KCRag Forum

Are there any vending machine companies in KC that carry household goods? Have seen this in other cities and my condo building would like to look into it.

They tend to be for convenience/emergency with 'travel/trial size' products like Tylenol/Aleve, bandaid kit, tissue/toilet paper pack, tampons, shoe polish, spot remover, thread/needle kit, screwdriver kit, laundry detergent, wet cleaning wipes, lip balm, mouthwash, soap/shampoo, toothpaste, shaving kit, nail clipper, USB phone charger, healthier snacks instead of junk food and maybe above avg packaged foods. The pop machine would have milk, OJ as well, maybe even a stick of butter.

Any KC vending machine companies do this? If not, I might email some local ones to encourage this.

Would you like your apt/condo building to have this? If a lot of interest, I'll forward this thread to local vending companies if there isn't one doing this.

This seems like this would be perfect in all those MAC property buildings on Armour, there is basically nothing around. Seems like it would be a fun business to start, anyone want to do this, i'm in?

Any apt/condo with no market within walking distance would be a good candidate. At least those with demographics willing to pay a premium for convenience. Might also need to be 100+ unit buildings to be cost effective to operate, maybe 50+. Could be a fun biz to get into but maybe high startup cost as those machines aren't cheap. And for something like this would probably be better to have machines that are credit card/mobile internet connected that can also report stock levels over internet - not cheap. Maintenance of mechanical machines with lot of moving parts can also be high.

Above avg income buildings would probably be a no brainer, willing to pay $3-$5 for a 'one shot' of those products for semi-emergency/convenience. And even $10-$20 products could be doable if they could sell once in a while, would be easy enough to test out anything that fits the machine.

Here's one in Ohio that operates an 'automated convenience store'...
http://www.shop24global.com/
http://www.propertymanagementinsider.co ... ly-revenue

Top Resident Buys: Food Staples and Household Products

Milk, bottled water, beans and rice move the quickest, sometimes lasting only a couple of days in inventory. Household items like Clorox, furniture polish, paper towels, Windex and Pine Sol, plus toothbrushes and toothpaste, have moved well, too.

Takis, a spicy snack that sold quickly after the machine was first installed, is still a popular item. And of course, it sells pudding.