LOOK: Airport Vending Machines Now Sell Clothes
Airport vending machines have graduated to selling jackets, hats, socks, and more.
Have you ever flown into D.C. from the West Coast during wintertime? The temperature change is drastic, and folks who aren’t familiar with East Coast weather are often left freezing without a coat. Obviously, some companies noticed this, specifically Uniqlo, leading them to put vending machines in airports that offer such things.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Uniqlo last year started placing vending machines selling jackets, vests and other clothes in airports around the U.S.” Adding that sales in some airports bring in “around $10,000 a month.”
And while Uniqlo has the jacket and vest game on lock, another company, Buffalo Wool Co. is starting to make noise with high-end winter hats, gloves, and socks.
Other machines offer products that are hard to find elsewhere, including Buffalo Wool Co., which sells gloves, beanies, socks and other goods made from bison wool online and at trade shows. Co-owners Ron and Theresa Miskin spend a month in Alaska each year selling at the state fair, so they knew they could find customers willing to pay $95 for bison-wool gloves at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
If you’re familiar with Uniqlo, then you know they’re masters at fitting clothes into ultra-tiny packaging. They also sell a ton of other basics at their brick-and-mortar stores so it’s only a matter of time before you can snag sweatpants, v-necks, and other essentials in airports everywhere. Not everyone needs a jacket but everyone, I believe, can use a $6 soft t-shirt.