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PROFILE: PREMIER SERVICES
Headquarters Location: Denver, Colo.
Founded: 1979
Owner: George Yost
Sales Mix: Vending 50%, manual feeding/catering 29.1%, OCS 12.5%, honor boxes 8.3%
Annual Sales: Not revealed
For George Yost, the 2009 Automatic Merchandiser Vending Operator of the Year, there is no mystery to succeeding in refreshment services. A veteran since 1979, Yost has been active in every aspect of the business, from honor boxes to OCS to vending to manual feeding and catering.
As he enters his third decade as the owner of Premier Services in Denver, Colo., the future looks better than ever, despite the recession. In reflecting on his career, Yost believes that his willingness to work hard, serve the customer and have the right people behind him have positioned him to succeed.
While customers have become more demanding in recent years, Yost has focused his attention on the most promising segment: coffee. In recent years, he launched his own roasting operation to improve product quality. In the last year, he has gone a step further by importing coffee directly from growers in Cameroon, Africa.
While his journey has taken him a long way from his foundation in the honor box business, Yost continues to provide every service — honor boxes, vending, OCS, catering and manual feeding — allowing him to meet a wide variety of customer needs.
Yost started from humble beginnings in Great Bend, Kan., the son of a firefighter. After winning a scholarship to a community college, he transferred to Wichita State University in Wichita, Kan. to study business. His studies were cut short when he accepted an offer to work for a concert promotion business.
The concert promotion gig ended when he came across a chance to buy a Nationwide Gourmets franchise in Denver in 1979. Nationwide Gourmets was a snack/coffee franchise organization. Many of the original franchisees still exist as independent businesses.
At age 25, Yost secured 3,000 honor box accounts. The honor box business was a viable business in 1979, he said, as employers in general were more accepting of it than they are today. But being young had some disadvantages. Yost was unable to secure credit to expand the business. After five years, he sold the business and went into real estate.