We’re in a REEAAAL RIPE moment for AUTOMATION --- Not just for snacks and airport necessities, --- they’re small scale ART GALLERIES & TREASURE HUNTING spots.
We transform traditional snack vending machines into small format LOCAL ART & ODDITIES SHOPS, chock-full of a little something for everyone. The GOODIES we stock rotate regularly and include tons of SURPRISES.
Above: Watch Dave, our Automation Wizard and Joy Engineer, program new items in a machine just before making it’s way into the world.
Above: Here’s Steph again! She appears to be petting the head of an old, antique globe.
We collaborate with ARTISTS at every stage of their practice. They're a SUPER POWER in our city and our lives and the SOURCE of inspiration for this project.
Dear City of Broad Shoulders,
We promise to strengthen community by working in communities.
Thank you for letting us be a part of yours!
P.S. You will forever have our heart!
Your Vending Friend,
Good Things <3
Above: Artist Chi Nwosu in front of their mural painted on Machine #07 at the Garfield Park Conservatory on launch day.
Above: Little Steph pictured with her dad and their Vending Friends at the Antique Jamboree in Tokyo, Japan -1997.
Steph started GOOD THINGS VENDING in 2018 after increasingly serious roles in the hospitality and non-profit industries. She is a not-serious person by nature, and wanted to explore what kind of work might make her life just as playful.
Growing up, her family owned an antique toys & games auction company. Her mother is a working artist (AND STILL IS!). These family businesses put her in Japan for some crucial time in her early life where she found independence and, you guessed it —-- VENDING MACHINES.
STEPH: is the founder and keeper of GOOD THINGS VENDING. A believer in hanging onto your WEIRD, the nexus of her weird happens to be putting art and old stuff in vending machines.
DAVE: is the automation WIZARD and operator of the GOOD THINGS VENDING machines. Always blending creativity with practicality, he makes sure everything runs SMOOTHLY.
