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Sams club closes its doors, will it kill vending?


Starcat

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i am still pretty new to vending, and sams closing is a big deal to me, so far its the only place ive gotten my candy, do you guys think this will destroy vending? i know that vending has been around long before sams club so obviously its not going to do away with vending entirely, but to me it sure is a kidney punch.

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They're not going outta business or anything, so I'm thinking it really won't hurt us that much except for the ability to pick up locally to avoid shipping costs. I read an article that said they were repurposing those stores for their online service. In which you can still get everything, actually more from their website. I get just about all of my candy from there, the stuff I can't walk in and pick up locally. They have as good of a selection as most of your 'wholesale candy sites' but actually at wholesale prices. 

The only real downside is, they've cancelled mike and ike and hot tamales. Forcing me to get them elsewhere. But the rest (Bonz, Cotton Candy Flavored Hard Candy, Pucker Ups, Toostie Tarts, 850 Gumballs, Cry Baby Tears, and so much more) can be had readily from the website. Hope that helps ease your mind some.

PS - Costco online has Hot Tamales for $6.99 a bag, which is better than Sam's price was ($7.47) and they only charge $3 to ship if I read that right.

https://www.costco.com/Hot-Tamales%2C-Fierce-Cinnamon%2C-4.5-lbs.product.100381553.html?pageSize=96&catalogId=10701&dept=All&langId=-1&keyword=Hot+Tamales%2C+Fierce+Cinnamon%2C+4.5+lbs&storeId=10301

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The closings, at least in my area, we're just down-sizing. We had 5 in our area, all in a small radius, some even within a 10 min drive if each other. 2 of those were shut down. They figured the businesses and other customers would drive the extra 10-15 minutes to use their other clubs. Makes sense financially, but they really should have given shine advanced warning to the employees. That's the part I didn't like about the whole deal. 

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Before Sam"s came along every decent sized city had at least a couple of good wholesale bulk suppliers. Most are now gone. But there still are suppliers that specialize in bulk, you will just be paying shipping. Near Chicago; TJ King, Baltimore; Cardinal Dist and A&A.

The best thing for you is if Sams completely stopped supplying anything for bulk. A lot of small location owners were able to buy their own machines and supplies at Sams. Sams did a lot of damage to bulk operators.

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3 hours ago, Starcat said:

there is no sams club within 100 miles of me now

 

So if you develop a good supply chain for your business you will be miles ahead of your competition. Every adversity is really an opportunity.

3 hours ago, Starcat said:

there is no sams club within 100 miles of me now

 

 

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Yup, I use no product from Sam's.

I only run a few candies, Gumballs, Skittles, Bonz, and some mint tab gum and Reese's Pieces for the odd location. Skittles and Reese's are available for a very good price from Smart and Final, and their gum is priced ok. Bonz and tabs I just order online.

Toys, AA global, their freight rates are decent.

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On 1/21/2018 at 11:15 PM, orsd said:

Yup, I use no product from Sam's.

I only run a few candies, Gumballs, Skittles, Bonz, and some mint tab gum and Reese's Pieces for the odd location. Skittles and Reese's are available for a very good price from Smart and Final, and their gum is priced ok. Bonz and tabs I just order online.

Toys, AA global, their freight rates are decent.

Check TJ King  for good shipping rates

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