Vest-Vending Machine Is a Big Hit in San Fran

It's an odd tale of vests, venture capitalists, and San Francisco: Start with this Business Insider story in 2016 declaring that the vest had "become the most quintessentially-VC item in an investor's wardrobe" in Silicon Valley. Flash forward to a different BI story from last week, taking note of a vending machine in San Francisco's airport that dispenses, yes, vests, and the social media jokes that revelation has generated. ("SFO has a down vest vending machine for visiting VCs," wrote one; "automatic vesting" wrote another.) And finally, a followup story at the site that the vendor is surely laughing all the way to the bank—with $10,000 in sales per month.

The vests cost about $50, meaning that the machine from third-party vendor Uniqlo is dispensing about 200 of them per month at San Francisco International Airport. "This is the first time we've had clothing available for sale from a vending machine, which we thought was very unique," says an airport spokesman. Turns out, it's one of the most profitable machines at the airport. (More San Francisco stories.)