Luxury vending machine sells Bentley convertibles, condos

Luxury vending machine sells Bentley convertibles, condos
April 14, 2009

Chicago Tribune: In the market for a Bentley sports car, a Jean Paul Gaultier dress or a cell phone, but don't feel like dealing with a pesky salesperson? Literally at the touch of a button, visitors to the Mondrian South Beach can buy those items — as well as more prosaic hotel gift-shop staples like toothbrushes — from a new lobby vending machine called a Semi-Automatic.

In a postmodern echo of the early 20th century's Automats, the Semi-Automatic peddles a jumble of more than 60 items priced between $10 and $1.2 million in a large, sleek rectangular display.

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