2 ex-Google guys secure venture capital, re-invent vending machines

[DB Cooper]

using an app to pay for it? that sounds very inconvenient, especially if you dont have yours on you...

People always have their phone on them.

 

[isco]

my bodega has everything

 

[$tatus $ymbol]

these small businesses that set up shop in the hood are usually ran by some frauds anyway. at least a walmart would provide some jobs.

Lol good to see at least one person thinking in here. What do bodegas do for the surrounding community other than make a profit & go home?

 

[isco]

my bodega makes steak/egg/cheese..this machine can't do that

 

[datznasty]

Vending machine meets kiosk meets Ikea shelf meets yuppy Millenials + white peoples' amazing ability to pioneer something that already exists and profit


Outside of the text the machine, get a code, camera instantly notices and tallies, charges everything you grab, I don't see what's so revolutionary about them. Seems like common sense; putting products relevant to the location and demographic. And millenials laud face to face human interaction so there's that aspect and I guess it's faster. Don't see how it's incredilby diferent in practice than the Best Buy vending machines in airports, they know you need some Beats headphones, a macbook, tablet, etc.

But their long term goal/pitch is this licensing aspect, which I don't see why companies would particularly need them even to accomplish this. So at a construction site, say they're building a new neighborhood, Suburb Heights Townhomes. Home Depot going to partner with Bodega to throw a machine in the center with finishing nails, drywall, and 2x4, obviously at a significant markup from their b&m store so contractors don't have to make a run back into town to grab more? Seems like the site manager and his contractors just go get enough (and this type of stuff they keep access of on site anyways) the first time. Gyms and dorms/apartments probably where they make their most money. Still If I'm GNC I just swack the idea and throw up a normal vending machine in a gym with protein shakes, bars, shaker cups, single serving supps, etc. Don't need these douches involved

Over time, McDonald hopes to be able to create partnerships with other retailers to bring mini-versions of their stores to where they are needed. Home Depot might set up little Bodegas at construction sites with the 100 most-requested items there, Staples might set one up inside an office, or GNC might have mini-stores in gyms. “Brick-and-mortar retailers have been scrambling to try and keep up with Amazon, but we believe they have an opportunity to take a different approach,” McDonald says. “They could bring the products to where people already are so that they can access them immediately, when they need them. This beats out any two-hour delivery–or even half-hour delivery–alternative.”

 

[gry60]

They obviously have to start somewhere. They eventually want to make the corner store obsolete.

“Eventually, centralized shopping locations won’t be necessary, because there will be 100,000 Bodegas spread out, with one always 100 feet away from you.”

.

Just like Uber. Started out as a black car service, then spread to cabs and delivery.

nice, I've been waiting for small independent business owners to be suddenly left without their main income stream and jobs for their entire families for quite some time, this is a worthwhile development in a scenario that was begging for change.

I do wonder where I'll buy Rhino pills tho.

One thing they don't teach in engineering school is "just because you can do it doesn't mean you should."

 

[sonoftony]

- If I can't go and play "los numeros" it's not a bodega
- If I can't get newports on credit, it's not a bodega
- If I don't hear bachata blasting out the speakers, it's not a bodega