ONE BIG VENDING MACHINE

When you think of a vending machine, you would most likely picture a large black or gray machine with a glass from and some buttons, housing shelves of delicious snacks and beverages. Candy bars, small sandwiches, chips and bottles of water or soda have become standard vending-fare for most combo drink snack machines.

What if your vending machine vended items that weighed up to 10 pounds? A community in North Dakota has recently had two Shop 24 machines installed. Hard to miss, these vending machines are the size of small bedroom and vend almost anything you would find in a convenience store.

These giant machines have already been implemented on college campuses and in office buildings, but for residents in North Dakota, these machines offer an alternative to making a long trip to larger stores. The machines vend a variety of items including food, beverages, cleaning and laundry supplies, and DVDs.

While most office buildings, malls, schools and other locations you would expect to find standard snack machines, typically do not have a large demand for laundry detergent or liter-bottles of soda, the convenience of automated stores is very apparent for small communities. While impressive, the size of the machines also pose and issue for buildings looking to install them.