While vending machines have been increasing in complexity for some time, aside from the odd airport electronics vending machine, the United States has been slow to catch onto the trend.
Now robotic convenience stores are beginning to appear around the country, in select college campuses, and at Ladera Palms, an 800-unit apartment complex in southeast Fort Worth which is home to the first such machine in the country to be located at an apartment community.
According to Blackwell, "Leslie Kuhlman, an asset manager for Post Investment Group, Inc., said the store is a perfect fit for the property because many residents are new to the U.S. and don't drive...'This property is two miles away from the closest grocery store,' she said. 'We have a lot of immigrants on the property and many of them do not have cars. They don't even know how to speak proper English. So we expect a lot of foot traffic. We think this is going to be phenomenal.'"
