Vending Machines For Shrinking Communities

Residents of the picture post card village of Clifton, Derbyshire, have welcomed a new addition to their community: a giant vending machine, or ‘electronic shop’, as designer Peter Fox prefers to call it.

Local village shops are a staple part of life for most village residents in the UK; however, recent years have seen a decline in such establishments, including Clifton, who have been without their local shop for 13 years. Electrical engineer and designer Peter came up with the idea of the village vending machine many years ago. However, lack of funds resulted in him having to build it himself rather than being able to find a manufacturer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA6RbCOPqtY

Since its arrival, the electronic shop has been a hit amongst the residents of Clifton, who now don’t have to drive 2 miles to the nearest supermarket for the odd item they may have forgotten earlier. The ‘shop’ stocks a wide range of products, including necessitates such as bread, milk, cheese and pet food.

Able to pay in cash or on card, the residents of Clifton are enjoying putting money back into their local community as well as the convenience of not having to drive to a bigger town. As a result of the electronic shop, Clifton has become somewhat of a celebrity town, with people stopping by to use the giant vending machine and therefore put more money into the community of Clifton.