Automatic Merchandiser - 30

DEPENDABLE FROM DAY ONE

Launched in 1979 by current owner
Mark Oliver's parents, Dependable
Vending originally offered office coffee service and vending machines to
area businesses.
"My grandparents were in the
military and they had to go overseas,
so my father filled in," said Zachary
Oliver, Mark's son and vice president
of the company. "At the time they
had started coffee and water, too. My
dad took it over and incorporated
the company and started to make it
into a business."
Oliver explained that the company subsequently split into two
separate entities: His aunt handled
coffee and water accounts, launching Dependable Coffee and Water, and his father took
the vending business, managing Dependable Vending.
Over the next few decades, the company expanded far
beyond vending, even offering coffee service again due to
customer demand.
"To be quite honest, with all of our services, it's always
been geared around the customer," Oliver said. "It's frustrating to have to reach out to five or 10 different service
providers and vendors, so as we have grown, we've taken
on ice machine rentals, water filtration and coffee. And, we
have rebranded. Dependable Vending is still our legal name,
but our DBA - which we operate under - is Dependable
Break Room Solutions. This signifies what we're after: to be
the complete break room solution provider."
MICRO MARKETS CHANGE THE GAME

Oliver admits that when he first heard about micro markets,
he was a little skeptical about incorporating the new concept into the company.
"There's always a lot of 'fly by night' stuff in the industry, where people will come out with equipment like salad
machines or burrito machines," he said. "You know, I'm
sure we've done our fair share over the years, but we were
hesitant about getting into micro markets initially."
Like many operators at the time, Oliver recalled being
concerned about theft in an unattended retail environment.
"But, a couple of years into it, after we saw that it was
established and here to stay, Patrick and I decided to give it a
shot," Oliver continued. "Obviously, it's taken off. Any account
that did maybe $200-$300 a week for snacks and soda in their
office is now a $700-$800 a week account because we're able
to add a lot more SKUs and product options."

30

Automatic Merchandiser * September 2020

Patrick Maule,
general manager,
and Zachary
Oliver, vice
president, stand
in Dependable
Vending's
warehouse.

Micro markets
have been
a successful
expansion for the
company, more
than doubling
vending sales.

A variety of different vending machines are ready to be put
to work.



Automatic Merchandiser

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automatic Merchandiser

Editor's Note: Looking Back to Look Forward
Industry News
OCS Update: Five Ways to Survive
Stirring It Up
Snack Attack
2019: A New High for OCS
Social Hubs
Dependable Vending: More Than Just a Name
Classifieds
Automatic Merchandiser - 1
Automatic Merchandiser - 2
Automatic Merchandiser - 3
Automatic Merchandiser - 4
Automatic Merchandiser - 5
Automatic Merchandiser - Editor's Note: Looking Back to Look Forward
Automatic Merchandiser - 7
Automatic Merchandiser - Industry News
Automatic Merchandiser - 9
Automatic Merchandiser - OCS Update: Five Ways to Survive
Automatic Merchandiser - 11
Automatic Merchandiser - Stirring It Up
Automatic Merchandiser - 13
Automatic Merchandiser - 14
Automatic Merchandiser - 15
Automatic Merchandiser - Snack Attack
Automatic Merchandiser - 17
Automatic Merchandiser - 18
Automatic Merchandiser - 19
Automatic Merchandiser - 2019: A New High for OCS
Automatic Merchandiser - 21
Automatic Merchandiser - 22
Automatic Merchandiser - 23
Automatic Merchandiser - 24
Automatic Merchandiser - 25
Automatic Merchandiser - 26
Automatic Merchandiser - Social Hubs
Automatic Merchandiser - Dependable Vending: More Than Just a Name
Automatic Merchandiser - 29
Automatic Merchandiser - 30
Automatic Merchandiser - 31
Automatic Merchandiser - 32
Automatic Merchandiser - 33
Automatic Merchandiser - 34
Automatic Merchandiser - 35
Automatic Merchandiser - 36
Automatic Merchandiser - Classifieds
Automatic Merchandiser - 38
Automatic Merchandiser - 39
Automatic Merchandiser - 40
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https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/automaticmerchandiser/Automatic_Merchandiser_February-March_2020
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