The Florida Lottery announced that they are rolling out 1,000 vending machines selling lottery tickets to their “high-volume retail locations.”  Some of the stores on the list include Circle K as well as 7-Eleven and Publix locations.

Lotterypost.com reports that the machines are smaller than a typical soda vending machine and only accept cash.  Credit cards and coins will not be accepted.  Also, the vending machines will have up to 24 games available and accept $1 – $30 dollars. (more…)

How can you buy a Coke out of the Coke machine if you don’t have a credit card, debit card, cash or identification to get money from a bank?  Easy.  Simply walk up to the machine and swipe your finger!

As reported by CrunchGear, Hitachi recently debuted a new type of soda vending machine that allows the customer to use a pad that will read your fingerprint.  If you have signed up and are in the database then the money is automatically selected from your credit card.  You do not have to have the card on you.

So when is this piece of vending equipment making its way to your nearest hotel or shopping mall?  Don’t hold your breath; Hitachi isn’t even sure it will market the machines.  In the meantime they will be testing out the vending machines on their own employees in some of their offices.

Vending Solutions is pleased to announce the promotion of Ashley Shelly to the position of Regional Vending Manager, S. East Region. Ashley brings extensive customer service and account management experience, as well as a thorough understanding of customer needs through her previous position in business-to-business sales at Starbucks Coffee Company.

Dave Lieske, Director of Operations, said, “Since joining the company Ashley has shown herself to be a strong contributor who constantly looks for areas to improve process and deliver high quality customer service.”

In her new position as a Regional Vending Manager, Ms Shelly will manage ongoing client relationships within the S. Eastern portion of the United States extending from Missouri to Florida. Furthermore, Ms Shelly will be working with Vending Solutions’ national network of vending machine route operators to ensure quality vending machine placements and 5 Star Service for our ever-expanding client base.

When asked about her new position in the company Ms Shelly replied,
“I am very excited about my new role as Regional Vending Manger. The vending industry is rich with opportunity and very intricate in nature. The unique challenges of this role keep me on my toes and inspire creativity – very refreshing!”

Vending Solutions is a National Vending Management company providing all types of vending services to companies across the United States and Canada. Vending Solutions specializes in Coke and Pepsi machines as well as snack, amusement, ATM and digital jukeboxes.

If you currently have office coffee services or are thinking about obtaining office coffee services, there are a few things to consider.

Is your “free” office coffee machine really free? Many coffee companies will provide offices with a “free” office coffee machine in exchange for agreeing to use their coffee service for a certain period of time. Also, many full service coffee companies have minimum order requirements that force companies to pay a monthly fee to rent the coffee machine if they don’t order the minimum amount of coffee during a given time period.

Coke, Pepsi and snack vending machines are generally free to the company because the employees buy the products from the machine. Conversely, many companies provide coffee free of charge to employees. Providing coffee as a free benefit to employees can be very expensive, therefore, many companies are looking at ways to provide the service at a reduced cost.

Using an online coffee service is often the perfect solution for businesses looking to reduce the cost of their current coffee service. The downside to an online program is that the company is responsible for purchasing the coffee equipment. However, once the coffee equipment is purchased, the company has the freedom of shopping for the best price at anytime since there are absolutely no contracts or minimum ordering requirements of any kind.

Coffee machines start at around $550 and professional installation is readily available. While a few hundred dollars may sound like a lot to spend for a coffee machine, the coffee products available online average about 30% cheaper than most “full service” companies charge.

For example, Starbucks Breakfast Blend 18ct 2.5oz box is currently $35.99 online, assuming this is about 30% less than a full service company, a company would save over $550 after only 37 boxes of coffee ordered. The savings would pay for the cost of the brewing equipment! Furthermore, shipping is free on all orders over $70.

What about all the extra work involved forgoing the full service route? If a company is already using a brewing system then there is probably someone on staff who is already responsible for pouring in the grinds and turning on the machine everyday. Most companies’ use of coffee tends to be pretty consistent year after year so the extra work involved would amount to someone ordering coffee every couple weeks and putting the supplies away, just like any other office supply.

If you’d like to find out more about online office coffee feel free to visit our website www.VendingSolutions.com, call us at 1-800-655-7564 or fill out the form.

Since we have been in the vending business since 1997, we tend to think we’ve seen just about everything vended using coin operated vending machines. Over the past decade creative folks have come up with vending machines that go far beyond the normal snack, Pepsi and Coke machines.

There have been dog wash vending machines for a few years now. Most use the same principals of a self-service car wash. The dog is placed in a bin and you wash and rinse your pooch by hand using a wand or similar method.

However, the Dog-o-Matic (yes that’s the real name) more closely resembles a front-loading washing machine. The dog is placed inside of the vending machine, soaped, rinsed and dried all for $20-$48! No word on what PETA or the Humane Society have to say yet but the dog in the picture sure doesn’t look happy.

This latest creation comes from Frenchmen, Romain Jarry who has had success with the vending machines in France and it now eying on bring the machines to Britain.

This vending machine doesn’t seem like a bad idea for smaller dogs (as long as the dog isn’t terrified) however, it’s hard to imagine muscling an unwilling 75 pound Great Dane into the machine!