Snack machine shelf change

[Laundry Hustle]

Good evening every one. Figured I’d introduce myself and pick your brains a little. While this technically isn't relating to food and beverage, it dose have to do with a food vending machine, you'll see in a minute as you read though the post and I thought it would fit better here. Feel free to correct me, or move the post if I'm out of place.

I’m a small business owner, but not of the vending verity, but of laundry. Coin Op. I’m sure a few of you probably have machines in a laundry mat. We have a handful of locations in the area, however, we do not own our own vending machines, this is contracted out to a vending company, the same company dose all of our locations.

While I’m pretty much happy with our partnership I’ve been thinking of ways to increase cash flow into my own business. Will I will admit, the majority of the cash flow comes in from our washers, I’ve been eye balling buying our own vending machines for a little while now for a few reasons.

One, control. I hate having to deal with our vending company when it comes to refunds and such. While not a deal breaker, its still a pain. I’d rather be able to handle everything in house as it were.
Two, looks. We are in the process of refurbishing a few locations we just recently acquired. Some are worse than others (we call them Zombie Mats), I like a uniform look to our locations, not a mix of unmatched machines from multiple manufactures. We typically use one brand for a clean look, and that makes it easier for repair, I’m sure you guys would agree. I’m sure having one make of bill validator or coin mech across all your machines helps.
Three, cash flow. While some locations have a bigger problem with cash walking out the door than others (when someone changes a $20 into quarters but only uses $5 worth and taking the rest home) I’m always looking for ways to try and keep the quarters from leaving. One solution I think maybe vending machines.

One of our locations has some of what I assume are newer API glass front snack machine and a glass front Dixie-Narco drink machine. When I went to see more about who makes these machines, it seem both API and Dixie-Narco are owned by Crane Merchandising Systems and Crane simply makes machines under this name now.

So now, I’ve got it in my head that I’ve found a company who makes good looking machines, they seem to well liked in the industry, come in different sizes and all that jazz. Then I got to thinking, we can eliminate our coin op laundry soap dispensers also. Those things are about two grand a pop (new) and only take quarters. Having an actual vending machine capable of taking cash and dropping a box of detergent seems like the logical next step and would give us a wider range of product selection to offer, it would certainly hold more capacity also. As I’m sure you are all aware, some items sell quicker and having out of stock is probably a loss in venue somewhere.

So, I guess my question here really is, how hard is it to change out the shelves in these machines? The model I was looking at was their 187. Looks to be a seven shelf, five shelves that are six wide for chips, pastries, and two shelves of twelve wide for candy bars and what not. The laundry soap boxes are all pretty standard at 4-1/2 in. x 2-3/4 in. x 1-1/16 in. I’m not sure if they would fit in the candy row even standing up. If not, they would certainly fit in the chip areas lying down. And that’s all well and good, but then we’d have two empty rows. Is it even possible to change out all the shelves so the selections are all the same size? I’m leaning more for the chip size shelves because this may open an opportunity to maybe offer the smaller liquid soaps, and they often come in odd size bottles.

We are also in the process of upgrading to coinless solutions as well. This also plays into us using the same make washer and dryers though out not only the laundry mat itself, but our other locations. Same software though out across multiple locations just makes things run smoother over all. While I feel the majority of our customers use cash, we do see a bit of use from the coinless side of things. The Crane machines I’ve been looking at offer the ability to be cashless.  While I loathe having to pay a gateway for credit card transactions and other like minded things, it’s the way the world is going.

I do appreciate your time and thoughts, or maybe other insight I may have over looked.

[NYCandyMaN]

1 hour ago, Laundry Hustle said:

Good evening every one. Figured I’d introduce myself and pick your brains a little. While this technically isn't relating to food and beverage, it dose have to do with a food vending machine, you'll see in a minute as you read though the post and I thought it would fit better here. Feel free to correct me, or move the post if I'm out of place.

I’m a small business owner, but not of the vending verity, but of laundry. Coin Op. I’m sure a few of you probably have machines in a laundry mat. We have a handful of locations in the area, however, we do not own our own vending machines, this is contracted out to a vending company, the same company dose all of our locations.

While I’m pretty much happy with our partnership I’ve been thinking of ways to increase cash flow into my own business. Will I will admit, the majority of the cash flow comes in from our washers, I’ve been eye balling buying our own vending machines for a little while now for a few reasons.

One, control. I hate having to deal with our vending company when it comes to refunds and such. While not a deal breaker, its still a pain. I’d rather be able to handle everything in house as it were.
Two, looks. We are in the process of refurbishing a few locations we just recently acquired. Some are worse than others (we call them Zombie Mats), I like a uniform look to our locations, not a mix of unmatched machines from multiple manufactures. We typically use one brand for a clean look, and that makes it easier for repair, I’m sure you guys would agree. I’m sure having one make of bill validator or coin mech across all your machines helps.
Three, cash flow. While some locations have a bigger problem with cash walking out the door than others (when someone changes a $20 into quarters but only uses $5 worth and taking the rest home) I’m always looking for ways to try and keep the quarters from leaving. One solution I think maybe vending machines.

One of our locations has some of what I assume are newer API glass front snack machine and a glass front Dixie-Narco drink machine. When I went to see more about who makes these machines, it seem both API and Dixie-Narco are owned by Crane Merchandising Systems and Crane simply makes machines under this name now.

So now, I’ve got it in my head that I’ve found a company who makes good looking machines, they seem to well liked in the industry, come in different sizes and all that jazz. Then I got to thinking, we can eliminate our coin op laundry soap dispensers also. Those things are about two grand a pop (new) and only take quarters. Having an actual vending machine capable of taking cash and dropping a box of detergent seems like the logical next step and would give us a wider range of product selection to offer, it would certainly hold more capacity also. As I’m sure you are all aware, some items sell quicker and having out of stock is probably a loss in venue somewhere.

So, I guess my question here really is, how hard is it to change out the shelves in these machines? The model I was looking at was their 187. Looks to be a seven shelf, five shelves that are six wide for chips, pastries, and two shelves of twelve wide for candy bars and what not. The laundry soap boxes are all pretty standard at 4-1/2 in. x 2-3/4 in. x 1-1/16 in. I’m not sure if they would fit in the candy row even standing up. If not, they would certainly fit in the chip areas lying down. And that’s all well and good, but then we’d have two empty rows. Is it even possible to change out all the shelves so the selections are all the same size? I’m leaning more for the chip size shelves because this may open an opportunity to maybe offer the smaller liquid soaps, and they often come in odd size bottles.

We are also in the process of upgrading to coinless solutions as well. This also plays into us using the same make washer and dryers though out not only the laundry mat itself, but our other locations. Same software though out across multiple locations just makes things run smoother over all. While I feel the majority of our customers use cash, we do see a bit of use from the coinless side of things. The Crane machines I’ve been looking at offer the ability to be cashless.  While I loathe having to pay a gateway for credit card transactions and other like minded things, it’s the way the world is going.

I do appreciate your time and thoughts, or maybe other insight I may have over looked.

Having the same machines is great, getting them is another issue, you'll have to Weedle out the machine you want, not all models are created equal, as I am sure you have already found out that fixing your own washers and dryers is easier bc you bought them all at the same time, imagine if they were a year or 2 apart, parts are all different, things change. If you're going to buy all same, usually I'd say get all used and find what you're looking for, don't get me wrong you can if you have the time,  which brings me to my next point, you are a laundromat owner, and money is always coming in and out and a bit more in will never hurt, but be smart about it, why go out and spend thousands for your own machines when you already have someone that provides you with almost perfect service and you never have to think about it, simply ask for a small increase in commission, you won't lose anything, and you'll get what you're looking for. 👍 

As far as the shelves go, you should be able to change them on all machines, but I would ask the vending company to see if they can get you one that you can operate, or they can operate for you and give you 50/50 after expense, that usually works.

If you have any questions feel free to message me

[Laundry Hustle]

1 hour ago, NYCandyMaN said:

Having the same machines is great, getting them is another issue, you'll have to Weedle out the machine you want, not all models are created equal, as I am sure you have already found out that fixing your own washers and dryers is easier bc you bought them all at the same time, imagine if they were a year or 2 apart, parts are all different, things change. If you're going to buy all same, usually I'd say get all used and find what you're looking for, don't get me wrong you can if you have the time,  which brings me to my next point, you are a laundromat owner, and money is always coming in and out and a bit more in will never hurt, but be smart about it, why go out and spend thousands for your own machines when you already have someone that provides you with almost perfect service and you never have to think about it, simply ask for a small increase in commission, you won't lose anything, and you'll get what you're looking for. 👍 

As far as the shelves go, you should be able to change them on all machines, but I would ask the vending company to see if they can get you one that you can operate, or they can operate for you and give you 50/50 after expense, that usually works.

If you have any questions feel free to message me

Oh yes, fixing your own equipment is an education all itself for sure.  You do get pretty familiar with a particular brand and model and its quarks / issues. One of the locations we just closed on is a total mess, miss matched different company made machines, probably a good thirty five percent of the machines are out of order. Some look to be from the ‘80s. Without pulling them out and tearing them apart I already know some are probably a simple motor or bearing assembly, some look to be an electronic issue, maybe a controller board or switch, some of the washer just need the door lock replaced (front loaders) because people slam them and bend the pins, or they cram 60lbs of clothes into a 20lb top loader and wonder why it broke halfway through the cycle.

What will most likely happen with one of the zombie mats is, the machines will all get pulled and put in storage. The ones that can be repaired will be repaired, the others will be stripped of useable parts and the chassis scrapped. The working machines will be held for backups, and I’m hoping at some point soon to maybe approach a few apartment complexes and see if they either want to buy them, or have us handle the laundry needs for their residents. Our “flagship location” meanwhile will be waiting on its new machines, than the current ones will be cycled to the new locations as they come in. It’s a process but one that seems to work for us. There is a lot of other work that goes into this as well as you can probably imagine though. Gotta be a jack of all trades, and while I have no problem working with 480volts at times, I hate plumbing.

Not a bad suggestion about asking our current vender if they could sell us one, or split profits. I’m not sure if they handle any of the detergent items, I suspect they don’t.  We normally get our supply on a pallet or two.  It’s a fairly decent markup, often times right around one hundred percent. Not as good as a can of Coke I suspect, but money is money. And while I don’t really wish to go out and spend thousands needlessly its something that I think would ultimately tie back into us approaching apartment complexes. See if we can’t get a contract for both laundry and vending in one deal. So having our own vending machines in facilities we are all ready in will give us time to learn the ins and outs of vending snakes and beverages and see if it’s an avenue worth pursuing or leaving it alone.

Its mostly just an idea I’ve been toying with, putting the puzzle together so that everything works as smoothly as possible together. We did bite off a mouth full with the new locations, but the price was right. So the vending machine project isn’t something that isn’t going to get this week, although I’d like to spend the money before the end of the year is here for tax reasons, but meh. Have plenty of time to research and choose what will work best for us

[lacanteen]

Do not put soap in the same machine as snacks. It won't end well. Soap boxes are not hermetically sealed, and some snack/pastry wrapping is designed to 'breathe'. I'll let science take it from there. 

[orsd]

4 hours ago, lacanteen said:

Do not put soap in the same machine as snacks. It won't end well. Soap boxes are not hermetically sealed, and some snack/pastry wrapping is designed to 'breathe'. I'll let science take it from there. 

Yup. Despite the eating Tide Pods meme, your customers really do not want soap flavored food.

[Laundry Hustle]

5 hours ago, lacanteen said:

Do not put soap in the same machine as snacks. It won't end well. Soap boxes are not hermetically sealed, and some snack/pastry wrapping is designed to 'breathe'. I'll let science take it from there. 

Haha no doubt. It's why I was looking at a completely separate machine for such. I'd like to think they wouldn't eat tide pods, but than again, some have a hard time understanding a washer that has three settings. LOL

[AZVendor]

Here we go. I want all the money so I want to kick out my vendor who knows what he's doing and put my own machines in, but I don't know what I'm doing. Then I will have all the money and be rich. That's the gist of the books you wrote, I'm sure, though I didn't read your books.

[Laundry Hustle]

3 minutes ago, AZVendor said:

Here we go. I want all the money so I want to kick out my vendor who knows what he's doing and put my own machines in, but I don't know what I'm doing. Then I will have all the money and be rich. That's the gist of the books you wrote, I'm sure, though I didn't read your books.

Boy aren't you a bundle of joy to work with I'm sure. And while I don't argue the fact my vendor may know what they are doing, it seems pretty stringent forward also.

One of they guys walks in with a clip board, opens the machines, dose a bit of counting, comes back and loads with product sold. Takes cash out of the validator and coin drop into what looks like a bank night deposit bag.

So while I probably don't know what you know, it seems pretty straightforward and simple. You had to start somewhere Im sure.

I'm not an ASE certified mechanic but I can change a water pump if I need to, putting hundreds of dollars back in my pockets.

Business is business. If I can do it and put more money back into my businesses, than that's what I'll do. Eat or be eaten.

[AZVendor]

I can't wait until some vendor decides he wants to open a laundromat next door.  See how much fun that will be.  To simplify your bill changer issues just charge $1 per load and put dollar coins in the changer, then only accept $5 bills.  Problem solved.

[Laundry Hustle]

6 minutes ago, AZVendor said:

I can't wait until some vendor decides he wants to open a laundromat next door.  See how much fun that will be. 

Feel free. Great thing about this country, you can pretty much as do as your heart desires. I'll tell you though, building from scratch is a hell of a project, not something done over a weekend.

Your not going to Home Depot to buy your machines either. We are talking about three to six hundred pound monsters you'll have to load and unload off a truck, which Im sure you have if you have vending machines already. 

Than you're got your crazy utility bills, you'll have a heart attack when you see how much water your facility uses each month. And since you seem to be on the surface of the sun in Arizona you will have to cool that place down, dryers put out loads of heat.

Maybe hire someone for a wash and fold service, maybe even another for pick up and delivery if it's profitable enough for you. Loads of ways to make money in the laundry. For your first place, look into Speed Queen, they are your workhorses. Be prepared to write a big cheque because they are not cheap.

I welcome competition. It's what keeps the market moving and keeps one guy from holding all the keys. But when you get in over your head, come find me, I'll take over your lease, buy your debt, knock down the wall and have a place twice the size. 

Carry on my friend. 

[lacanteen]

Keep in mind that if you only have one snack machine, the product could go out of date fast with no other place to sell it. You, your dogs, your children and neighbors will gain weight. 

Just something to think about. 

[Laundry Hustle]

4 minutes ago, lacanteen said:

Keep in mind that if you only have one snack machine, the product could go out of date fast with no other place to sell it. You, your dogs, your children and neighbors will gain weight. 

Just something to think about. 

See, that's the advice I'm looking for. I'd image all the food products have this issue, probably more so with pastries over say Doritos. But most certainly some thing to keep in mind. I can't say I've often seen them remove product from the machine but I can't say it doesn't happen either. I'm you you probably have items selling one one location that may not sell as well in another. 

Will be something that needs some research into what sells and what doesn't. But yeah, I see what you are saying. A few to many bags of Funyuns will catch up to you at some point. 

[AngryChris]

If you have maybe 6+ locations, maybe it will be worth it but I agree with letting the vendor do what they do.  Charge a small commission if you really want that extra cash flow.  The machines can add a lot more labor and time expense than you realize.

[tc vending]

Everybody thinks our job as vendors is easy tell they try it. Laundry mats get their glass broke too often so older machines make sense, plus other minor damage. One vending machine doesn't make all that much money, but if it's more like five it will be time consuming. 

[AZVendor]

I can't tell you how many times I had to repair vandalized machines in laundromats.  It's crazy even with expanded metal over the glass.  Some laundromats need cages around the machines to protect them.  They can be worse than apartment complexes on vandalism.

[Laundry Hustle]

4 hours ago, AngryChris said:

If you have maybe 6+ locations, maybe it will be worth it but I agree with letting the vendor do what they do.  Charge a small commission if you really want that extra cash flow.  The machines can add a lot more labor and time expense than you realize.

We do. Have ten locations up and running, with I hope the three zombie mats we just closed on will be coming on line within the next sixty to ninety days. Supply chain issues may cause some issues with that, not to sure what. So we'd be looking at what thirty nine in total. Geez, when I look at it like that, it is a bigger chuck to bite off than I may have first thought.

 

4 hours ago, tc vending said:

Everybody thinks our job as vendors is easy tell they try it. Laundry mats get their glass broke too often so older machines make sense, plus other minor damage. One vending machine doesn't make all that much money, but if it's more like five it will be time consuming. 

I don't think your job is easy, if it were everyone would be doing it. However, I do think if its worth doing, than its worth doing, this the reason I'm here. I don't mine taking on extra responsibly if it helps me put more money away. I guess we've been lucky to not have glass broken, but most of our locations are staffed for the majorly of the day. Our biggest issues are people tagging the machines. Nothing a little Goof Off doesn't fix.  

 

2 hours ago, AZVendor said:

I can't tell you how many times I had to repair vandalized machines in laundromats.  It's crazy even with expanded metal over the glass.  Some laundromats need cages around the machines to protect them.  They can be worse than apartment complexes on vandalism.

See, thats the kind of helpful info I'm looking for in making this decision. As mentioned above, most of my locations are staffed, but there are some hours early on and later in the day where vandalism could occur for sure. If this is a problem for you in any of your locations, I'd suggest installing some security film on the inside of the glass. I can guarantee you a good tint shop in Arizona knows what is is and carries it. We had it installed on the windows of our Jeep before we drove the Pan-American Highway (Google it if you don't know what it is). We thought it was a good choice to detour smash and grab on a clearly foreign vehicle so far away from home. Personally didn't have any problems, but I read about a few other travelers who did. I don't remember where, but it was Phoenix I believe we had it installed before heading back to the coast to continue south.

This probably wouldn't stop some lame from taking a crow bar to the machine's door if they couldn't break the glass of course, maybe causing more damage than the glass would cost to replace. I suspect such an individual would rather go after an easier target like the change machine though. 

*The film won't stop the vandalism, it just stops the glass from shattering all over the floor. Hopefully it will stop them from stealing product as well. I think 3M claims that it takes a full two minutes for a guy and a baseball bat to bust though tempered glass with their film installed. A guy wailing on your machine for two minutes will make a lot of noise and probably attract a lot of attention.

Edited December 28, 2021 by Laundry Hustle

[Southeast Treats]

Here's my 2 cents:  Snack and drink machines are a LOT more expensive than coin op laundry equipment if you are buying new equipment, and it will be hard to find that much matching equipment on the used market.  I did a hotel guest laundry for a few years as part of my vending route, so I have a lot of respect for all the work you must put in to keep that many facilities going.   Just 6 pockets wore me out!!   For your laundry supplies, look at Wittern/USI smaller machines, like a 2 wide or maybe 3 wide.  I used a 2 wide that was able to vend the standard laundry size boxes and Tide liquid pouches.  If you want something new and sharp looking, USI has this on their website right now: https://vending.com/vending-machines/custom-vending-machines/20-selection-laundry-center/

Buying from the factory they will probably do the shelf setup you prefer for the mix of products you want.

I currently have one snack machine located in a coin laundry, it does tend to pull in more quarters than dollar bills, but not so many that it would make a big difference in your change rotation.  Adding drink and snack inventory management to your task list may not be the best use of your time.  You only see the amount of time and effort the vending driver puts in at your stops.  What you don't see is the inventory management, the stale loss, the spare parts and repair issues, the accounting for sales tax - all of the real time consuming work and overhead costs.  If you want your vending operator to upgrade your locations, then have that discussion.  If he balks, it may be because your locations don't sell as much as you think they do!!  But there are things you and he can do, like choosing a standard vinyl wrap for your locations to make the machines look the way you want. https://www.graphicsthatpop.com/custom

Just like I was working too much to keep a small laundry going as a vending operator, you would likely find yourself working too much on your vending machines for the return vs your time spent running your laundries. 

 

[NYCandyMaN]

this is getting interesting... sorry i already put my 2 cents in earlier

 

btw, does anyone have any penny pincher or penny crusher machines for sale?

Edited December 29, 2021 by NYCandyMaN

[Laundry Hustle]

Good evening everyone. I hope everyone had a great time over the holidays with friends and family, I know I did. I’d like to thank all of you for your input and insight into the vending business. After talking with my business partner, we have decided to move forward and buy our own machines. I know some may have questioned why I want to boot out our current vender, but I want to assure that isn’t going to happen, not just yet anyway. We’ve agreed to buy nine used machines for our up and coming locations.

This will give us an idea after some time to see if we wish to do this ourselves in our other locations or simply sell the machines and let an outside company take care of it. I see pros and cons of both. I’d like to see this side of the business anyway. We ended up getting a deal on six Automatic Products 132 snack, and three Dixie-Narco 501e drink machines with the generic “Cold Drinks” front face on them. All have MDB validaters and coin mechs respectfully. We’ll go down and pick up them next week once the weather decides it wants to cooperate a bit more.

These are not the machines I wanted initially, but I think it was a smart move to buy used first and see where it goes. After taking a walk inside both Sam’s Club and Costco I can see it won’t be hard in deciding what to fill the machines with. Both seem to have similar selections at basically the same price point. I do prefer Costco over all since we get a percentage back on all purchase, and the open their doors earlier.  I’m sure a little time and research will reveal what sells and doesn’t, but I’d imagine each location has its top selling products that may differ from another similar location.

Have a good day

[darkinthepark]

You got some solid machines.  Good luck!

[AZVendor]

Reminds me of when I had the Phoenix post office contract.  At the GMF the blind cafeteria operator only ran the 20 or so machines in the cafeteria for 15 years.  Then when the next contract was let, I had to remove all of my machines from the swing rooms in the rest of the facility including an outlying building totaling about 40 machines, because the greedy blind operator decided he wanted to do all the vending after all.  At the same time I lost the next largest facility of flat sorter machines and CFS so the blind could set up a new operator there.  That was another 15 machines.  I was able to keep the balance of the contract around the valley but I do hate greedy non-professional vending people.