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Business idea: click on the button, get ballet shoes
After a night of fiery dances on heels of dizzy heights, returning home becomes a real torture for any girl. But now lovers of high heels from Europe and the USA have a solution: in club machines, which used to sell chocolates and cigarettes, for some time now you can buy compact ballet shoes.
Once, a young Briton Matt Horan got tired that his girlfriend was constantly returning home from the disco barefoot, carrying her shoes in her hands. Matt thought hard about this problem familiar to many women and proposed an interesting business idea. In 2008, a vending machine appeared in one of the nightclubs of his native Bristol, where unusual ballet shoes could be purchased. In a small cardboard box about 5x7 cm in size, there was a pair of shoes rolled up into a roll and a small fabric bag. All this was sold under the brand name Rollasole, which literally translates from English means "fold the sole." Horan himself developed and patented the manufacturing technology of this shoe, the top of which is made of leatherette, and the sole is made of durable thermoplastic rubber. Party-goers appreciated the idea: a box with ballet shoes fits easily into the smallest clutch, and bored heels are convenient to carry home in a bag. 8 pounds (about 400 rubles) turned out to be a reasonable price for the opportunity to return home without feeling the terrible pain of rubbed and tired legs. A year later, Rollasole machines could be seen in nightclubs throughout the UK, and hundreds of rave reviews about the incredibly comfortable ballet flats that saved more than one party appeared on the Internet.
It is not surprising that Matt Horan soon had competitors: his compatriot Michael Stead developed Afterheels similar to Rollasole (translated from English as “after heels”), folding up to the size of a cigarette pack. The use of recycled eco-friendly materials allowed Michael Stud to win in price: Afterheels cost only 5 pounds (approximately 250 rubles). But this was precisely their drawback - Afterheels are afraid of puddles and rain, and they are rarely enough for more than one walk, and Rollasole, judging by customer reviews, can be used at least a dozen times.
The idea of compact ballet shoes quickly became popular. Vending machines under various trademarks began to appear not only in England, but also in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. But, despite the variety of offers, Rollasole remain leaders in this market. This is largely due to the variety of assortment: red, gold, zebra, polka dot, with spikes or bows - in the Rollasole machine you can find ballet shoes for any outfit. The company also provides the opportunity to order a whole box of ballet shoes (12 or 24 pairs) for a wedding or a large party so that guests can have fun until the morning.
So far, the idea of compact ballet shoes has reached Russia only in the form of one machine installed in the Moscow club Gipsy. And there is an explanation for this, since in our country, vending is still at an embryonic stage of development. While fully automated supermarkets are opening in Europe, and the total turnover of this market segment is 11 billion euros, we have installed just over 50 thousand vending machines throughout Russia. But still, Russian girls are no less than English women like high heels and dances until you drop, and this means that the machines with ballet shoes are the “blue ocean”, which has great development potential.
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