Canadian Vending

T .R.S. Food Services Nee Tony's Refreshment
Service Of Oshawa Pursues Its Policy
Of Expansion And Innovation
Flexibility And Diversion Really Pay Off
In Difficult Times
Oshawa, Ontario's General Motors town is a pretty
dismal city this Christmas of 1970, economically speak-
ing, that is. Workers of Canada's largest single employer
have been engaged in a wage and conditions dispute
with the U.S. based Company for some months during
which the car making plant has been shut down by a
long and painful strike. As a result, there is a lot less
money in a lot of Oshawa homes this fall and winter
than there has been for years. And, all of Oshawa has
felt it; business in that city of 85,000 has been and is,
very depressed. But, one Oshawa company which has
sailed right through this depressing episode with its
colours flying high is T.R.S. FOOD SERVICES Ltd. of
800 Farewell Avenue on the Southeast edge of the city.
This is no other than the Esposito brothers', Tony's
Refreshments Services, under its new title and, its for-
tunate position results from two things - it is a diver-
sified food firm and, it pursues a lively and aggressive
sales policy. That it also provides excellent product and
service at reasonable prices are the bases by which its
sales and expansion policy have succeeded.
In 1951 - President Tony Esposito began a one
man truck catering operation working out of his home.
This was Tony's Refreshment Service and it prospered;
two brothers came in a year later; Oshawa's first.Vend-
ing machines were located by the fledgling company and
the Pic-O-Mat Vending Division came into being in
1956. By 1964 Tony's was employing over 100 people
using a large fleet of vehicles, 400 Vending machines
and selling $1,500,000.00 worth of food, drink and
other items in a year. As 1970 draws to a close the
same company under its two year old TRS designation
employs over 200 persons and has doubled its yearly
sales from the 1964 figure. As then, Vending accounts
for some one third of the total. None of this happens
without a great deal of astute head work and careful
attention to all aspects of the business. And, that' is the
main reason TRS isn't "crying the Oshawa blues" today.
To quote
Bob Sinclair "Sure we've felt
this strike and our local truck catering business has
fallen off badly but, at the same time we've won some
nice new big accounts and our total sales remain well
up over last year's."
- Just imagine the position in which TRS would have
found itself had it put all its eggs in one basket. If it
were only manual caterers or truck caterers/, Vending
Operators or, if
. ..
Canadian Vending Magazme
23