Vendor Locators
Canton Vending Machine Locations
Canton Ohio is the county seat of Stark County. Its population in 2000 of around 81,000 has declined to about 79,000. This is because - although it has diversified heavily into the retail, education, financial and service sectors - there was a large manufacturing base here. And like the rest of the country - manufacturing jobs are moving overseas. In spite of the decline, Canton actually passed Youngstown as the eighth largest city in Ohio. Youngstown declined even sharper than Canton did.
Canton is located about 20 miles or so south of Akron. And it is roughly sixty miles south of Cleveland. Through the years - railroads and manufacturing dominated the area. But thanks to moving out to other economic sectors - the Canton and Massillon metropolitan area has 410,000 people.
Canton is a football area as well. Riding down the interstate - I-77 - you can see the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Canton McKinley High School and nearby Massillon have had great sports teams over the years. And to the north lies campuses at Kent State and Akron - both in the MAC conference. For NFL fans - stop by the Hall of Fame. It makes for a great day.
Canton
is a great area for placement of vending machines of every type. Soda vending machines do especially well around the interstate exits. Souvenir vending machines can be profitable placed at shops near the William McKinley Presidential Library or the McKinley National Memorial. The McKinley locations charge quite a bit for souvenirs - a well placed vending machine can attract a lot of business by offering the same or similar items - for a lower cost. And you can still make a lot of profit. The McKinley (and Hall of Fame) prices have steep margins in them.
Maybe because of the education emphasis of the Canton area - internet stations can be profitable too. And from North Canton through Massillon and Louisville through East Canton - commuters often seek a handy combo or snack vending machine on a daily basis. US-30 which runs east - west across Ohio gets a lot of traffic, especially in the summer. Travelers seeking a vacation route off of the Interstate routine use 30 since it is more scenic, a little less travelled yet pretty quick way to get where they want. It's for folks who want to get there - but not fight crowds or the clock.
Canton has about a 75% white and 20% African-American racial makeup. So it is pretty diverse. A lot of political pollsters use Canton as a model for the national ethnic makeup of the United States.
Massillon
Again - another football town. Massillon has had some famous football stars over the years. Paul Brown - the Hall of Fame coach and player is from Massillon as was one of the best Ohio State and Detroit Lions players of the last 30 years or so - Chris Spielman. Harry Stuhldreher - one of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame hales from Massillon Ohio. And from the basketball side - Massilon is the hometown of Bob Knight - renowned coach of Indiana. At the high school level Massillon has excelled as well. Massillon Washington High is the second most winning program in the country behind Valdosta Georgia. And this is quality football ! I never watched Massillon play, but in the mid-1980s I used to watch Valdosta practice. I was in town on an assignment and when I left work I could witness their practices which went until about 10 at night. These guys were animals. They looked like a small college team - but they were just 16 or 17 years old.
Massillon can handle about any type of vending machine you would want to place. Snacks and soda do well. Newspapers and internet stations struggle a little in most places. Moving to the outskirts of Massillon and Canton can be a good idea for someone new to the vending machine business. As a pretty established city - Massillon has certain locations where vending machines have been around from the same vendor for years. The suburban locations still have a lot of opportunity though.
Alliance and Louisville
Moving northeast of the Canton area, these are two communities with some good locations for vending machine placement and profits. But be selective in the type of vending machine you locate - some work - some do not. Route 62 connects these towns with Canton. Alliance has around 23,000 people and is home to Mount Union college. Louisville has only around 9,000 living there - but it is on a great connector route between Alliance and the Canton metropolitan area. Most vending machines can work here - Coffee vending machines and other hot drink vending machines are profitable along Route 62. And, even in this age of cell phones - payphones placed in the right locations do well.
North Canton
The Akron - Canton Regional Airport is a big attractor for business and traffic in the North Canton area. Interstate 77 draws folks from the north and south - places like Cleveland - Akron and New Philadelphia. Lots of vending machine locations - and a nice vending machine route can be built for a new vending machine operator in this part of town. The Middlebranch section of Canton is nice too.
East Canton
US-30 brings a lot out eastbound traffic out of Canton. It is not as densely populated as the locations to the west - but many good vending machine locations are still here. Lots of restaurants and stores provide a lot of great locations. The further east you go though - the harder it gets to find good locations. Not all types of vending machines work in East Canton - you need to be selective.
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