WatchesSep 11, 2024
These Are the Watches Women Want, Says Chrono24Its “Her-ology” report highlights trends in the women’s luxury watch market, from top brands to movement preferences.
EditorsJan 18, 2018
Marla and the Machine
Our editor-in-chief takes a (very short) road trip to the Brooklyn Museum to meet with jewelry designer Marla Aaron and see her much-talked-about vending machine.
Marla Aaron takes a seat in front of her vending machine in the Brooklyn Museum. Originally, Aaron planned to cap the price point of the merchandise in the machine at $500 but bumped it up to $1,500 after noticing her average online sale creeping up.
If you had to guess, how long would you say vending machines have been around? Since the 1800s, or 1700s maybe?
According to a history of a vending and coffee service from NAMA, that is the National Automatic Merchandising Association, the ancient Egyptians had devices in their temples that dispensed holy water as early as 215 B.C.
In the United States, the government granted patents for coin-operated vending machines as early as 1886, and there were some dispensing gum on New York City subway platforms by 1888.
Fast-forward a few thousand years and vending machines are entering the conversation about the future of retail as they are being employed to dispense an ever-increasing variety of products.
Anyone who has passed through an airport in the past decade has seen the machines that sell electronics, like headphones and cell phone chargers, and cosmetics from brands like Benefit and Philosophy.
There are beach-side machines that sell flip-flops, and Japanese company Uniqlo started selling its clothes out of vending machines last year after plans to expand its physical footprint in the U.S. fell flat.
And now, inside a museum in what is inarguably New York’s hippest borough, a jewelry designer named Marla Aaron has a vending machine that dispenses her signature locks.
On a recent morning at the museum, I met with Aaron to see it and chat about why she sunk between $30,000 and $50,000 into a machine that dispenses jewelry with zero consultation.
Reason No. 1 will be very familiar to both designers and retailers today: She was looking for more innovative and cost-effective ways of reaching customers, outside of the traditional store and online channels.
“When you run a small business, you have to be open to a lot of new ideas. You can’t afford to do things the same old way,” Aaron told me as we stood in front of her machine, waiting for it to reboot.
“If I had done all the stuff I am supposed to do in this jewelry industry”--meaning spend thousands of dollars to exhibit at trade shows and pour money into making jewelry that gets sent out on memo--“this brand would not exist. We would not have had the economic tolerance for what that entails,” she said.
“I think that’s what leads you down this sort of path.”
According to a history of a vending and coffee service from NAMA, that is the National Automatic Merchandising Association, the ancient Egyptians had devices in their temples that dispensed holy water as early as 215 B.C.
In the United States, the government granted patents for coin-operated vending machines as early as 1886, and there were some dispensing gum on New York City subway platforms by 1888.
Fast-forward a few thousand years and vending machines are entering the conversation about the future of retail as they are being employed to dispense an ever-increasing variety of products.
Anyone who has passed through an airport in the past decade has seen the machines that sell electronics, like headphones and cell phone chargers, and cosmetics from brands like Benefit and Philosophy.
There are beach-side machines that sell flip-flops, and Japanese company Uniqlo started selling its clothes out of vending machines last year after plans to expand its physical footprint in the U.S. fell flat.
And now, inside a museum in what is inarguably New York’s hippest borough, a jewelry designer named Marla Aaron has a vending machine that dispenses her signature locks.
On a recent morning at the museum, I met with Aaron to see it and chat about why she sunk between $30,000 and $50,000 into a machine that dispenses jewelry with zero consultation.
Reason No. 1 will be very familiar to both designers and retailers today: She was looking for more innovative and cost-effective ways of reaching customers, outside of the traditional store and online channels.
“When you run a small business, you have to be open to a lot of new ideas. You can’t afford to do things the same old way,” Aaron told me as we stood in front of her machine, waiting for it to reboot.
“If I had done all the stuff I am supposed to do in this jewelry industry”--meaning spend thousands of dollars to exhibit at trade shows and pour money into making jewelry that gets sent out on memo--“this brand would not exist. We would not have had the economic tolerance for what that entails,” she said.
“I think that’s what leads you down this sort of path.”
Marla Aaron’s jewelry vending machine was installed at the Brooklyn Museum on Dec. 8, during the holiday season. It measures 72 inches high, 42 inches deep and 30 inches wide, with a footprint of 10 square feet.
Aaron said she began the process of having the machine built two years ago. At first, she wasn’t sure where it should go. A hotel? An airport? No, she decided in both cases, she wanted it to be more “for New York.”
She had a “yes” from several jewelers who were interested in housing it, but didn’t want to put her first vending machine in a traditional store.
She started down the on-a-street path but found that New York City real estate brokers don’t know, or claim not to know, how to charge for a 10-square-foot plot of land (surprising in a city so skilled at renting extremely small spaces, no?). They kept pushing her to just open a store.
Eventually, Aaron ran the idea by her friend and customer Olivia Song, an interior designer who is co-chair of the Brooklyn Museum’s board of advisors, “And it clicked,” she said.
The vending machine would go in the Brooklyn Museum, right outside the door to the gift shop.
Unlike many of the snack and soda variety, Aaron’s machine is opaque, not glass front.
A touch screen, which starts with a video of the designer talking about her jewelry, shows shoppers a picture and gives the price and description for each of the seven styles held within, which range in price from $100 to $1,472.
They tap on the style they want, swipe their credit card, and retrieve their piece from a little door located below and to the right of the touch screen. Receipts, if requested, are emailed.
The machine is part experimental retail and part branding vessel and, like any venture, it has its challenges.
“There is not one moment you can’t be thinking about how your customer feels about your brand.” -- Marla Aaron
The morning that I was there, Aaron and I were trying to run through a purchase so I could see exactly how the machine works, but it kept rejecting credit cards, both hers and mine.
While she messaged with her team to try to work it out (turns out, the machine just hadn’t reconnected to Wi-Fi after being turned off overnight), we took a seat and chatted a bit about something I’m sure a lot of people have wondered: what do you do when something goes wrong with a machine like this, when a credit card doesn’t work or a purchase gets stuck (which hasn’t happened so far, she said)?
“It’s not without its problems,” Aaron allows.
But, she said, she prides her company on being a “very accessible brand.”
She has, in the past, Skyped with customers who are having trouble opening her silver baby locks.
Customers also can find her on Instagram, where she’ll answer direct messages.
She has email addresses on her website as well as phone numbers that ring through to live human beings who also can help. (Aaron said initially, she proposed putting her personal cell phone number on the vending machine, but her team vetoed that.)
In addition, each vending machine purchase comes with a small card that reads in part, “If you would like to return or exchange one of our pieces, please email us at info@marlaaaron.com,” and then goes on to list the details of the company’s return policy.
“There is not one moment you can’t be thinking about how your customer feels about your brand,” she said.
Aaron’s vending machine made its museum debut on Dec. 8 and will be departing in a couple of weeks for destinations unknown, or unknown to us anyway. The designer said she has its next location picked out but isn’t making that information public right now.
Wherever it goes, the machine will be getting a bit of a facelift. Aaron plans to change up the video, which is currently very Brooklyn-centric, and she can also change out the exterior wrap and the product selection within.
The Brooklyn Museum is located at 200 Eastern Parkway and is accessible by the 2/3 train; it sits on top of the Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum stop on that line.
Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. You can view the various ticket prices here.
Editor’s note: This article was updated post-publication to correct the date the vending machine arrived at the Brooklyn Museum--it was Dec. 8, not 19--and to remove an incorrect detail about the video that displays on the machine’s touchscreen.
Editors' Picks
Sponsored by
More on Editors
The Latest
IndependentsSep 11, 2024
Take a Sip of Marrow Fine x Adalina’s $13K MartiniThe smoked heirloom tomato mezcal martini, only available at Adalina in Chicago, is served with a 9-carat diamond tennis necklace.
Events & AwardsSep 11, 2024
Lab-Grown, Natural Diamonds to Be Focus of AGS Confluence Scheduled for Sept. 25, the online-only event will be open to non-AGS members this year, for a fee.
Brought to you by
How to Increase Instagram Followers Naturally in 2024Growing your Instagram following organically is more important than ever in today's technological environment.
MajorsSep 11, 2024
Brilliant Earth Expands International E-CommerceCustomers in more than 150 countries can now shop at the jewelry retailer’s online store.
Weekly QuizSep 05, 2024
This Week’s QuizTest your jewelry news knowledge by answering these questions.
Policies & IssuesSep 11, 2024
Gems Keep Giving Reorganizes, Taps Hayley Henning as Board ChairThe organization, which was started by the International Colored Gemstone Association, is now a 501(c)(3).
IndependentsSep 10, 2024
Industry Technology Visionary Jeff High Dies at 60The Gemvision founder is remembered as a passionate mentor with a deep love for God.
Brought to you by
Watch: Natural Diamonds: A Great (but Often Untold) Geology StorySupplier Spotlight Sponsored by GIA.
CollectionsSep 10, 2024
Foundrae’s Latest Collection Harnesses the Glow of the Golden HourThe “Golden Hour” collection was designed to “inspire and encourage reflection,” said the brand.
MajorsSep 10, 2024
Ludacris, Jessica Alba Star in New Movado CampaignMovado has named five new brand ambassadors, featuring them in its new “When I Move You Move” campaign.
TrendsSep 10, 2024
Carol Woolton To Release New BookThe jewelry historian discusses the history and cultural significance of jewelry throughout time and across the globe.
AuctionsSep 09, 2024
US Senator Dianne Feinstein's Jewels Going to AuctionBonhams will offer more than 70 pieces of the late dignitary’s jewelry next month.
CollectionsSep 09, 2024
Hearts On Fire Debuts New Campaign, DesignsThe “Love, Unleashed” campaign is an ode to love, featuring 16 new designs from Hearts On Fire’s “Vela” collection.
SourcingSep 09, 2024
Fuli Gemstones Introduces ‘Beidou Cut’The miner’s new peridot cut will debut at the upcoming Hong Kong jewelry trade show.
CollectionsSep 06, 2024
The ‘Fabergé x Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Collection is Scary ChicIt’s showtime for these jewels, inspired by the motifs and color palette of the new Tim Burton film.
FinancialsSep 06, 2024
Movado Lowers Guidance as Q2 Sales SlipCEO Efraim Grinberg pointed to a challenging consumer spending environment, particularly in the watch category.
CollectionsSep 06, 2024
Piece of the Week: Lizzie Mandler’s ‘Liquid Gold’ HoopsInspired by a 19th century sculpture, Mandler transformed gold into liquid for these earrings.
CollectionsSep 05, 2024
Bella Hadid Is Chopard’s New Brand AmbassadorThe model and entrepreneur stars in two new Chopard campaigns.
MajorsSep 05, 2024
Nordstrom Family Offers to Buy Namesake Retailer for $3.8BMembers of the founding family partnered with Mexican retail company El Puerto de Liverpool to possibly take Nordstrom private.
MajorsSep 05, 2024
Tiffany & Co. Celebrates Elsa Peretti’s Bone CuffThe iconic design has joined a lineup of notable pieces featured in the jeweler’s “With Love, Since 1837” campaign.
MajorsSep 05, 2024
Former Chopard, Frederique Constant Executive Tapped to Head CadarRalph Simons is now CEO of the jewelry brand started by fashion designer Michal Kadar and her husband, Avraham Kadar, in 2015.
ColumnistsSep 04, 2024
Creative Connecting: Why ‘Experience Content’ Matters Jen Cullen Williams and Duvall O’Steen say it’s all about giving your social media feeds a human touch.
TrendsSep 04, 2024
Taylor Hill, Soo Joo Park Star in New Messika CampaignThe models and friends of founder and artistic designer Valérie Messika showcase the brand’s jewelry in the “Back to Icons” campaign.
MajorsSep 04, 2024
Bloomingdale’s to Highlight Italian Jewelry in New Campaign“From Italy, With Love” will showcase Roberto Coin, Marco Bicego, and other Italian brands.
CollectionsSep 03, 2024
Zales, Prince Debut US Open-Inspired CollectionThe jewelry retailer will also have a diamond-set tennis racket on display at the tournament.
IndependentsSep 03, 2024
Ylang 23 Relocates, Expands Dallas FlagshipThe retailer has moved into a 3,200-square-foot space at The Shops of Highland Park.
TrendsSep 03, 2024
Amanda’s Style File: Sapphires for SeptemberThe month’s birthstone is vibrant in every color.
