Walmart break rooms..

[sprint54fan]

We do a couple Walmart breakrooms with full size snack units..

We get a call today from Best Venders..I guess they work with Walmart..they tell us that Canteen is taking over our accounts since they have contracts with Best Venders and walmart.. We are suppose to leave our equipment in the stores till July 3rd and pick it up that day..anyone else get this phone call? Just curious..

 

 

[midtenn]

Best Vendors is a vending management company that contracts vending services for national companies such as Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, Dillards, and Office Max, just to name a few. They charge the vendor (you) appx. 10-15% commission and then give the Companies Corporate office 5 - 7%. They also request monthly reports from you to be sent to them. They are owned by Compass Group. Canteen is also owned by Compass Group. Do you see the reason why Canteen gets the account. Sometimes it is the only way for Canteen to get an account they want, especially with Canteens substandard customer service. If you have a good relationship with  your Walmart manager, he can request to keep you. If he does want to keep you and tells them so, they probably won't force a change. Yes, I have battled them many times over the years and I am not their biggest fan. It is much more detailed than I explained but this is the short version. Get your manager to go to bat for you and you may be able to keep this account. If you have a contract you should be able to enforce it until the expiration date, but Best Vendors will still get into your pocket.

 

Good Luck

[nomoneynomo]

We were doing all of the Wal-Marts in our area but got this call a few months ago. I did exactly what Midtenn suggested and the managers really wanted to keep us but they were all overruled by higher powers. You could try to talk with the managers because they have always been able to save us in the past but this is some new deal that Wal-Mart Corporate offices have going on and like they told us "whether we like it or not,we have to switch. It's no longer our decision". Sorry, but I don't think you can save this one.

[mbicfl]

Best Vendors is really a legitimate mafia.

[Poplady1]

Best Vendors is struggling right now in some States because they are unable to get vendors in certain areas.  They may be losing their grip on the vending market.  Canteen does do a lot of the Best Vendors locations but normally only the most profitable ones.  They still sign up independent vendors to do stores in suburban areas.  But so many of the stores are closing right now leaving all of those guys with machines that they had to purchase to meet Best Vendors requirements, hence they are not so willing to install machines in Best Vendors stores these days. 

We just got the opportunity to provide a proposal for a hugh resort in California (40 machines total at one location).  That had been handled by Best Vendors but no independent vendor in the area would sign up with them and Canteen was 75 miles away.  So this chain is considering breaking away from Best. 

Bev

[mbicfl]

Best vendors......Thou shall reap.....What thou sow.

[Jax Snacks]

Speaking of Wal-Mart breakrooms....  I am not a full line vendor, but this topic got me curious about how you full line people think about us bulk guys.  I have a double head in a Wal-Mart breakroom that does very well.  Now you and I both know that I really should not be allowed in there.  But the manager is either sympathetic to the charity, doesn't know the vending policies or doesn't care about the vending policies.  Sometime the corporate people will police "unauthorized machines" and sometimes they don't.  At some point I will probably get booted but will enjoy this while it lasts.  I have a number of corporate breakrooms and rarely have a turf war with a full line vendor.  So my questions are:  Do you full line vendors....

1 ... hate us bulk charity vendors?

2 ... try to get our bulk machines removed?

3 ... think this charity approach is a scam?

4 ... think we are just small potatoes and really don't have time to deal with us?

5 ... instruct your employees to turn us in?

6 ... just wait for the district manager or corporate auditor to take care of it?

My thoughts are that you either don't care or your service employees don't want to deal with it.  Thanks for your comments in advance and pull no punches.  We both have to do what we have to do, right?  Happy vending!

Jax

[MrEen]

Hi Jax,

I work for a full line vendor, while trying to start my own bulk business. I can say in all honesty, when I saw a bulk machine appear in an account of ours, I was a little pissed ... at the location (not the vendor!) I did nothing (other than inform my boss in case there was a no compete clause in the contract) against the bulk vendor. Every time a bulk vendor moved in, our M&M Peanut sales died. The funny thing is, my first bulk account was one of our full line accounts and it didn't seem to impact our MMP sales at all, even though I'm getting around $20/month from that head. (Yes, I know it is making an impact, but the volume hasn't changed much from what it was before my machine was there.)

Oh, I can say I hate "you" guys in this respect. At one location, a Terminator had nuts in one head that I guess had gone bad. Anyway, a bunch of bugs decided this was a good place to call home. My problem was MOST people at the location assumed this was one of OUR machines! Unfortunately, I wasn't yet doing the bulk thing, otherwise it would have been a piece of cake getting that place (they've since moved to Mexico, so I guess it all worked out in the end.)

Scott

Edit: Does anyone know if Sam's Club is following this route, or is it just Walmart locations?

[mxer518]

I do full line and bulk, You would be shocked how many owners ask me if I do the bulk vending because they want to kick out the person who is, so I usually get my machines in with no commission or charity. You in most cases build a great relationship withe the businesses because they will see you once or twice a week, where the bulk only vendors usually but all do not invest any time into the relationship building aspect.

[lurtsman]

Interesting point about how often you see them. I may be influenced to add in some soda machines at some point. Stocking all the snacks just seems crazy.