SPEAKER_01 0:15

Welcome to CCI Drive Time, the podcast for vended laundry distributors. I'm Steve with CCI, using your drivetime to cover laundromat trends, payment systems, and practical topics you can use in the field. On today's episode, I sat down with Mark Gies with VendRite Manufacturing and got to have a great conversation to talk about distribution as a whole, what's good, what works, what doesn't. Mark with Vendrite sharing all the things that Vendrite offers. Hopefully, you learned something. Certainly, I did that VendRite has been doing that you may not realize. They've been a staple in the industry for uh over 50 years, and Mark is just an excellent resource uh to help you with your projects when it comes to uh uh detergents and vending and all such things. So uh here's Marquise. Mark. Steven, how are you doing? I am doing excellent.

SPEAKER_03 1:15

How are you doing today? I can't complain. It's nice to see you uh behind a camera as opposed to behind a table at a trade show.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

I I was thinking the same thing. Um we chatted a little bit before we started, and something that um you know we'll get into to you and everything else, but you and I have traveled uh the the country uh pretty much. We see each other. We live, I we probably live a half an hour from each other, I would say, is probably at the most, but yet I never see you in Illinois.

SPEAKER_03 1:49

In fact, I saw you in Illinois was 25 years ago when I dropped off a soap vendor at laundry concepts for you to uh work and so we could get integrated with our soap machine.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

That's right. So it's it's kind of ironic that uh that not only are we we uh we we couldn't make the effort to go face to face in real time, we had to still do it through a phone call. I could be doing any, we could be anywhere right now, right? We could be.

SPEAKER_03 2:16

In fact, we might be.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

We might be. Nobody knows exactly where we are. Yeah. But um, but Mark, thank you for doing this. Uh, as I mentioned earlier, this is this is a a podcast to to talk to distributors, new distributors, uh, old exit uh uh distributors. This is to try to elevate distribution. I know that VendRight has um always worked with distribution, and I think that with your, as you just told me, 27 years uh experience, have had a few uh opportunities to work with a lot of distributors. So I think there's there's a lot of value of you know what works and maybe what doesn't work, but um, but you know, it's impossible for anybody in this industry not to know who you are already. But I'm gonna ask you to introduce yourself and and tell us how did you get into this? Like how did you start? And uh, you know, and let's just start there.

SPEAKER_03 3:08

Yeah, sure. Um uh Mark Geese, uh, been with Venright for 27 years. Um I came on 27 years ago because they were looking, Ven Right was looking for someone that was interested in doing outside sales and supporting the Venright company in the field. And uh I came from a software background. I sold software for 10 years to insurance companies. So I went from traveling 50 weeks a year, Monday through Friday, and I cut it down to about 50% by coming to Venice.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Although rate le recently it feels like maybe it's going back that way with other people. It is kind of going back to LA.

unknown 3:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:55

But that's okay. That's okay, right? Because the more we can get in front of not only our distributors, but the end user, you know, the the people that really use our products. And um and some of them might have really good things to say about us, and some of them might have some things that they want to pull us over to the side and have a quiet conversation of why this might be happening or why that might be happening. So it's a nice opportunity for that.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Yeah, for sure, for sure. So you just basically answered a call uh to to sell something different. I did.

SPEAKER_03 4:31

It was basically a friend of a friend that knew the people at Venright, uh Vince Hansen and Jack Flynn. Um and we had mutual friends, and I was starting a young family and was thinking of cutting back on travel, and this opportunity presented itself, and I'm grateful. It's it's been a wonderful uh experience for me. Completely different experience.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Yeah, I believe you know, I I had to say, with all the years that we have traveled, I never knew that you sold software before you came here. I don't know how it's possible with every kind of chit-chat conversation, meals we've probably had together, cocktail here or there. We have never I never knew that so okay, mission accomplished. I've learned something new. You just don't know what kind of what kind of software.

SPEAKER_03 5:20

We can get out of that in the cocktail.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

There you go. We'll get that on the next one. Um, I think it's important. I know again, Venright's been around for a really long time. Um, you know, so I I would it'd be hard to believe that people don't know what Venroite is, but I think it's important, you know, what tell us tell what you're known for, but I want you to kind of expand because I also said I think there's things that people don't realize that Ven Wright does also. So go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 5:43

Yeah. Um, you know, Venright's been around since 1953, you know, and and uh, you know, one of the things when I ever get an opportunity to talk at these trade shows or talk with our distributors is that you know our only lane is laundry. I mean, that's it. There's no other industry that we choose to partake in or choose to dip our big toe in, if you would. So we've kind of pushed all the chips and have always pushed the chips into the laundry industry. And um we kind of started this whole process back in the day. We we we developed the very first Kleenex vendor uh that dispensed actual Kleenexes, you're kidding. Um and then in 1953, when this whole coin laundry thing started getting legs, um and it was full of top-load machines, right? Yes, and uh the single-use box of detergent or softener had a ton of value. And if you think about it, detergent was just really becoming popular, right? Okay, uh Procter and Gamble, Lever, you know, all of these companies that have been around for a long time needed a way to promote their product. And we were able to do that through our vending machines. And over the years, you know, we've we we've progressed into uh the current industry that currently exists from a from a very archaic coin slide, yeah, you know, certain price point, only being able to increase by quarter increments, uh, into integrating our soap machines, whether it's uh a four, eight, or twelve column electronic machine that you would find hanging on a wall, to our vision vendor, which is the glass front machine, and all of those electronic machines and the vision vendor are integrated into any card system that follows the MDB protocol, right? And um, and I believe that there are other companies that might have in the past or maybe here in the few in the future that have a workaround if it's not MDB, right? But that's not anything that we necessarily uh get involved with. Sure. And uh I would say that 98% of those card systems out there today follow MDB in some way, shape, or form, right? Um and you know, what we're known for is our are our vending machines. And you know, it's it's not uncommon for someone to retool a million-dollar store and put a 20-year-old Ven Right soap vendor back in the laundromat because there's nothing wrong with it, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:55

I was gonna say you you might have made you've made your a crucial mistake. They're supposed to fail eventually.

SPEAKER_03 9:01

You know, you get you could you could use that as a crucial mistake, but I think you we've been able to parlay it into uh a company that uh uh has a very dependable product, right? And and I think that's what we're all looking for, right? We're we're always looking to get those products that really can withstand this environment of a laundroman. Yeah, right. Right. And uh, but you know, other than that, uh, you know, we we service and we sell into two different groups of distribution, right? And and uh we were talking earlier, and you know, Mark, there might be some things that people don't understand what VenRight does. And I think there's a lot of times that uh these stoneers don't understand that there's a a supply arm out there to take advantage of locally in their market to provide them with all of their soap bleach softener needs, along with mops and pails and whatever it might be, right? And um we deal with both arms and and we deal with our equipment through the equipment manufacturers, and then we have uh a line of Coin Ven products, right? The Coin Ven products and you know that come out of our machines, right? They're the single-use boxes, right? And um, and those have come a long way too. That the size hasn't changed, right? But uh there's very little powder. We the products that we provide are all liquid HE products in our Coin Ven products, so that's value to the store owner because they don't want products going into their machine that are over sudsing and all that other fun stuff, right? And uh we have a line of signs that are specific to a laundromat. People always say, well, you know, those are pretty generic signs, and you know, can I get those in different colors, you know? And we've we've chosen to stay generic with those signs, um, because the message just needs to be said, right? A sign is your 24-hour lawyer, right? Where it it protects you from someone doing something they shouldn't be doing in your laundromat. And as long as you have that hanging on the wall, right? Um fills its need.

SPEAKER_02 11:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:43

And uh and those signs are available in are they multilingual, right? And uh we also have uh three or four different size bags that are used for drop-off laundry. Um and but uh and that's pretty much our arsenal, right? Where we have coin slide-driven machines that deal with smaller markets, right? Maybe go into the route industry, right? Yeah, um, and then we've got four, eight, and twelve column electronic machines, right? And then we've got your vision vendors that can sell soapple softener, candy snack, and drink, combination machines, uh machines that uh where a control unit can be attached to two different units, and you can basically the back wall of your laundromat is a vending area, yeah, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's kind of then right in a nutshell as far as our product line.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Yeah, yeah. And you know, um I think that what I recognize is people of oh they know you for the machines for sure, but the supply side of things is something I think that people forget about. And I think I've heard you give your pitch a few times being table side or whatever. And you know, there's something to be said about um, you know, there's always the going to be the Proctor and Gamble products that are pretty well known and recognized, and they get a lot of advertising time, but you know, there's there's something else to be said for some of these, I don't want to call them off-brand, but they're just they're not the Proctile and Gamble uh products that are still recognizable, right? You know, they're still very recognizable that you can get through VendRite, and uh there may be a little more profit offering. Am I saying that wrong? I mean I don't want to say that. No, not at all, not at all.

SPEAKER_03 13:40

And you know, the only the verbiage that I've used in the past is I refer to them as the second-tier brand of products, right? There's you know, there's nothing wrong with Levi's and Wrangler, right? No, right, yeah, right, it's just regular, yeah. Whatever floats your boat, right? Right. And um, you know, Steve, when we got in this industry 25 years ago, uh Coin Vend was a necessity in a laundromat, right? It uh it was something that wasn't as much of a convenience as it is today, right? Where uh probably 70% of the people that walked into a laundromat 25 years ago didn't bring their own detergent. They purchased it at the laundromat. At the laundromat, yeah. But as the laundromat has evolved from a you know a top-load machine, right, when when the when the only front loaders were a wall of Milner's, right? Yeah, right, and it's evolved into this 20, 40, 60, 80 120-pound machine, right? Right. Where um the single-use box still has a lot of value, right, in in a laundromat. Um, it's just not as prevalent. And uh I would say that go ahead. You need bigger, you need more. Yeah, you need more than a few more than more than more than more. You just need more, as much as much as the store doesn't want them to put more in, right? Um but uh but I I would say that it it went from a necessity to going into this uh I call it cut like my three buckets of who uses Coin Vend, right? You know, you've got your you've got your mother or your your couple or your father that comes in and they've got their jug of detergent, right? And they're gonna do six loads of wash and they run out, you know, halfway through, and they need to buy something, right? It's right there. So they walk over to the soap machine and they're gonna buy whatever's in that machine because they're not gonna pull three loads of laundry out, right? Right, right. Okay. Um, so that's kind of the first demographic, and the second demographic is you know, it's uh a family on vacation, right? Uh it's uh dragging any soap with them on the suitcase. Oh, yeah, right? Or it's maybe uh a homeless person, right? Who's coming in to do their laundry, right? And they just need a box of soap. And you know, the third demographic is probably the largest segment of it, and I kind of refer to it as, you know, your red-blooded male between 18 and 28, right? Where they're just coming in and do their laundry, right? Yeah, that's the only reason you know they they came to this laundromat because it's the cleanest, closest laundromat to where they live, right?

SPEAKER_01 16:46

That's as much they it's as much thought they put into it. Everything else has got to be there, right?

SPEAKER_03 16:51

And then they're just gonna go to that machine and and and buy a box of detergent and a softener, right? Right. So that that's kind of my thought process on how CoinVend has kind of fluctuated in the industry, right? It's yeah, it's it's more of a convenience now in a laundromat.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

Right. Well, it's interesting. I I hadn't thought about it from a historical perspective, but that does make a lot of sense. Uh, the availability of uh high efficiency detergents pretty much everywhere, and people are dragging that stuff in. The loads are larger, so they're putting more in, but there's still lots of demand for it when you run out and everything else. So that well well known. And obviously, your your large format machines allow you to sell some of the larger um so you know pieces. So the you know, your vision machines and so forth allow you to still sell that stuff without having to expose you know all the over-the-counter transactions only through your attendance. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:44

Agreed. Yeah, you know, you can vend uh up to a 64-ounce bottle all the way down to a tide pen, if you will. Okay, right. Okay, you know, so it has a lot of flexibility.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

Yeah, no, that's great. Um, I do want to start talking a little bit about you know, your distribution model, I guess, where all of our distribution we, you know, we we we we're always together because we are always working with a distributor, and I've always known Venright to be very supportive of the distribution model that our industry has generally uh you know approached. Yeah. And we'll maybe talk a little more about it here today, but you know, I feel like there's a little bit of a a shift going on with distribution and stuff. But I'm curious, you know, is is distribution just as important as it is today as it was 20 years ago? Are you still kinda leaning on it the same way?

SPEAKER_03 18:42

I bel I believe that we have not taken our foot off the accelerator as it relates to that. Uh we stand uh very securely and supporting our distribution network. Um of these distributors we've worked with for 50 years, right? Yeah, amazing. And um, you know, and and and it's difficult sometimes, right? Because you're dealing with uh individuals that are uh purchasing and owning uh 10, 15, 20, 30 stores, right? And uh, hey Mark, come on, can't I just buy direct from you? Like, why don't we just cut out the middleman? You know? Yeah, yeah. And um, you know, I just I I said, you know, my response to them is you know what? Uh we've used the distributor model in our company, and I believe that our industry, for the most part, supports that distributor model, and as archaic as someone might think it is, right? And and granted, those distribution markets are changing dramatically outside of our wheelhouse, right? Like um that that's just something we still hold on tight to, right? Because uh we look for our distributor, you know, it's kind of like uh uh a Ford dealership or a Chevy dealership, right? Where the Chevy dealership sells the Chevy and they want to get all the service on that car, right? So we want to try to create that same kind of model that the distributor, the equipment distributor, you know, whether it's Alliance or Dexter or Laundrelux or whoever, you know, name it, right? Um they want that end of the market to help them run their store, right? So when someone sells a piece of our machinery into their customers' laundry in a perfect world, we would love it if they support that. Okay? Um the problem with that, or the opportunity with that, is that uh the machine is a is a I believe a very reliable machine. So you could I could go and spend a day with somebody's uh support staff, their service staff, and they might not touch a Venite product for two months, three months, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:31

Right, maybe more, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:32

Maybe more, right? Probably more. Um and and that's why we've kind of created within Venite uh a service arm where store owners can call Venite, and we have uh uh people that answer the phone uh to assist store owners with issues they might be having with our machine. Because as you know, um not everything gets It's fixed right when it's broken. Yeah. Right? You know, it's like, well, how long's this machine been down? Or how long has that column been down? Right? Well, it's been down for about four months, you know. Yeah. You know, so um uh we have the ability to assist those customers over the phone, right? And um when we need to get the distributor involved, uh we ask for that help, right? Yeah, you know, if if something big goes wrong, right? And it all it happens, right? You know, it's gonna happen. It's the way it is, right? Uh and and that's where we value that distributor relationship, where they have the ability to go into that store and they can call our service department and they can get walked through anything that they might not have remembered, right? Since the last time they were in front of one of our machines.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

Right. And I would imagine, too, that you know, some store owners um are not comfortable. You know, there's some are more or less comfortable with the machines, with the technology, with the tools. You know, some are very there's we have some hand off hands-off operators out there, and that's fine. We have some that are very nuts and bolts oriented and they can do a lot, and you can help them. And so you can you're actually supporting the distributor both ways. One, you're helping them directly when they need to be in front of the machine and they haven't seen one in months. Um, but you're also helping them not have to go if you can just walk somebody through something over the phone and they're good. And if they need to order a part or they know something's you know physically breaks, you know, you I'm you know, you you take care of it, you know, you have a way to take care of it that way. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:38

You know, and sometimes there's a language barrier. Yeah, yeah. You know, sometimes there's a language barrier, and we need their help to help us with that language barrier, right? Yeah, yeah. Um, because that that's important.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

We want to solve their problem. Yeah. I I want to circle back to you know, something that you said because it's so valuable um to reiterate is this, you know, we the there are more multi-store owners. I mean, they're just they're starting to pile up every the consolidation. We keep hearing consolidation, consolidation in every layer of of this industry through distribution, store ownership. You know, we're seeing more and more store owners. And so the pressure to sell direct because they, you know, you could you could you could have a multi-store that buys more equipment than a distributor in the market, in that market, but but the reality is from us, because we also follow the same kind of distribution, we we we honor that agreement, you know, that kind of commitment to them is that and uh by by by large they deliver more opportunities to us than we could garner alone, you know, without without having them there, having those boots on the ground. So so for those that are listening to this, that are those boots on the ground, have to realize that partnering with companies that sell through distribution are really committed to you and will support you because we can't we can't do it without you at this point. I don't care. The social media is great, we promote and advertise on all the channels that we can to get attention our way. But if I was to say tomorrow that I don't need distribution anymore, I know exactly what that would do to us in a very short amount of time. I've seen it happen, uh, just watching competitors come into the business not on distribution and then not be particularly successful. But when they've adopted when they decide, well, maybe we should do this distribution thing, their business changes significantly, you know. And uh uh you don't you don't you don't have to um uh you don't have to be real smart to figure out that it works. Right.

SPEAKER_03 25:51

Yeah, you know, I'm uh uh an example, like um I'm uh there's been a guy that's been bugging me to go direct for a long, long time, right? And uh I saw him at uh one of the shows recently, and he's like, Mark, when am I gonna crack that nut? You know, when when are we gonna when are we gonna figure this thing out, you know? And um and they own a lot of our vision vendors.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:23

And and I said, you know what? Uh how about I come out and you pull your service team together, and you pick one or two locations, and I'll spend the day out there, and I'll walk through our machine and I'll take a list of all the you know issues, right, that that you guys have dealt with, and we can go over all of those issues, right? And now we can assist your service staff with that issue they're having. And you know, he said to me, he's like, You would do that? And I said, uh, well, uh I'll do it as long as I don't have to sell direct to you.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

Yeah, well, they're getting the best, they're actually getting the best of both worlds. They're getting direct access to your service team and you, you know, obviously you're offering up your own time, but yet they have the backup of the local dealer that you know that can help them if they can't do it, you know. Right. Yeah, yep. Yeah. So best of both worlds. Yeah, I I'm I'm um one of the reasons why I wanted to have you on is because I know how committed you guys are to the distribution model in general, and it and I really worry a little bit, and kind of where I'm headed here next is that there's a little bit of a dying art to the distribution business a little bit. And so, you know, with all the years that you've worked with them, I'm I'm gonna ask you, you know, to tell us what do you think makes a strong distributor versus a good distributor? And if you feel like it, what makes not such a good distributor, you know? And again, we support them, we support them all, but uh but but we I'm sure that what I say next is gonna be true too is the good distributors, the besters sell the most. And I think that's the thing to take away from all of these comments. So tell me your take on what what is it, what makes a good dealer, a good distributor.

SPEAKER_03 28:19

I think what makes, and I'm not a distributor, right? Like I I I just we're just a company that sells an ancillary product into this market, right? Yeah, and but what I have what I've seen, right, from what to answer your question, when when that distributor completely supports their customer from A to Z, those are the people that are very successful. You know, like um a part goes out of warranty and it's three months out of warranty. Right. Give them the part. Yeah. Right? Just give them the part. Like, you know what I mean? Like it well, and that's easy for me to say, right? Like it's easy for me to say, but uh, but there's been times that we've done that with our machinery, right? You know what I mean? Um but I I think that uh and we've been going to these shows for so long, right? Like there are people that show up at these shows that were at the show the first time I was at the show, right? And and and and that's a hats off to that distributor, right, right? Right, you know, I mean, with all the options that these store owners have today, right, and and and they're staying put with loyal who brought them to the dance, right? Yeah, and and obviously that distributor is doing something right.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

I was just gonna say they likely were given that extension to the warranty, given that extra help when you needed it. And you know, the relationship is what you're describing that these people have forged with the distributors, is proven um the loyalty that says they're gonna they're not buying anywhere else and they're gonna attend all their events and they're gonna participate in whatever the distributor recommends is the next thing they should do. And um yeah, I want to be involved in that. We want our products involved in that.

SPEAKER_03 30:29

Yeah, well, and I was just gonna say, I was just gonna say, I'm I'm somewhat biased, right? I want a soap machine in every store. Sure, of course. Whichever, whatever size you want, I got it. Yeah, right. But um with so much information out there today, there are times that the customer drives the distributor. And I believe that the good distributors drive the customer, right? Like the no, no, no, no, no, no. You you need to have a changer in your store. You you need to have a card system in your store, and and and you need to have a so and then they need to know the story behind it, right? They need to know the value that whatever piece of machinery they put into that store, it either makes them money or it assists them in being a successful store, right? And that's what I think. So, amen.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

I don't know how else to make it louder and clearer, but what the the whole goal here that I talk about the lost art here, a little bit of distribution, is I'm seeing too many catalog salesmen. Um, you know, it's like that's the easy way. Walk in here, let me open the book for you, and you can just choose whatever you want out of here, and then I'll buy that for you and I'll sell it to you, versus the the the distributors that you and I know have worked with that walk that same investor in and says, here is the master selection of your success. You're gonna need this vision vendor, you're gonna need this CCI payment system, you're gonna need this equipment mix of washers and dryers, and here's everything we need to do because I can show you six times in the last three years where it's gone flawlessly, and I can show you the success stories behind that. Allowing someone else to just choose from your catalog uh your line items of things um might feel like you're like a walking Amazon where you can just buy anything that you click on, but at the end of the day, Amazon does not care whether you buy the wrong thing. Right, and and the difference between Amazon is that you're not gonna take any of that stuff back if you make the wrong selection, or Amazon will take anything back. Right. Right, right. Yeah. So, you know, that's the message that I think we need to all collectively continue to kind of push. Um and it makes it easy to kind of you know answer the second half. That question is what's not such a good distributor, which is people that don't do that, I'm guessing. Any other traits that uh we want to pick on? Nope. Yeah, I think um, you know, I'll I'll I'll echo, is it something else that I heard just earlier today, which is um the relationship between vendors like us and the distributor needs to be a good one also. And if every time the distributor calls you, Mark, and says, I got I need I need two visions. What's the best price you're gonna give me? I need what you gotta do better, you gotta do better, you gotta do better. You know, it's like, you know, if every every interaction is how do I squeeze every vendor that comes that, you know, every every transaction that comes in, I get it. There are deals where we want to help, you know, we want to help, we want to be collaborative and help them if we can, but you can't ask for a squeeze every single time you come to the table. And right that damages the relationship a little bit so that when you do need something, you're gonna feel like more uh uh you want to help them, you know, more comfortable in that process. Yes, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 34:19

You know, that's right. So you know, like I I got off the phone with a guy today, and he's like, Mark, I got a guy that is buying a couple of your vision vendors for his store. He's buying three, you know, one that sells candy, one that sells drink, one that sells soap. And Mark, he's never been in this industry before. And uh I don't know how to fill his machine, you know. I I'm like, well, let's get on a three-way call. Yeah. Right? Let's just get on a three-way call. Let me do the talking, right? Because I I I need to have that machine successful for him, because I hope he opens another store and does the same thing, right? There you go. And you know, he said, you know, Mark, I've not done this before, but you know, how do I know what to put in the soap machine? Like, where do I get that stuff? How does how does that all work? You know, and I said, Well, based on the fact that you're brand new to this, what I would suggest for you to do is to go to your competitors' laundry and go look in the garbage. See what people are doing.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

What bottles are in the garbage, right?

SPEAKER_03 35:33

Yeah, like what are those bottles that are in the garbage that people are bringing in, right? Because you're not you're not trying to change someone's uh necessarily their brand, right? Yeah, you're just trying to change their buying habit. Right, right. And I said, if if you do that and you make a list of those things, right, and and your demographics are basically the same as theirs, you got the right product mix. Like it's right there for you. And you're gonna probably find candy wrappers and sodas and all that kind of stuff in there. So you're gonna kill a lot of birds with one stone by just checking out the garbage, you know?

SPEAKER_01 36:17

That's very smart. I I actually had never heard of that before. That is that is that's really it's so simple. Sometimes the the simplest thing, the cleverest things are so simple, right? I wish I could find more simple things out, Steve. Um that's really good. I I I want to know, I want you, and I'm I'm asking everybody this is like, all right, it's time for you to pull your crystal ball out, and you are gonna tell me uh what what are the what do you think is gonna be different about this business five years from now? And if you really want to look deeply, what do you think will be different about this business in 10 years? Oh, this is tough.

SPEAKER_03 37:02

It's that that's kind of a double-edged sword, right? Yeah, like yeah, uh let's go back in time a little bit. Yeah, uh let's look at the large multi-stoners back in the 80s and 90s, right? That that were doing very well. And for whatever reason, it didn't work out, right? And it will be interesting to see how that crystal ball looks five, ten years from now, right? Because um this is a different type of buyer that's coming into this industry, right? And uh you and I both know that when uh a laundromat is most profitable when you can do all the work and all the repairs yourself, right? And um it'll be interesting to see how this new wave of ownership chooses to go after managing their store, right? Uh and I'm not talking about managing your store on a beach over your phone. Right? I'm talking about managing your store from the bottom up, right? Yeah. So I I think it's gonna be interesting to see how that takes off, right? And and and the legs that it has and and and how well those legs are able to run that marathon. Right? I mean, I don't think anybody knows. So uh I it it's certainly uh it's not necessarily a crystal ball with an answer. Yeah, it's more of a crystal ball with this industry's kind of been down this road before on a much, much smaller scale, but it's certainly ramped itself up, hasn't it?

SPEAKER_01 39:07

Yeah, yeah, no, for sure. And I I think you're right. I think that um but I'm here's what I'm interested in in exactly the same line that you are is we have this new kind of profile of multi-store operator. They maybe maybe they have more money than they did in the 80s. I I I'm gonna say respectively, probably not, but they have funds to to push and to buy and build and go through that effort. But I what I wonder is is one of two ways we'll go. They'll either gonna burn out because there's the profit margins are not there, um, and it's gonna not gonna keep their interest. And again, is they're gonna find something else that makes more money and they're gonna want to put those investments there rather than here, unless, and this is something that could be good for all of us, which is unless they somehow are able to elevate Ven prices and put the profit in place that I think um will keep them interested. You and I know that one of the things that's that store owners, particularly smaller operators, struggle with are increases, you know, Ven price increases. They I mean and and you know what there's actually a it's really wholesome why. The wholesome is they they they think really hard about the customer that's gotta pay the increase, right? They forget that they you can't step on your own lunch to feed somebody else. You know, you you gotta you gotta make sure that you're okay too. So elevation of if but if but if there's the same fears moving forward about elevating the experience and elevating the Ben price and all of that, I don't know whether they'll to continue to be interested in it beyond maybe a few uh acquisition sale, you know, they might sell a few, buy a few, and then like I don't, you know, this isn't the business it used to be.

SPEAKER_03 40:55

Hey, you know what? Uh I don't know what it's gonna be like in 10 or 15 years. I hope I'm still around.

SPEAKER_00 41:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:03

Because uh I'm interested to see how it all goes, right? I think we all are. I think all of us in this industry are interested to see how this new trend, uh trend certainly the wrong word to use, but yeah, this new dynamic that's hit this industry that historically um has been archaic, right? It's very fundamental, right? It's it's it's very fundamental, and it'll be interesting to see how it goes. And you know, grab the reins, kick the horse, and let's see how what happens, right?

SPEAKER_01 41:44

Absolutely, and um I know you will be there to watch it, and I'll I'll probably be standing next to you and we'll be mulling over uh all the the next commiserating events. Uh but uh Mark, this is exactly what I was hoping to get out of this conversation. Uh, you know, I appreciate you taking this uh late Friday time with me to uh kind of talk shop a little bit and kind of talk about it. Um, I'd love to probably bring you on back sometime with some more specific things. You know, this is uh something that I think uh, like I said, I'm I I want to help distributors get better and learn from the people who have been here a while, been doing this a while, and you certainly are one of them. So thank you very much for contributing and participating and all that you do. Well, you know what?

SPEAKER_03 42:30

Uh I appreciate the fact that you thought of Ven Right. Okay. Uh I I really am, you know. Uh it's uh we're fortunate to be where we are as a company, you know, and uh and I I'm glad and happy to share my thoughts on, and they're my thoughts, right? They're they're nobody else's thoughts. They're my thoughts on uh how this industry is and where it's going and how both of us, all of us, have the ability to make an impact on it. And uh it'll be fun to watch it happen. So thank you. Amazing.

SPEAKER_01 43:12

You have a great rest of your day, and we will catch up soon. You bet, man. Take care. All right, yeah.