Automatic_Merchandiser_October-November_2020 - 24

we're there already. Ask them, 'What
else can we bring you to keep your
employees safe and happy?'"
Working Safe America (WSA) is
another new player in the PPE space,
spearheaded by Greg Sidwell of G&J
Marketing & Sales, based in Palm
Harbor, Fla. Its PPE kits include small
packs of sanitizing hand wipes and a
three-ply mask that can be vended,
sold in micro markets and c-stores,
or given to employees and customers.
Individually wrapped masks, disposable nitrile gloves and 2-oz. sanitizer
bottles are also available in addition to
100-count canisters of sanitizing
wipes. WSA vets all products to ensure compliance
with Federal Department of Agriculture
(FDA) regulations and
helps guide companies
to meet the Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) recommendations.

MAKE MICRO MARKETS A
ONE-STOP SHOP

Reopening markets gives operators a
prime opportunity to elevate them to
the next level by merchandising home
and office necessities to better serve
customers and boost revenue.
"With locations that had 500
people now down to 100, operators
have more space on the shelves for
merchandising the top 50 household
items - like laundry detergent, garbage bags, over-the-counter medications and toilet paper - to save them
a trip to the store," said 32M's Johnson.
32M also recently launched its
new "STU" line of impulse items for
pop-up displays, including umbrellas
and hand sanitizer to help operators
add incremental sales.
Rosenberg added that with more
free shelf space, there's room for
growth of strong regional and local
brands, from pastries to chocolate and

Three Square Market built the Cooler
Café with a focus on simplicity and
affordability to enable rapid deployment.
Three Square Market

Three Square Market
updated its checkout
process to be 100%
touch-free.
Three Square Market

beverages, as distribution into convenience
services has become easier.
"More brands are able to go
to market and show up in our space
and consumers demand these brands,"
Rosenberg noted.

PROVIDE FOOD
AND BEVERAGE

SOLUTIONS DESK-SIDE,
CURBSIDE AND BEYOND

The COVID-19 quarantine forced a
branch of the U.S. military to rethink
how to feed its service personnel, and
32M devised a solution for curbside
pickup and home delivery implemented across all of its bases. That
feature is now available to convenience
services operators.
"Shopping habits changed overnight," said 32M cofounder and president Patrick McMullan. "We can be
part of that monumental change in the
buying curve by bringing convenience
- something society is now very willing to pay for - to offices across our
system. You have the delivery trucks,
you have the locations - now it is time

Automatic Merchandiser * October/November 2020

to expand your product offering to
capture those convenience buys people
no longer want to stop at the store for."
That includes everything from
those same top 50 household goods
the company suggests for micro markets, to take-home meals and larger
quantities of the products operators
already carry, like family-size snacks
and 12-packs of soda.
"All can be ordered on our app, a
delivery schedule set based upon your
route schedule, and you are now part of
the retail game," McMullan commented.
Rosenberg sees both a challenge
and an opportunity for convenience
services as consumers work and shop
remotely, with a surge of app-based
delivery and curbside pickup options
at their fingertips.
"Local restaurants and c-stores are
penetrating our space with multiple
options for product delivered where
consumers are, and when and where
they want it. They have tools that
existed pre-COVID, but now they are
broadly used," he pointed out. "We
have to bring micro markets to the
desks of consumers, since they can
sit at their desk and choose what they
want to eat, how they want to buy and
when. It's important for us to be part
of that ecosystem."
Hessling observed that the big winners in the COVID economy have been
companies like Amazon, UPS, Target
and Walmart, and that convenience

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