Downtown salon repurposes vending machine from local middle school
Dec. 15, 2023
A vintage vending machine has been given new life at a local hair salon, and it didn’t have to travel very far to get there.
When Jeff Gimenez, the owner of Hi-Fi Hair, came across an old vending machine on Facebook Marketplace in Omaha, he realized he needed one.
If you’ve been to his salon, you’ll instantly know why as you experience its friendly, colorful, midcentury-modern atmosphere.
“I thought, ‘There has to be (a vending machine) closer to Sioux Falls,’” Gimenez said.
When he did a similar search closer to home, he found one that came out of the Edison Middle School teachers lounge.
Gimenez and his wife, Sarah – owner of hART Studio – purchased the machine, got it into the salon and took some time to figure out how to rebrand it.
A few months later, the Hi-Fi Mini Mart was born.
“We decorated the machine to fit the brand with the rest of the vintage things in here and decided to sell miniature gifts out of it,” he explained.
How does it work? A customer chooses from five price points from $5 to $25, and the machine spits out a unique gift valued at the matching price point.
“The surprise of not knowing what’s coming out of it is super fun,” Gimenez said.
“I like that this keeps the machine out of a landfill and repurposes it into something nostalgic with a new twist,” he said. “We tried to do something a little different with the gifts.”
The couple is planning for the year ahead to feature local artists who will sell their work in the machine, plant and floral arrangements and holiday-themed gifts.
“We’re always trying to do something fun, visual, keep people engaged and interested,” Gimenez said. “This adds another layer of vintage, and we’re excited to see where it goes.”
Stop by Hi-Fi Hair in the downtown Nordic Hall building at 218 W. 13th St. to shop the Mini Mart.
