Zoom Systems Company

The iPod vendor stands in the corridor at the Macy's Union Square all day and all night, never growing tired or tempted by the fragrance of rotisserie chicken from the nearby food court. It's the latest trend in self-service: a vending machine stocked not just with snacks and drinks but also electronic gear. Zoom Shops, as they're called, are spreading fast, finding homes in malls, hotels, grocery stores and airports across the country.

The iPod vendor stands in the corridor at the Macy's Union Square all day and all night, never growing tired or tempted by the fragrance of rotisserie chicken from the nearby food court. It's the latest trend in self-service: a vending machine stocked not just with snacks and drinks but also electronic gear. Zoom Shops, as they're called, are spreading fast, finding homes in malls, hotels, grocery stores and airports across the country.

As guests at the Culver City Sheraton Four Points exit the elevators in the hotel lobby, they are greeted with a vending machine. Not so unusual on the face of it. It's a plastic contraption resembling a standard vending machine, but this one carries no candy, chips or even Cokes. On one side, the machine stocks an array of items often forgotten by travelers: Disposable cameras, socks, nasal spray and other sundries line up behind black wire coils.