Best Buy opens first US Airport store – in a vending machine

by Scott Carmichael on

Passengers at Dallas-Forth Worth airport arriving or departing from terminals B or E can now purchase a select assortment of electronics from a Best Buy branded vending machine.

The machines are developed by San Francisco based ZoomSystems who already have over 650 locations throughout the country.

The Best Buy express vending machine has some of the best selling portable electronic products from a regular Best Buy store, including digital cameras, Bluetooth headsets, Bose noise canceling headphones and of course a selection of Apple iPods.

This newest machine marks the 11th ZoomSystems vending machine at DFW airport. Previously, machines were installed to sell Sony products, iPods and Proactive cosmetics. An overview of all the ZoomSystems vending locations can be found here.

Unfortunately, neither Best Buy nor ZoomSystems have issued any more information about their newest partner, so until I pass through DFW, I won’t know more about the prices of the products on display.

If you ever wondered whether these machines are profitable, back in 2006, an iPod vending machine at Atlanta airport was selling $55,000 a month in iPods alone (that is about 7 iPods a day). People clearly find that buying high tech gadgets from a vending machine is worthwhile (or just plain cool).

Source: Dallas News aviation blog (via Gizmodo)

Cigarette vending machines in Japan to require ID

by Catherine Bodry on

“Can I see your ID?” This question will now, in theory, be asked to anyone who attempts to buy cigarettes from vending machines in Japan. Reuters reports that “by next July, all of Japan’s 570,000 cigarette vending machines will require a smart card called ‘taspo’– a blend of the words tobacco, access and passport — issued only to people who are at least 20, the legal smoking age.”

The taspo card will also function as a money card for the machine, allowing users to pay for cigarettes as they’re being identified. The cards will be offered free of charge, and the smoker’s picture will appear on the card (though the machines have no way to read the images).

The machines were funded in large part by the Tobacco Institute, whose members include Japan’s three tobacco companies. The general manager at the Institute, Kazuyuki Kobayashi, says the Institute hopes the new system will prevent minors from smoking.