It was all Michael Green’s fault. He called me at the weekend and told me he was taking his Sweet Amanda’s candy dispenser to Avex in Manchester and as it was only just up the road from me, then I should go….
It is true that Avex was in Manchester Central, only 25 minutes on our new-fangled tram system from Oldham. So I went. And then had a crisis with my camera (I DO abuse them) and ended up having to walk out to find a new one. You would think that buying a new camera in the centre of Manchester wouldn’t be a problem? Think about it - where is your nearest specialist camera shop…
Having spent half the afternoon getting a new camera and having the nice man in the shop set it up for me so that I would not have to read the manual, which was akin to War and Peace, I got two or three shots at Avex and Michael is pacified.
Vending is not an area in which we specialise. In truth it is a subject only slightly more interesting than watching paint dry. But in other markets it is very much "our" business. In the US, for example, an amusement machine operator will run vending machines alongside his air hockeys and redemption games. But in Europe, that is not the case. Just as we are bemused by Americans running vending alongside games, Americans are astonished to see European operators running gaming machines alongside amusements.
Only in Germany is vending slightly more acceptable, and only because they like coffee dispensers in the cashdesks of their multi-licence arcades – and even then the coffee is free.
Michael et al think arcade and FEC operators should look more carefully at the possibilities of vending to turn a dark corner into something which earns. He is supported by Liz Padgett of Jolly Roger who exhibited nearby at Avex with her Candy Van, who also felt that arcade operators were not giving vending a real go - and they weren’t just talking about sweetie dispensers, either.
They may be right. Indeed, there may be not too much to lose by looking into the prospect, especially for those arcades which do not incorporate their own cafes. And even if they do, the space might be better utilised for machines, with venders taking up far less space.
Worth thinking about?
