It was about 3-4 years ago it appears that Mattel(r) introduced a fashion vending machine for the Barbie(r) Life in the Dreamhouse playset. Need a pair of boots – no problem. Insert your money and voila – a new pair of calf-length, shiny blue boots. Pair of sandals? We have you covered. Purse – Of course!
Imagine our surprise as we were walking through the San Jose Airport and there in front of us was a retro pink truck (resembling that of the ice cream truck of our dreams) with the full line of Benefit cosmetics. No – it didn’t quite illicit the excitement had it held purses and shoes, BUT it was still AMAZABALLS. Benefit is known for its fabulous packaging – fun, kitschy and darn right yummy, but put into that little ice cream truck replica? It was all we could do to hold onto our AmEx card. We are talking gloss, blush, GLITTER, pencil, cream, powder, GLITTER, shimmer, sparkle, lash, GLITTER…a Glitter Girl’s dream no matter the age. AND….we had PLENTY of time to peruse – did we mention our flight was delayed? Alas, circumstances kept the AmEx tucked away and our hands empty of Benefit yumminess. However, we did leave with something – thoughts swirling in our heads.
We are STILL thinking about that little pink truck and dreaming of all of the colors, shimmers and glitters that went with it. However, there is also something else: a very interesting question in our minds. Could there be a future in vending machine fashion? We did a little Google search and found that this very well could be a BIG trend of the future. There is even a term now to describe vending machine sales, “Automatic Retail” and a company named ZoomSystems even has a name for the machines: “ZoomShops”.
We found Jessica Alba is debuting them in airports with her The Honest Company products. Macy’s is using them for Beats, Skull Candy and Apple products. Uniglo in Tokyo has walls and walls of them filled with t-shirts and we even found Undz – an underwear vending machine in Asia. However, our favorite is in Australia: Havaianas is selling their flips flops front and center. Give us the cute, thin-strap version with the rhinestone accents in fuschia or black in a size 5 or 7, and our AmEx would slide as quickly as Sparkle Jones running after a squirrel in our backyard. Ok, not a great analogy but you get the picture.
So, Glitter Girls, we have a question for you – what fashion, accessory or beauty product would you like to see in a vending machine and where would you like to see it? When we asked ourselves that question, here is how we answered:
Eva – I would like to see phone cases in hotel lobbies
Hilary – all types of scarves from expensive to inexpensive in airports or hotels
Ok, Glitter Girls – your turn! Please tell WHAT you want to SEE and WHERE.
xo,
Hilary and Eva