Automatic Age

21
AUTOMATIC AGE
April, 1936
Io w a O p e r a to r s M e e t; D is c u s s
D e ta ils o f B u y in g M a r t
rp H E proposed Buyer’s Mart where
operators will be able to make
their purchases on a co-operative ba­
sis, was the principal subject of dis­
cussion at the regular monthly meet­
ing of the Automatic Merchandisers
Association of Iowa, held Tuesday,
March 17, in the Kirkwood Hotel,
Des Moines.
The committee in charge of plans
for the Mart reported very satisfac­
tory progress, and it was decided to
interview manufacturers at an early
date relative to samples for the Mart
display room, which, it is hoped, will
be ready for opening at the time of
the next annual meeting of the Na­
tional Council.
Fred K. Chandler, secretary of the
Iowa group, was asked by members
to write to President Walter Tratsch
of the NACOMM, congratulating
him on his endorsement of six points
of the nine-point program set up by
the National Council at its sessions
in Chicago during the recent Coin
Machine Exposition.
H. Z. Smith, member of the Iowa
association, reported a new racket
which has been worked in several of
his locations.
“Five men, estimated to be between
22 and 25 years of age, enter a
store,”
Smith
explained, “group
themselves around a machine and be­
gin to play it. While this is taking
place, one of them uses a thin steel
tool of some kind, with which he
opens the door of the machine, re­
moves the money in the cash box, and
then replaces the door.
Smith said he was positive that a
Piece of steel, and not a duplicate
key had been used, because he had
been obliged to dig the steel out of
the lock. Several of his machines had
been looted in this way, he said.
Smith urged members to instruct
their location owners to be on the
lookout for the men. He said he was
sure he could identify them from de­
scriptions given him by the proprie­
tors of the spots where his machines
had been robbed.
Before the meeting adjourned
there was some discussion relative to
the necessity for paying dues prompt­
ly. One member quoted the follow­
ing bit of verse, titled “How Do You
Due” :
“Some members pay their dues when
due;
Some when over-due;
Some never due.
How do you due?”
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N .A .D .A . H o ld s Q u a r t e r ly M e e tin g ;
M aps T rad e A g re e m e n t
O N E of the most important meet­
ings of coin machine distributors
since the recent show was the quar­
terly meeting of the National Auto­
matic Distributors Association, held
in Chicago April 4-5. Practically all
the members were present, including
representative distributors from all
parts of the country who are joining
the organization. As a result of the
meeting, it is believed that many of
the problems confronting the distri­
butors will be solved for the better­
ment of the industry.
N.A.D.A. is a co-operative group,
officers point out, but is not interested
in collective buying. Their only in­
terest is to maintain an association
devoted to the distributors’ interests
and the promotion of ethical busi­
ness practices within the industry.
The N.A.D.A. platform which has
been published from time to time in­
cludes such worthy plans as: the eli­
mination of 'bootlegging into outside
territories, respect for territorial
© International Arcade Museum
rights on the part of its members,
the proper handling of legal prob­
lems and to assist the various related
branches of the industry by bringing
about a more harmonious condition
through closer co-operation.
The distributors who make up
N.A.D.A. constitute 60 to 65 per cent
of the total coin machine buying pow­
er, and with this majority of purchas­
ing power working along harmonious
lines, the major ills covering distri­
bution can be easily solved.
In the two day session, the distri­
butors formulated definite plans for
the future relative to bootlegging and
price cutting which has caused unset­
tled conditions throughout the entire
country, next in importance to the
legal problem. Not only have the dis­
tributors been hurt, but the manu­
facturers as well, since it has result­
ed in less sales.
The members went on record to
work out an interlocking agreement
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