Automatic Merchandiser - 36

"We are one of the few businesses
that started 83 years ago that is still
here, and I think that says something
about us," explained Michelle Cobb,
CFO at Acme, and Tom's wife. "It
makes me proud. I'm glad that we are
all here together, working towards a
goal every day to service our customers and our community."
EXPANSION INTO VENDING

Tom Cobb started working at the family business in 1970 after he graduated
from college.
"I came back [to St. Joseph] and
went into business with my mom and
dad, and we ran the business as solely
an amusement game company," Tom
recalled. "We grew it to the point that
we had large market share."
By the mid-'80s, Tom and Michelle
had two young sons. Hoping that
they would someday join the family

David Menschik (warehouse GM), Dave
Rich (GM) and Robert Bricker (supervisor)
hold a meeting at Acme.

business, Tom grew more interested in
expanding Acme.
"The amusement game business
wasn't large enough for us to support
three families, so the vending business
was a logical place to expand," Tom
said. "About the time I was having
those thoughts, a local longstanding
vending company gentleman called
me and asked if we'd be interested in
getting in the vending business, and
we purchased his business. That was
really the reasoning behind getting

into vending: to diversify and grow
the business."
Acme continued to acquire other
vending operations throughout the
years, eventually becoming a Canteen
franchise in 2009. Tom says that Canteen introduced Acme to the concept
of micro markets when he and his
general manager, Dave Rich, attended
a regional Canteen meeting.
"Canteen did a presentation about
micro markets, and we looked into it
and thought it was a viable concept,"
Tom explained. "Back then, we all
were trying to determine an application and where you would put these,

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36

Automatic Merchandiser * August 2020

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