This may look like the front of a vending machine. In fact, to make a purchase, all you do is dial a code and a robot sales clerk does the rest.
Instead of just sodas or crackers, this machine offers more than five hundred items – like panty hose, shampoos, lotions, pacifiers, tooth paste, batteries – even dog food. Need to stock up the fridge? No problem. The automatic supermarket stocks all the essentials – eggs, milk, juices, ham, cheese, yogurt, fresh fruit, cake mix, bread, rice, cereal, pasta, a variety of frozen foods, and just about anything else you can think of to complete your shopping list. The automatic store offers almost every luxury you can think of – wine and liquor, cigarettes, even chocolates. About the only thing this store can’t do is carry your grocery bags for you. But the customers don’t seem to mind – and squeezed into just 500 square feet, this curious little shop just may be the convenience store of the future.
