With no vending experience but plenty of determination, Danny and his two sons built Roots Vending from the ground up and quickly gained traction in the Chicago market.
Sometimes a new business starts with a carefully researched plan. Other times, it starts with a conversation over a beer.
For Danny, founder of Roots Vending, the idea that would eventually become a fast-growing unattended retail operation began when he and his two sons started discussing what might come next.
“My older son was working with me, and my younger son was about to graduate college,” Danny explained. “One day we were sitting around having a beer, and I said, ‘Why don’t we try to find another business we could start? Do something new and exciting and fun and give it a shot.'”
The family explored several ideas before landing on something unexpected: vending.
At first, it was simply a topic that sparked curiosity. But after reading a few articles and digging deeper into the industry, they discovered a business that looked very different from the traditional vending operations they remembered.
“We did a rabbit-hole dive and found out how much the industry has changed,” Danny said. “The smart coolers, the technology, the data—it just became more and more interesting.”
Leveraging Relationships and Experience
Danny brought nearly 30 years of experience in the printing and packaging industry to the venture. He began his career selling pressure-sensitive labels and eventually worked his way up to Vice President of Sales and Marketing for a $35 million company before helping launch a second print and packaging business.
While vending was new territory, building relationships was not.
Danny believed the family could leverage the network he had built over decades, including contacts in real estate, manufacturing, and business ownership.
“We felt like we had a lot to offer,” he said. “I knew people in real estate, people who owned factories, clients from my other business. All of a sudden, we were in business.”
Less than a year later, Roots Vending has grown to approximately 40 operational locations throughout the Chicago area, with additional equipment on the way.
A Family Business with Defined Roles
Roots Vending is very much a family operation.
One son naturally gravitated toward sales while the other took on operational responsibilities. Together, they have built a growing team that includes route drivers, stockers, and operational support staff.
“It’s been a joy working with them,” Danny said. “We’re very close, and it’s been a lot of fun building something together.”
Like most startups, the company has learned through experience.
“We came into this completely green,” Danny admitted. “We’re making mistakes, certainly trying not to make the same mistake twice. But we’re learning every day.”
Embracing the New Era of Vending
The majority of Roots Vending’s locations feature smart coolers and smart freezers, with a handful of micro markets and other unattended retail solutions mixed in.
For Danny, one of the biggest surprises has been the technology.
He compares today’s smart coolers to the evolution from traditional televisions to smart TVs.
“Vending has gone from these old-school, clunky machines to smart machines where the technology and telemetry are just through the roof,” he said.
The company can monitor inventory, sales, machine performance, and service needs remotely. Route planning is driven by real-time data, allowing employees to arrive each morning with replenishment lists already prepared.
Rather than guessing what products need to be restocked, the team knows exactly what each location requires before leaving the warehouse.
“It’s really fascinating,” Danny said. “I can pick up my phone and see data at the click of a button.”
Building for the Long Term
When Roots Vending launched, the goal was ambitious: 100 machines within the first year.
The company is on pace to come close to that milestone, but Danny’s vision extends much further.
“We didn’t do this to have 50 or 100 machines in the field,” he said. “We want hundreds, and we want thousands.”
For now, the focus remains on the Chicago market, which Danny believes offers significant growth opportunities. As the company continues to scale, expansion into other regions could follow.
“We want to build something pretty big,” he said.
But beyond growth and expansion, Danny sees another benefit.
“It’s been a blast,” he said. “Life’s short. You get one chance at this. Taking chances and building something with my kids has been incredibly rewarding.”
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