Automatic Merchandiser - 38

micro market accounts. He noted
that some of these accounts currently
have other water and coffee service
providers and sees an opportunity for
Acme to offer contactless options -
especially important in light of the
COVID-19 crisis - and mobile payments to ensure a safe experience at all
their locations.
"We know with COVID that we
are going to be asked about options
for providing contactless and reduced
contact experiences for our clients and
customers," he said. "All of our markets are with 365 [Retail Markets], so
we are going to really promote mobile
pay. We are looking at cellular phone
applications for our bean-to-cup."
THE CHALLENGES OF COVID-19

Acme covers a 60-mile radius around
St. Joseph, which has about 80,000
residents, serving customers in Mis-

Brandon Hammond works in the
Acme warehouse.

souri, Kansas and Nebraska. Dave said
that roughly 70% of Acme's business
is traditional factory locations, but the
company has a diverse customer mix
that also includes educational institutions, healthcare facilities, offices and
correctional institutions. Like most
operations, the COVID-19 pandemic
negatively affected their vending,
micro market and OCS business.
"We were down about 30%; we had
a few larger clients that stayed open

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Our family business started in 1955 as a
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we were challenged to find good quality,
reasonably priced market fixtures that
suited our needs. We decided to design our
own market fixtures and began using them
exclusively. After several requests to buy
our system, we determined that it was time
to enter the market. We spent a few years
tweaking our design, beginning the patent
and trademark registration process, and
developing a marketing strategy. Today,
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38

Automatic Merchandiser * August 2020

but would not allow us to come in and
service the locations," Dave explained,
noting that the hospitals, nursing
homes and a federal prison account
experienced large drops since visitors
have been prohibited since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
Tom said that some of Acme's
industrial manufacturing clients
rolled out significant restrictions
due to COVID-19, and the company's office clients instructed their
employees to work from home. And
while the vending, micro market and
OCS accounts experienced a downturn, the amusement game business
ground to a halt.
"When the COVID restrictions
hit, [the amusement game business]
went to zero immediately," Tom said.
"They shut down all the bars and
restaurants within a few days, so that
income went to zero."
Automatic Merchandiser

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