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Giving the name Black Friday new meaning, Beverly Hills Caviar launched their caviar vending machine today, just in time for recession-proof holiday shopping swarm.
There are machines at Westfield malls in Topanga and Century City, as well as Burbank Towne Centre.
Kelly Scheiner, owner of Beverly Hills Caviar, says that the project has been in the works for three years. "We came up with the idea when the recession was hitting really hard. A company like ours in the luxury business had to figure out a way to survive," she says.
"I'm from the Stern family in New York, and we do jewelry and gold. They told me about a vending machine that put together a vending machine for gold and was very successful," she says. So Stern cobbled together equipment from Spain, Norway, and China, and brought it in to be assembled here in the States. The metal fabrication, coincidentally, was done by the same people who did the famous Sprinkles vending machine.
"It was extremely complicated because of the FDA and the health department," she says.
But it's since been approved, and is celebrating its official launch today on Black Friday. Though the high ticket items like $500/oz beluga caviar are the ones getting all the shock-factor attention, there are other items for sale in the machine at a more approachable price point.
"We have a lot of American caviars priced under $50, like white fish, salmon, and American black," says Scheiner. She also says that there is a surprising amount of twenty somethings buying their product from the machine. Each purchase over $30 comes with a complimentary metal spoon. The machine also offers blinis, gourmet salts, escargot, truffle salts, and gourmet oils.
Sadly, there's no vodka or champagne to drink on the spot.
