COIN ACCEPTORS, INC. CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF INNOVATION

    ST. LOUIS-More than 400 associates, employees and friends from around the world gathered this September in St. Louis to celebrate Coin Acceptors' 40 years of innovation in the vending industry.

     Founded in 1958 by entrepreneur Claude Trieman, Coin Acceptors, known in the industry as Coinco, has become the world's leading manufacturer of electronic coin and bill handling equipment. Coinco's 1,500 employees worldwide, manufacture more than 200 different vending products designed for virtually any vending machine, including machines from Royal Vendors, Inc., another company in the Coin Acceptors family. Coinco has 37 facilities serving customers in more than 40 countries throughout the world. Innovation has always been key to Coinco's growth. Industry firsts include molded plastic coin changers and bill acceptors instead of heavy metal, the first electronic changer, and the first to offer a Cash Accountability™  feature in which sales are electronically recorded to track net sales.

    Coinco is a vertically integrated, privately held company that designs, tools and manufactures its equipment at three wholly owned subsidiaries. Located in High Ridge, Missouri, H.R. Electronics performs final assembly and testing of coin changers and bill acceptors. Changers for international markets and Coinco's GLOBAL changer are also manufactured at this 63,000-square-foot plant. Mountain View Fabricating, Inc., in south Missouri makes part assemblies and subassemblies for Coinco's complete product line. A relatively new facility in Union, Missouri, which opened in 1994, makes all of the electronic circuit boards.

    The spirit of innovation is also very much alive at Royal Vendors, Inc. With 1,800 employees, it is a leading manufacturer of cold beverage, can and bottle vending equipment. Like Coinco, Royal Vendors has launched several innovative technologies and products. These include a unique refrigeration system and electronic vendors.

    Coinco President and CEO, Jack Thomas says his vision for Coinco and Royal Vendors is to maintain their leadership positions in the vending industry by expanding in all developing markets worldwide. "More international growth and product innovations such as 'smart cards' will enable Coinco to move successfully into the next millennium. The next decade will be a challenging and exciting time for the talented team we've assembled."