Mondrian South Beach sells cars, electronics by machine | associatedpress.com
Mondrian South Beach sells cars, electronics by machine... James Bryant III, the front desk manager at the Mondrain South Beach luxury hotel Miami Beach, Fla. displays bags containing goods purchased from the "Semi-Automatic" vending machine, Wednesday, April 8, 2009. In a post-modern echo of the early 20th century's Automats, where office workers bought cellophane-wrapped sandwiches without talking to a soul, the Semi-Automatic peddles a jumble of more than 60 items priced between $10 and $1.2 million in a large, sleek rectangular display.
n the market for a Bentley sports car, a Jean Paul Gaultier dress or a cell phone, but don't feel like dealing with a pesky salesperson? Literally at the touch of a button, visitors to the Mondrian South Beach can buy those items — as well as more prosaic hotel gift-shop staples like toothbrushes — from a new lobby vending machine called a Semi-Automatic. In a postmodern echo of the early 20th century's Automats, where office workers could buy coffee and comfort food without talking to a soul, the Semi-Automatic peddles a jumble of more than 60 items priced between $10 and $1.2 million in a large, sleek rectangular display. "We don't have a newspaper stand or some place where you can just buy a sundry item," front office manager James A. Bryant III said. "We've got Semi-Automatic, which is sort of an 'in-your-face' gift shop. Just like our hotel is really sort of brash and out there."
