Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

If you want to make I a lasting friend of a
location owner and a source of real profits
out of a location - just install a Modernized
WurJitzer. We have only a few cabinets left
to convert old Wurlitzers into these " brand
new" big earners. First come-first served-
so get busy NOW!
WOLF SALES
COMPANY
E~ WURLllzE~ Z:;~
FOR COLORADO, WYOMING, UTAH, ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO, EASTERN IDAHO
1932.4 Broadway
NEW HORIZONS
(Continued from Page 49)
processed, dehydrated and frozen foods.
There is no limit to the items in popular
use which can be sold by machines.
The probability of an entirely automatic
grocery, drug or 5-and-lOc store, tobacco
and candy store is certainly within sight.
N ew Post-War Types of Locations
Many new types of locations will be avail-
able after the war. Americans have learned
to travel and will want to travel more. It
won't be uncommon for a New Yorker to
spend weekends in Paris. Neighborhood air-
ports will be common. Automobile travel
will be greatly increased. Returning soldiers
will open thousands of new filling stations,
road stands, bars and places of amusement.
Almost every plant or office employing more
than several hundred people will have res-
taurants_ In fact, a percentage of them do
today and concessionaires are already en-
gaged in the business of operating restau-
rants in such plants. They all need and
want vending machines. Many new fields
will be open for vending machines that have
hitherto been unexplored.
.
Any crystal gazing as to the future possi-
bilities of vending machines is likely to be
far more conservative than the develop·
ments that will actually take place. Many
authorities have stated that although there
has been a ' great change in the methods of
production in this country in the last dec-
ade, there has been very little change in
the methods of distribution, and they pre-
dict that a great change will take place in
selling methods in the next few years. They
refer particularly to automatic merchandis-
ing.
Development fo Be Gradual
Perhaps you don't agree with all of my
hopes for the future. I grant that a little
time might elapse before all of these things
Denver 2, Colorado
COIN
MACHINE
IIEVIEW
59
FOil
come about, and there will be some tough
. times ahead. We're still very much in the
war and the predictions regarding its end
swing daily from optimism to pessimism and
back again, like a fever chart; however,
when the shooting stops, there will be a
period of readjustment which will precede
the era of prosperity to which I refer. We'll
have two periods of reconversion-the per-
iod after the German war which will pre-
cede the period after the laps are finished
off. Our industry is not likely to be seriously
affl)cted during either of these excepting,
perhaps, by a continuation of the shortage
of merchandise for a brief time after the
German war.
Most of us will acknowledge that what-
ever hardships the war has imposed, such
as shortage of merchandise, machines, gaso-
line rationing, and manpower problems, the
industry like most others has flourished. To
my knowledge there is scarcely a vending
machine operator today who owes any
money on his equipment.
Despite all the griping about high taxes
and the difficulty of earning money under
existing conditions, the vending machine
business as a whole has been conducted
with a minimum of headaches compared to
pre-war conditions. Resourceful operators,
knowing that present conditions cannot last,
are devoting considerable thought to the
future. They will find new competition stim-
ulating. They will look upon new problems
as an incentive to their business. They real-
ize that the war has educated people to self
service and accustomed them to the buying
of merchandise through machines. This has
paved the way for automatic selling of an
increased variety of articles. This, along
with the technological improvements in
machines, will also open new avenues of
profit to the wide-awake operator.
When the new machines are available, the
intelligent operator will place them in his
choice locations and improve secondary lo-
cations with previous models, thus keeping
the best machines in the best places. He
will continually broaden the base of his
operation and will rotate his older machines
down the line until his oldest machines are
ready for trade-in. No doubt he will antici-
pate a machine replacement schedule of
20% per year. In this way the operation is
kept up-to-date and the operator is pre-
pared to meet competition by having mod-
ern equipment for all locations. It is poor
economy to try to hang on to obsolete ma-
chines until they are only good to be
scrapped.
Th e Machine of Tomorrow
How different will the machine of tomor-
row be? Well, it will make the present ma-
chine as obsolete as the old covered wagon.
These radical changes certainly can't take
place overnight. They will be gradual.
Experiments in new vending machines are
being conducted now but it must be re-
membered that improvements require test-
ing. Tools and dies must be completed be-
fore production starts.
I predict the first post-war cigarette ma-
chine, like automobiles, will be similar to
the last pre-war models. There'll be im-
provements in mechanism and design, but
changes will not be radical. The Buick
Company is advertising this fact now. These
machines will be ready for delivery in about
90 days after production starts.
The smart operator will purchase the first
available models without waiting for dras-
tically improved machines which will not
be ready for at least a year or more after
the resumption of production.
The price of new machines after the war
will depend upon a variety of factors, such
as the continuation of price control and
wage stabilization. No doubt the operator
will pay more for his machine in the future
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JULY
1945