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VEND updated their home page to show 342 current installations (322 for R&I and 20 for 19 Degree). If that is the final for June 30 it exceeds the lower end of the March 26 forecast of 330-380 but it's not clear if that forecast included international deliveries or was just domestic.
Need to wait and see if these are final numbers and what international deliveries might be. Including International deliveries plus domestic installations would give a grand total of at least 387 since international at end May was 45 deliveries.
Might be why there were some 40,000 shares bought in the last 20 minutes of trading. Didn't see when home page was updated.
Sonata, you've said in the past that your objective in being here is to get your investment back and then kiss this stock goodby. If you buy some shares now you can get your average down to $1 or so and then you wouldn't have to wait as long to get your investment returned to you. Would be a smart move on your part only waiting for VEND to get to $1 and not all the way to $2.
Just saying.....
volume, my boy, volume......
Starting another run...0.635
Either you believe in the company or you don't. When volume comes back the price will rise. Share increase has been on the horizon for some time and is a necessary evil for a growing business. Question now is how judiciously they use the increased share allowance. Will need to wait and see.
I don't know a basis for your "carefully" opinion but neither do I have a reason to refute it so it remains your opinion. Still believe it is a function of needing higher buying volume to move the needle.
As far as the decline, Yates began 2018 very optimistic about how rapidly these machines could be churned out and installed and it proved much more difficult than he thought. When they finally did begin to roll out they had deficiencies that needed correcting. While the share price shot up on the early enthusiasm it steadily declined as the deliveries slowed.
You didn't say whether or not you tried out the machine but I gather you did not. Would have liked your reaction to the experience, as well as the taste of the product. Maybe next time?
"systematically sold off"
Sonata, you need to understand the workings of the Market Makers. Over the past several months they have built an inventory of VEND stock at this and lower prices. Now, with the lack of buying they are offering to sell part of their inventory and be satisfied with a few pennies per share. There has been an excess of buying today but not in the volume they would like to see. As of a short time ago there have been some 43k shares purchased and only 16k sold.
If you look at what the Market Makers are offering, very few want to buy any volume of stock at the current price. NITE is the high bidder and offers 0.57 for 1000 shares of stock while three MM's are offering to sell a total of 50,674 shares at 0.61.
So, until something triggers a higher buying volume the price is going to remain at about the current level, with a low volume of selling and with someone picking up small volumes in between the occasional larger purchase where the price immediately falls back down if the buying is not sustained.
NAK at 0.60 on nearly 3MM shares. GO NAK!!
Thanks for pointing out the new website, hadn't noticed it. Getting old I guess.
Not sure what you are referencing. 17,000 shares of VEND were bought a while ago with no subsequent trading. A few thousand shares sold earlier and a few hundred bought.
FORBES ARTICLE
Robotic Vending Machines Want To Feed You Frozen Yogurt
From robot waiters to AI dishwashers, the food and beverage industry continues to turn to innovative technology. In a recent interview, Nick Yates, CEO of Generation NEXT Franchise Brands and Reis & Irvy’s spokesperson, shared how his company is changing frozen yogurt service through robotic vending machines.
Generation NEXT Franchise Brands creates, develops and manufactures unattended retail and vending concepts, such as robotic vending technology. Reis & Irvy’s, a flagship subsidiary of the company, is the world’s first fully-automated robotic frozen dessert vending kiosk. Generation NEXT vets and secures locations that make sense for each of the franchisee’s operations. It focuses on places with a high volume of foot traffic and captive audiences.
"Reis & Irvy’s unattended robots can operate 24 hours a day. The robots can dispense servings of frozen yogurt, ice cream, gelato and sorbet finished with a selection of six delicious toppings in less than 60 seconds. Ordering from a Reis & Irvy’s machine is a unique and memorable experience, and one that we anticipate people will come back to again and again. In fact, Reis & Irvy’s franchisees have sold more than 400,000 cups of frozen yogurt and earned over $2 million in retail sales to date," Yates says.
The company has a network both domestically as well as internationally with 325 Reis & Irvy’s robotic frozen yogurt kiosks deployed around the globe and close to a thousand more planned for this year. In total, the company has around 300 franchisees and pre-sales of about $160 million.
Yates is aware of the discussion on whether or not robots will eliminate jobs in the near future but believes robots will automate and take on tasks that will free up workers to do things that require human input. The most important thing consumers need to adapt to is interacting with robots themselves, especially within the food and beverage industry, because most businesses are using robotics as a powerful tool to support their customer service strategies.
He thinks that having robots take over mundane tasks will free people to do work that is more meaningful. Tools that enhance productivity, including robots, will also help increase employers' bottom lines and open up the door to new possibilities and skills for employees.
"As far as fearing our kiosk, our robots are so friendly and fun, and we aren’t taking jobs like robots packing boxes in Amazon fulfillment centers," Yates says. He points out that Reis & Irvy’s provides many new jobs that allow it to operate the kiosks. For example:
• Manufacturing, supply chain, engineering and packaging jobs
• Delivery and installation jobs (the company sets up the machines in each location)
• Service, warranty and maintenance jobs (the company has technicians nationwide)
• Consumable supply jobs (Dannon uses US Foods and Sysco drivers to ship product to them)
• Franchisee support jobs (50 employees offer support)
Reis & Irvy’s is also focused on food safety. First, people do not come into contact with the soft serve or serving areas. When franchisees sign on, there is a mandatory two-day training period where they learn to service and maintain the devices and sanitizing procedures. Once they are done, franchisees get their Food Handlers Permit.
"Additionally, we mandate our franchisees do a complete cleaning and breakdown of the machine a minimum of once per week, in some cases twice a week. The machines are programmed to know if they have been cleaned within the prescribed period. If they are not, the machine will shut down and send the company and franchisee an alert that the robot has not been cleaned. It will not start again until it has been cleaned properly," Yates explains.
Yates adds that the technology is also certified by the National Sanitation Foundation. Earning this certification required them to follow an assortment of strict processes in the way the kiosks are built. It allows them to operate minus many of the traditional risks seen in retail food environments.
Lana Bandoim Contributor
There were less than 10,000 shares shorted as of June 14 so not much more to be made in the near term.
Sonata, you say, and you have made similar claims in the past:
"It looks like Yates is getting desperate. He is now selling some of his shares below .60."
According to last year's annual report, Yates had under his control 16,685,213 shares of VEND common stock. This is the same number as listed in yesterday's SEC filing.
Are you suggesting Yates is lying in his filings with the SEC? While the rules on IH are pretty lax I would suggest you be careful about potentially claiming on a public forum that someone lied to the SEC. JMO.
Looking good. Hope it can hold today’s 10+ and continue climbing.
"They want to increase the authorized number of shares to 200 million. So, all of the shareholders can basically take an additional 50% loss on your investment."
It's not a loss if they increase shareholder value faster than they increase any share count. Reading the notice it sounds they may have additional plans now that the robot shipments are underway at a stable rate.
Just to be clear, the meeting last December was not an official Shareholder's Meeting with notices and proxies and all. It was just an informal invitation from VEND for shareholders to visit the office, get an update on what was happening and see a robot in action.
Reis & Irvy’s Announces 500,000 Cups Sold and $2.5m in Retail Sales
BY GlobeNewswire
— 8:44 AM ET 06/24/2019
SAN DIEGO, June 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE – Reis & Irvy’s franchisees have sold in excess of 500,000 cups of frozen yogurt generating $2.5 million in retail sales according to Generation Next. The Company passed these milestones on Wednesday, June 19. Reis & Irvy's is the Company’s flagship brand which serves Dannon YoCream frozen yogurt through an unattended, robotic kiosk.
Generation Next also reaffirmed its expectation to realize revenue of $8.0 million for its fourth quarter ending June 30, 2019 on the delivery of 200 kiosks compared to revenue of $3.0 million recognized during the prior quarter on 55 units. The Company starts its next fiscal year on July 1, 2019 with a global contract backlog valued at an estimated $140 million in revenue for just under 3,500 Reis & Irvy’s robotic vending kiosks.
“The results for the quarter are satisfactory and we are glad to hit our projections. With fiscal 2020 just around the corner, I would like to see us improve revenues significantly via a combination of increased domestic installs and more shipments made to both current and new international license partners,” said Nick Yates, CEO of Generation Next Franchise Brands.
Sales Per Kiosk, SPK, is a key metric tracked by Company management. Generation Next provided an update on these measures for its top locations by comparing the data available from the most recent four-week period to the data from March when the Company introduced this measure. The Top 25 and Top 50 groups are 16% and 20% higher respectively during the last four weeks.
Group
May 19 - June 16
March
Top 25
35.0 Transactions Per Day
$5.67 Per Transaction
29.6 Transactions Per Day
$5.77 Per Transaction
Top 50
26.6 Transactions Per Day
$5.47 Per Transaction
23.2 Transactions Per Day
$5.25 Per Transaction
Another measure, Kiosk Uptime and Availability, KUA, was shared by Generation Next. During the last four weeks, the Company had 95 locations reporting sales 7 days per week for 4 consecutive weeks compared to 48 locations using the same 7 day per week criteria in March. It is also important to note that many locations secured by the Company only operate 5-days per week. Consistent monthly production has allowed the Company to install a Reis & Irvy’s kiosk within 60 to 90 days of securing a location which is beneficial to both securing more sites and attracting interest from the top tier locations.
“We continue to tighten the criteria used to secure locations and we are devoting more resources to support our franchise network through marketing, promotion, and operations training,” said Yates. “Our purpose is to sell more frozen yogurt and continue shifting market share from existing retailers to the Reis & Irvy’s brand.”
One was scheduled for last December but was cancelled when Yates had a conflict with a meeting with Walmart and Budman was in no condition to take over.
Shareholder meetings of most corporations are normally scheduled after release of the Annual Report. Last your VEND submitted it's annual report on Oct 22 (after a noticed delay if I recall correctly). If they schedule a Shareholder Meeting, I would assume it would be after the corresponding date this year, possibly not until Nov/Dec 2019. JMO.
Clip of the Fox Business News interview:
Maria Bartiromo interview with Nick Yates on Fox Business News
Maria Bartoromo’s interview with Nick Yates just aired on Fox Businesses News - 8:45 ET.
"...select one of the available flavors of ice cream, sorbet, frozen yogurt, or gelato."
"The selections will be among..."
The kiosk I visit started with both yogurt and sorbet or a mix of the two, later two different flavors of yogurt. The selections are what Dannon offers and the individual franchisee decides what they want to offer at any given time. Yogurts here vary during the year.
Robots will be serving you ice cream and printing your pictures in airports this summer
Matthew Meltzer
Jun 12, 2019
https://matadornetwork.com/read/robots-serving-ice-cream-airports/?fbclid=IwAR1dGtVbLRXbHy-I8TTZXmc-G-2DdcY2gE812gM-NtgFJt0jiUq-D1RAIXg
The robots are taking over! Okay, maybe not completely over, but at least over for the slow-moving teenager who probably smoked on his lunch that works at the airport ice cream shop.
Rather than waiting for said poorly paid teenager to dispense your soft serve goodness, or, worse, having to dispense it yourself and unwittingly buying $9 worth of frozen yogurt, airports nationwide will soon have robots doing it for you. Reis and Irvy’s automated soft serve dispensers will be hitting airports this summer, where in under a minute you’ll have a cold, sweet treat in your hand.
The process is pretty simple: Step up to the automated kiosk, then select one of the available flavors of ice cream, sorbet, frozen yogurt, or gelato. The selections will be among classic chocolate; very strawberry; white vanilla; peanut butter; cookies and cream; salted caramel; alpine vanilla; dutch chocolate; pink lemonade; cheesecake; watermelon; vanilla gelato; peppermint; mango sunrise; chocolate fudge; pomegranate raspberry; cake batter; and chocolate gelato.
Select the size and toppings you want, pay, then let the robot do its thing. In less than 60 seconds it’ll present you with a perfectly made dish of frozen deliciousness. And won’t show you an embarrassing “Add a tip?” screen at the end, either.
The machines will be owned by Generation Next, in partnership with the Airport Minority Advisory Council, effectively becoming a Reis and Irvy’s franchisee by placing the kiosks in airports. The AMAC is a nonprofit aimed at the advancement of women and minorities in the aviation industry. Or, in this case, robots.
After your ice cream, print your vacation pictures before you get home!
In addition to the ice cream kiosks, the AMAC is also bringing Print Mates photo printing kiosks to airports. So you can print up your favorite vacation pictures, buy a thoughtful “I Heart Florida” frame at the gift shop, and give all your loved ones selfies as souvenirs from your trip.
The Print Mates kiosks are also pretty simple. You just step up to the kiosk, connect your smartphone, and upload the images you want to print. You can also log in to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and any number of photo-sharing platforms and print from there as well. Like the Fotomats of old, the kiosk dispenses high-quality glossy pictures suitable for framing, all in a few seconds.
And if the gift shop is severely lacking in picture frames, Print Mates can mail you your pictures in a frame of your choice as well.
So while we aren’t quite in the era of self-driving cars or pilotless airplanes, little bits of the flying experience will soon be missing the human touch. This may be a good thing, it may be a bad thing, but either way one thing is certain: If you want ice cream at the airport, it’s going to be a lot easier this summer.
Good presentation. Hope it gets widespread coverage.
IH allows a poster to say anything they want (within reason) about a principal of the company, just not about another poster, so post away, it's your opinion.
In my opinion, Yates has been working his a** of to make a success of this company and I believe he is making progress. Yes, he was starry eyed at the beginning and thought FroYo would sell anyplace there was 15 sq ft available to install a robot, but he has learned and is focused now on the most profitable locations. The company is making steady progress and if it can achieve it's targets for this calendar year I believe it will be successful. JMO.
Was wondering the same thing. Haven't heard anything.
Saw (Monday, June 10) that their home page said 298 kiosks installed. End May total was 274 per the June 5 PR so 24 kiosks installed in the first 10 days of June, on track for 72 for the month or 346 total by end June, about midway of the range of 330-380 projected in the March 26 PR, exceeding the previous projection (March 4) of 290-340.
Achieving the ~350 fiscal year end total should also result in the $16MM target for revenue for fiscal 2019 compared with $0.3MM the previous year.
If they can average 120/month for the next fiscal year (midway of their 600-800 estimate for the first 6 months), revenue will be approximately $65MM or 4 times the current fiscal year. I believe their target is to do better than this but we shall wait and see.
"...the bottleneck looks to be shifting to location procurement."
I don't know how much help they are getting from Compass but I would expect they are in contact with some of the other large service companies also, such as Aramark and others.
After VEND gave their projection for installations of kiosks for the remainder of the calendar year on March 4, I created a graph with the projection vs actuals. Below is the graph through May 31, 2019. Note the Domestic Installations as well as total deliveries, Domestic plus International. Not sure if the March 4 projection was for Domestic or Total. VEND later increased their June 30 total by 40 kiosks but
the projection does not include the increase.
VEND has had an IR company for a couple of years now - ShareholderIQ (858-322-4449). Earlier this year VEND sent letters to investors, current and prior, who had over a certain minimum number of shares inviting them to call and talk with their point man within ShareholderIQ, Sean Paul. I guess you didn't receive a letter....
"Be a man Nick and come on the board and address and answer the hard questions yourself."
Why would Nick take the time to answer the questions from a few anonymous (as we all are) posters? I'd rather he focus on the company and what needs to be done to make it continue to grow and become successful. With maybe a few dozen, or fewer, readers of this thread, I doubt the unanswered questions have any impact on the serious investors here or the many who pay no attention to this thread. If you make investment decisions based on what you read here, shame on you IMO.
Today’s PR:
Pretium Resources Inc.: Underground Exploration Drilling Intercepts Gold Mineralization at Depth; 2019 Grassroots Regional Exploration Commences
Understand that Nick was interviewed this morning by Maria Bartiromo (Fox Futures) on the sidewalk in front of Fox News where VEND had a FroYo robot set up. Not sure when it will air but María evidently really liked the yogurt.
Generation NEXT Franchise Brands Announces $2 Million Exclusive Franchise Contract for Columbia, South Carolina
Agreement Includes Initial Purchase of 20 Robotic Vending Kiosks and Commitments to Buy an Additional 24 Units
SAN DIEGO, CA -- May 28, 2019 -- InvestorsHub NewsWire -- Generation NEXT Franchise Brands, Inc. (OTCQB: VEND), announced today that its flagship subsidiary, Reis & Irvy’s, has signed an exclusive franchise agreement for the robot-staffed frozen yogurt and ice cream chain in Columbia, South Carolina. The $2 million, exclusive territory contract includes the upfront purchase of 20 kiosks, with contract commitments to purchase an additional 24 kiosks over the next five years.
Reis & Irvy’s is the world's first fully-automated robotic frozen dessert vending kiosk designed to disrupt brick-and-mortar competitors. The kiosk’s unattended robots eliminate the need for costly rent and labor, significantly reduce food safety concerns and are capable of operating 24-hours a day. The signature robots can dispense servings of frozen yogurt, ice cream, gelato and sorbet finished with a selection of six delicious toppings in less than 60 seconds.
Columbia is the capital and second largest city in South Carolina, a state which continues to set tourism records year-after-year. The city is home to the University of South Carolina, the state's flagship university and the largest in the state, with more than 34,000 students. Columbia is also the site of Fort Jackson, the largest United States Army installation for Basic Combat Training. It is also home to the South Carolina State House, the Riverbanks Zoo & Garden, and the Columbia Museum of Art. The South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism’s latest numbers show tourism contributing $22.6 billion in revenue, which continued to increase for the seventh consecutive year.
“Columbia is known for being ‘famously hot,’ and we look forward to helping residents beat the heat this summer – and beyond,” said Nick Yates, Chairman of Generation NEXT Franchise Brands. “The heat, coupled with popular football, basketball football and soccer stadiums, make this a market we’re especially excited to enter.”
To date, Reis & Irvy’s franchisees have sold more than 400,000 cups of frozen yogurt, generating over $2 million in retail sales for its franchise network.
You say: “I would like to see Nick Yates and company receive their just rewards, and I would like to see investors and franchisees come out fine. Those two things are unlikely to both happen. At least I'll be happy if you make money even if Nick sails off into another sunset.”
May I ask why you are so adamant about wanting the company to fail?
30 sec VEND/Vons ad for Print Mates
https://vimeo.com/338124886/2a605aa1c1
No. They have been there as long as I can recall.
Where did you get the date for the 100,000 th cup sold. I don’t think it’s correct.