Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

NATIONAL "On-Tlle-Spo.t"
OPERATING REPORTS
The PULSE BEAT OF THE COIN-MACHI NE IND,USTRY
Cinciil6lali
Reported by Geor ge Keith
General Motors cast a ray of optimism
over local Industry operations, with the
announcement it will hire around 2300
more men at about $1.40 an hour to help
turn out Chevrolets and Fisher bodies.
Although this firm does not utilize vend-
ing machines for the convenience of its
workers, some $130,000 added to the local
weekly payrolls will be reflected favorably
in vending receipts.
Making a nice recovery from the previous
month's slight relapse, automatic music
can be said to have held its own last month
in relation to last year.
Les Paul's Nola, Bob Hope and Marg
Whiting's Blind Date, and Bonaparte's Re-
treat, with Kay Starr, were among the best
nickel gatherers.
Amusement games also held their own,
while shuffleboard interest was heightened
by the State play-offs for the Peoria na-
tional meeting.
Shuffle-bowling did as well as could be
expected in competition with outdoor
amusements.
Soft drinks came right along, and gave
promise of doing as well this season, if
not better than last year's phenomenal
showing.
Three-column vendors did excep tionally
well, it is said.
An operator who places in thooters, office
buildings and industrial spots, says he
favors theaters, as they are open seven
days a week as opposed to the usual five
for the other types.
New locations are accepting cup ma-
chines in encouraging numbers, according
to · reports.
Milk operators report a gratifying in-
crease over the previous month , and show
no concern over competition with various
other drin ks.
Coffee continues to make steady gains in
favor, and since summer has been rath er
hesitant here, with the heat turned off in
all plants, a cup of java seems to be just
what the doctor had in mind.
The switch to summer bars has about
been completed and candy sales were very
good as compared with last month and last
year.
Cigarettes have resumed their regular
summer position in popular esteem, and
sales increased correspondiQgly over last
month , and compare favorably with those
of the same month last year. One down-
town drug store, which never indulges in
cut rates, is prominently advertising cigar-
ettes at 2 for 35, or $1.70 a carton, which
is th e chain store price.
Popcorn machines attracted more cus-
tomers than in the previous month, and
about the same as last year.
Chewing gum sales were only fair. From
personal observation there seems to be
nothing equal to bubble gum in appeal to
the youngsters, and the inference would
be that this item should appear more
frequently in the penny vendors.
Interest in nuts seems to have sagged
suddenly since last month, and sales were
not so good.
Record folk are definitely encouraged by
the way business is picking up. Sales to
operators indicate the latter are on th eir
toes as to the value of hits in their auto-
matics.
A magical change in receipts takes place
as soon as voice-letter machines are placed
outside in the entrance lobbies, and this
month found them doing an increased take.
Airport arcade receipts showed the re-
sults of increased travel for vacations, etc.,
due to balmier weather condition s.
During Twenty-Three Years
01 Leadership
Has Built
Am erica's Most
Profitable Gam e, !
Originators of
FLIPPER BUMPERS
Visit your Distributor regularly for first hand
news about the latest Gottlieb Releases.
11 40·1150 North Kostner Avenue
Chicago 51, Illinois
JULY, 1950
BUSINESS BAROMETER
JUNE
1950
Cin cinnatL __ .. __ .N
Columbus ____ . ____ .A
Los Ang eles ... _.B
St. Louis_._._. ____ ._ N
San Francisco __ . N
Seattle _. ___ . _____ . ____ B
Spokane ._ .. ___ . ____ .A
Wash .. D. C._._ .. N
B B N N N N N
NAN B NAN
B
B N N N N
B B N N B N B
A ANN N N N
B B X N A A A
B B N N N N N
N B X ANN N
N
N
N
N
N
A
N
N
N
B
N
X
N
X
N
X
N-NORMAL
A-ABOVE NORMAL
B-BELOW NORMAL
Outdoor arcades returns at resorts, have
only been commensurate with attendance,
which has not been very good up to this
writing.
Baseball attendance is off, and one of the
biggest circuses, playing here with the
added attraction of one of the kids' favorite
cowboys, played to very disappointing
crowds, when sell-out houses had been
confidently expected.
On the other hand, department stores
for the last week in May were ' 3 per cent
above the same week last year, with all
major cities in the 62 ci ty distri ct, showing
improvement.
-
Television . sales by percentages started
to fall off, but were still up 147 points.
In spite of conflicting figures, employ-
ment is high here and wages are steadily
keeping pace with th e cost of living.
Columbus
Reported by W . C. A rthurs
Shutdown of the giant Lustron Corp.,
local manufacturers of steel prefabricated
homes, and the dismissal of its 630 re-
maining employes came at a time when
the local labor market is booming. As a
result, the impact on the Columbus em-
ployment picture may .not be too severe,
according to the Ohio State Employment
Service.
Local employers expect a still further,
though moderate, increase in employment
during the next few weeks, it was reported.
Columbus manufacturers plan to hire about
800 more workers by mid-July, the em-
ployment center reported, and if their plans
materialize, the additional hirings will more
than offset the layoffs at Lustron. In one
month's time, the number of persons look-
ing for jobs through the Columbus em-
ployment center declined nearly 25 per
cent.
.
The research department of the Colum-
bus Chamber of Commerce reported th e
composite index of Columbus business
activity during April registered a six-tenths
-'per cent increase over March and was seven-
tenths per cent above April of last year.
Altogether, it seems that the ptedicted
upturn in business is here, although it
'. didn't slump too greatly except during the
steel and coal strikes. Varied industry in
Columbus helps to stabilize employment.
Another blow by the oil companies was
a second one-half cent increase in gasoline
prices. The latest increase followed by a
17