particularly large consum·
ers of shaving materials and tooth paste;
they're always forgetting them-leaving
them behind in the last town.
Shoe polish is another item of real pas·
sibilities for the small hotel, particularly
those catering to transients. The man who
pays a low rate for a hotel room is travel·
ling on an economy budget, and the
chances are twenty·to·one he is travelling
on business of some kind. He knows the
value of well·shined shoes and would rath·
er, because of his rcstricted economy, shine
his own. A handy machine vending black,
brown and tan polish is just the right
temptation for him. And the percentage
of profit in this line is very high.
In a larger city where an operator may
cover a chain of small hotels within a
short distance of each other, makin!!: servic·
ing easy, food items such as sandwiches,
apples, oranges and cookies constitute a
dependable money·making source. The
reason is psychological. Strangers in a city
are frequently bored, and the psychologists
have discovered that bored individuals go
in for munching on a grand scale! A man
often as not buys a candy bar not because
he is really hungry for one but because it
is something to do! Think back and an·
alyze your own motives in the past! The
arne thing holds true to a large extent of
chewing gum. Food vendors will do busi·
ness in small, transient hotels.
Travellers frequently run out of clean
handkerchiefs. They use up their supply
and haven't time to wait in one city long
enough to get them laundered. Or they for-
get to give out their laundry because they
are accustomed to having someone else--a
wife or a mother-think of this for them.
So the obyjous answer is a handkerchief
vending machine in the lobby.
Nor can one overlook the fact that most
men hate to write letters, and therefore
prefer to send postcards because these are
so much smaller and don't require so much
writing. Most small hotels don't sell post
cards. Biggest of all sellers could be regu-
lar government penny postcards, sold at 4
for a nickel. Not only are these cards small-
er than letters, but they are cheaper, and
fit the small hotel guest's economy better.
These post cards are seldom available ex-
cept at post offices, and the nearest post
office is nearly always too far away to be
convenient. The patron will be only too
I(lad to pay an extra penny for the service.
This type of business is slow, steady, and
you don't have to be afraid the novelty
might wear off. The hotel owner, inci-
dentally, likely as not will grant space for
such a vendor free of charge, as it is a
fine service for his guests, and costs him
nothing.
Amusement machines, of course, repre-
sent a good bet for the small hotel as they
do for the large one. Also in demand are
machines vending books, for few small
hotels sell reading material, and paper-
bound books are in demand at all times,
especially the five and ten-cent sellers.
Moreover, unlike magazines, the books
don't I(et out of date quickly. They are,
most of them, good for years.
So there you have a glimpse of what may
be one of the most substantial opportuni-
ties in the coin machine business-the
small hotel. Why not look into it?
..
Thornton Returns
YUMA, Arlz.-Jack A. Thornton, prom-
inent operator in this area, has returned to
Yuma following a six weeks health seeking
vacation.
He's in the pink of condition now, for
which his many friends are grateful.
•
*
*
*
"I don't know what Bill does with his
money. He was short yesterday and he's
short again today."
"Is he trying to borrow from you?"
"No, hang it! I'm trying to borrow from
him."
•
INTERNATIONAL FORWARDING COMPANY
- - FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC FREIGHT FORWARDERS -
Daily Consolidated Cars to
All points in California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Oregon and Washington
with
Specialized service on shi pments of coin-operated games and phonographs.
SALT LAKE CITY
LOS ANGELES
•
PORTLAND
SEATTLE
•
Mention of THE COIN MACHINE REVIEW is y our b est introduction to our advertisers.
SAN FRANCISCO
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COIN
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13
FOR
OCTOBER
J94J