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of his clientele. In locations where time is an issue, Avanti Northwest installs multiple brewers rather than liquid coffee or a vended coffee. "If it's coming from a vending machine [or pre-made], it has a connotation for the client," said Brinton. "It's all about perception, especially in the Northwest where there's a focus on healthy, organic and fresh." In addition to OCS, Brinton has also opened a distribution company for used vending equipment. "It was something I started 15 years ago under the name Vending Equipment Center as an outlet to dispose of used equipment that still operated," he said. It is located in Kent, WA. It also offers installation service and repair services to both Evergreen and other area operators. While these other segments make up a substantial portion of Brinton's operations, micro market service has become his lead. He considers vend- ing a mature industry. "If they want to talk to you about vending, they've heard it all. Micro markets spark their interest," said Brinton. And it has been doing very well for the veteran operator. In locations that he has converted from vending, he sees two times the sales, on average. "I look at that and think 'long term that means I can do half as many locations for the same amount of money'," said Brinton. He has had sales people return to his company because they want to be a part of this new, invigorating industry. The increase in products sold in micro markets more than makes up for incidentals like shrinkage accord- ing to Brinton. "My shrinkage is at 1.5 percent," he said. "Besides, I'm in the business to sell product, so how do I get a higher sale volume in a location? With a micro market." Vending has strong future Despite the growth in other areas, Brinton believes vending will be important in the short and long term future of breakroom refresh- ment service. "Certain locations will never have a micro market — and vending is perfect," he said. In fact, he has used knowledge gained from micro markets to improve his vend- ing operations. Evergreen Vending is now headed to a cashless future. In 2009, Brinton didn't have many credit and debit card readers on his vending machines. As he began using micro markets, he noticed that 70 percent of the transactions were cashless and that number opened his eyes. "How could I not have debit/ credit cards on vending?" he asked. This year 55 percent of his machines accept cashless payment and he's still deploying. "We plan to go 100 per- cent," he said. "Cashless payment acceptance on vending has probably been the most valuable lesson I've learned so far." From his experience, Brinton also believes promotions available at vending machines, like the USConnect program, will give that segment a boost. The future is bright for Brinton's vending, micro market and offce coffee operation. "I have a reason to come to work again," he joked. Brinton believes micro markets will contribute the most to his operation's overall sales growth in the coming years. Operation Profle: Evergreen Vending, Avanti Markets Northwest, NW Coffee Founded: 1976 Owner: Jim Brinton Headquarters: Seattle, WA Routes: 24 vending, 4 coffee, 26 micro market Single cup lines: iCups, Total 1, Wolfgang Puck VMS: Crane Streamware Cashless provider: Crane Navigator Warehouse system: Lightspeed mobile Micro market provider: Avanti Avanti Markets Northwest services over 600 micro markets in the Seattle, WA area. December 2015 VendingMarketWatch.com Automatic Merchandiser 17 O P E R A T I O N P R O F I L E