ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- An entrepreneur from Springfield, Ill., has created an around-the-clock, clerk-free convenience store concept that he said takes only hours to set up in two to seven rented parking spaces. Get & Go Express, collections of up to 34 vending machines under one roof, will debut in four shopping center parking lots in Pasco County, Fla., according to a report by the St. Petersburg Times.
"I got the idea from containerized freight," Jeff Parsons, president of Get & Go Express Inc., told the newspaper. Get & Go Express has [image-nocss] deals to put its first Florida units in two Port Richey shopping centers next month and others in New Port Richey and Hudson.
Parsons said he plans to use them as showcases to sell franchises in Florida.
Engineers he hired have certified that the structures can withstand 130-mph winds, said the report.
Aimed at siphoning off business from that phalanx of soda and purified water vending machines in front of supermarkets, four Get & Gos in Illinois sell candy, sandwiches, snacks, heated pizza by the slice, DVDs and a variety of novelty items in a driveby setting, the report added.
Equipped with 10 to 34 vending machines, they are designed to become a profit center for a franchisee and the shopping center landlord rather than the grocery store tenants. The units, which accept credit cards, can be fitted with remote control cameras and wireless communication that tell a central office when to resupply and how sales are going by the hour. One draw is 25-cent sodas bought for resale from membership warehouse clubs.
The smallest 10-unit location in Illinois yields $85,000 a year in revenue, according to the report. The biggest one generates $250,000. That is about equal to the initial investment plus royalties, the Times said.
"People's time is valuable today," said Parsons, whose other business is distributing fireworks to roadside tent stands. "We can even put an ATM in them."
Parsons, who owns all of Get & Go Express, emerged from a 1997 Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceeding in 2002, said the paper, citing the company's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) disclosure.
Click here for a photo gallery of Get & Go Express locations.
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