How Alicia Lavay built, reinvented, and sold Vending Times after 60 years of industry evolution
If you’ve been in convenience services for more than a minute, you know the name Vending Times. For decades, it landed in mailboxes 12 times a year — sometimes more than 150 pages thick! — chronicling the people, products, and progress of vending, office coffee service, bulk vending, music and games, and later, micro markets.
Behind much of that story stood Alicia Lavay. But her journey into the industry didn’t start in a boardroom; it started with a tape recorder in a college dorm lobby.
Growing Up in the Industry
Alicia grew up around the industry, though as a child she just knew her father, Victor Lavay, went to exciting trade shows filled with snacks and video games. Victor had co-founded Vending Times in the early 1960s after earning an accounting degree on the GI Bill and working at an advertising agency serving snack and candy brands. Along with partner Tiny Weintraub, he saw an opportunity: the industry needed another trade publication.
What began with cigarettes and jukeboxes expanded into bulk vending, coffee service, and the broader coin-operated world. Eventually, the company acquired Vend magazine from Billboard, along with the industry Census and Buyers Guide. These tools became foundational to operators nationwide.
By the time Alicia graduated from the University of Maryland with a journalism degree in 1988, her father had already spent roughly 25 years building the publication. When he asked her to “come help for a little while,” she thought it would be temporary.
Spoiler alert: It wasn’t.
A Budding Writer and Entrepreneur
Her very first taste of authorship came even earlier. While still in college, Alicia took the initiative to interview the operator of the video cassette vending machines in her dorm lobby. She recorded the entire conversation on a cassette tape and sent it to Vending Times’ senior editor, Tim Sanford.
“This poor guy had to listen to my whole conversation,” she said with a laugh. He edited it, wrote the piece, and gave her a byline. She was only 19 years old, but seeing “By Alicia Lavay” in print for the first time changed everything.
From Assistant Editor to Industry Ambassador
When Alicia officially joined the company in 1988, she started in editorial: rewriting press
releases and learning the craft. Her father’s partner quickly recognized she belonged in sales,
but Victor insisted she build editorial credibility first. In hindsight, Alicia sees the wisdom in that: he wanted her marketable and equipped with skills beyond family ties.
Eventually, she did both. At distributor open houses and trade shows like the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) and Amusement Expo (a joint show by Amusement and Music Operators Association and American Amusement Manufacturers Association).
Alicia worked the room with a 35mm camera, rate cards, and subscription forms ready. Her formula was simple: Tell someone’s story, take their photo, publish it, and invite them to advertise. It was relationship-driven, authentic, and entrepreneurial.
“When you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
The Heyday of Print
At its peak, Vending Times mailed roughly 16,000 audited copies monthly, with issues running 150 to 200 pages. Advertising came from every corner of the ecosystem: Coke, Pepsi, Nabisco, Hershey, and machine manufacturers like National Vendors and Automatic Products. Producing each issue was a logistical feat involving print orders, postal regulations, and strict deadlines. In Alicia’s words: “Publishing was manufacturing.”
The Changing Tides: From Print to Digital
In 2000, Alicia pushed to launch an email newsletter titled “Ahead of the Times,” delivering news before the print issue hit mailboxes. While early questions focused on how to monetize something you couldn’t hold, digital revenue eventually grew to 30% of total company income.
Loss, Recession, and Reinvention
Victor Lavay passed away in 2003. Alicia — the youngest of five daughters and the only one deeply involved in the business — carried forward his legacy as her closest business partner was gone.
When the 2007–2009 recession hit, Alicia navigated the storm by reducing print frequency, downsizing the magazine format to reduce costs, and moving the company out of Manhattan. Eventually, she transitioned the team to remote work and made the boldest move of all: ending the print edition entirely to go 100% digital.
The Exit
In late January 2020, Alicia finalized a deal with Networld Media Group. The deal closed just before COVID-19 shut down global travel and events. “I think I had a guardian angel,” she said. After helping with the transition, Alicia stepped back to consider her next chapter. But she quickly realized something was missing: the industry.
Coming Home
“I miss the industry so much,” she admits. “I cut my teeth here. I grew up with these people.” Today, storytelling lives on through newsletters, YouTube, and podcasts. But one thing hasn’t changed: people still want authenticity.
Alicia built her career on it. From cassette tapes to digital dashboards, she guided one of the industry’s most recognized publications through decades of transformation. Alicia Lavay’s story
is one of foresight, resilience, and deep loyalty to the convenience services community.
As Strategic Sales Consultant for GoGo Refresh now, the parent brand for Vending Connection, her heart for the industry and storytelling abilities continue.
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