hanihotdog

we have had many walmarts.. some have lasted 9 years some 9 minutes!! Most mgrs will only approve a machine in the break room, some will allow the machine to go in customer service, and a few will even let you put them in the vestibules next to foltz equipment! About once a year corporate will send a mass email to all the mgrs telling them that vending generates large revenues for the company and that any charity machine that does not have a walmart seal should be removed.. (once there was a copy of the email taped to our machine) apparently walmart has a 100% charity machine that they work with, but ive never actually seen it. a quick tip: some walmarts have 2 break rooms... smoking and non smoking... put a machine in both!! even if its just a glass wall separating the two rooms the smoking room will still match the #'s from the other machine!! the only problem is that sometimes your tray will be used for ash, and you will smell like smoke for the rest of the day!

Doug Cooper the owner and pioneer of the vendstar machine phrased it best when he said.. "you have to find ways to keep honest people honest". you cant prevent theft 100%.. you can minimize it by hiring smart, and letting route guys know you are watching them. when you interview someone, figure out what makes them tick... are they a people person? are they free spirited, or do they have a strong attention to detail? do they have the same entrepreneur personality as yourself? the outgoing flashy type will be well liked by employees in your accounts.. but they often cut corners, dont plan their product properly, dont wash machines, skip machines, leave machines out of order, and then not tell anyone what they did.. etc. I would also advise against picking the sales oriented entrepreneur type of a person. if you hire this person you will be training your competition. I saw it happen about 7 years ago to a guy who had about 300 vendstars. he was bragging that he found a route guy who could do sales and service. a few months later the guy quit, and started putting out his own machines. I wonder if its a coincidence that aa and cardinal are only 30 min apart? The best route guys (in my opinion) are detail oriented people who are loyal, have a strong sense of duty, are well organized, and prefer structure. we have found that vets really fit this mold well... all in all they will be the ones you can count on day in and day out... the only negative about this personality type is that they get all bent out of shape if something goes wrong.. (coin jam, service call etc.) the good news is, they will never leave a machine down! and though they may not have the personality of the free spirited person, they will be better liked by the owners of your accounts.

a rule of thumb is 25-30% win rate on cranes.. I assume you are talking about small 6-9" plush because they typically come in 144 case packs. if you figure 1$ for small and 2 for jumbo average... you would let the customer win 3 animals in 10 bucks for 30% or 2/8bucks at 25% (I think 25% is fine but some industry experts say 30% is best. you have to do it on an act. by act. basis..) if we go with 30% win rate you would make 475. at 25% win rate you make 576. if we are talking jumbo plush just double the revenue.

Thanks, i got some of the zoomania plush samples but thought the price point was way too high... My thought was: Other than vendors, who really knows the license zoomania?? You are right though, if its anything like 1" zoo/sea it will probably do really well. did you put the zoo in 100% or did you dilute it with generic? I have found 100% license mixes are the way to go.. even in most street accts.. it used to not be that way. What plush were you using before you tried the zoomania? Please let me know how the zoo plush did for you.

I cant find any 2" products that move.. (currently running at .50) 1" are blowing out at .25 vend. For instance, when i collect on a 5 way rack i will pull $20 from the top two 2" heads combined, and over 200 from the bottom 3 zoomania seamania and nerd gumballs. Is anyone else noticing this? where do you guys buy your 49mm superballs? I get mine from aa and rhode island... are there any cheaper domestic alternatives out there?

where are you guys buying your plush? What are your price points? jumbo medium small... what seems to be selling the best right now? Which companies seem to have the best price points? novelty, balls, small, jumbo? any hot licenses? I am only interested in street accounts (diners, pizza ect.) not FEC's. peekaboo is what i like for pre packs.