By Gordon Johnston
Hello again!
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat; good job we put some pennies in the operator’s hats! (At Vendex, that is!)
John Crichton was pretty good at seeing into the future of vending; but not even the Old Man himself could have foreseen the record-breaking extent of the success ARN enjoyed at Vendex in Leeds. I’m properly chuffed to tell you that we wrote (as near as damn it) £600k of business at the show. A hundred grand an hour! That’s even more than Ronaldo makes.
Now, tempting as it is for me to claim that this unprecedented volume can be put down entirely to my silky sales skills, (it says here), that would be an untruth on a par with ‘we won’t be raising your taxes’. So yes, I’d probably get away with it; but at ARN we’re an honest and apolitical bunch, so here’s the truth of the matter: it was all down to our suppliers and the customers who know a good deal when they see it. ‘God bless them, every one’, as Tiny Tim said when he was done with tip-toeing through the tulips.
The reason for the sales bonanza was entirely down to the quality of our legendary ARN ‘deals on the day’. Many of our customers grabbed the offers because they were genuine ‘no-brainers’, and those suppliers who trusted us to deliver were promptly rewarded in the form of bumper orders. They won’t be backwards in coming forwards next time we invite them to take part; and what’s more, the figures throw down the gauntlet to those who were more reticent to join us in bringing good cheer to the nation’s vending operators. Hopefully, they’re not kicking themselves too hard.
The customers who visited our stand were delighted to find that Black Friday had been replaced by Wonderful Wednesday. Those who didn’t make it to Leeds would be well advised to put March 26th 2025 into their diaries, and the MK Dons Stadium, Milton Keynes, into their sat-navs. (It’s MK1 1ST, by the way). For goodness’ sake, don’t miss out again!
Like I said to Allan Walker, ‘Everyone’s a winner when ARN goes to Vendex’, and he said ‘yes, but we’re not only talking Hot Chocolate, you know’. (Sometimes, I haven’t got a clue what he’s on about). (The clue you need is here, Gordon – Ed)
So: what can you look forward to from ARN after the festivities? Well, in January, our offer sheet will be majoring on products that will help your customers to overcome their Yuletide excesses. We’ll be offering some post-Christmas cracker deals on products that tick the ‘healthier’ and ‘fitness’ boxes, including some from brands that are new to us and therefore, new to vending.
By the way, if you know of a product fitting this description that you’d like to offer your customers, let us know: innovation is a two-way street, after all.
All that remains for me then is to let you know that the office will be shut from close-of-play on Christmas Eve and we’ll re-open on January 2nd. Finally, even though it looks as if ‘peace on Earth and goodwill to all men’ will be in short supply this year, all of us at ARN wish you a great holiday season, during which you can put your feet up in preparation for making 2025 another record-breaking year.
Merry Christmas!
Gordon Johnston is Sales Director at the UK’s premier vending wholesaler – ARN
Planet Vending’s huge archive of ARN stories starts HERE
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