“I guess you can say we’re the dinosaurs of the refresh service industry,” the trio joked in sync. Orrin Heubner began working with independent operators in 1973 and spent a decade at Compass USA, running its most successful branch in Illinois. In Chicago, Gary Pretzer sold the vending machine business he had founded in 1969 to focus exclusively on office coffee service operations in 1990. John Salterio launched an office coffee service in Philadelphia in 1984 , selling that business to a friendly competitor in 2010.
These pioneers are now working together to build a marketing services platform based on over 100 years of industry know-how and their passion for success. They bring unique perspectives to contemporary convenience service operators.
“We are bona fide, legitimate, active people in coffee and vending machines – managing, building, operating, buying and selling. We were involved in all aspects of the industry…unlike other industry advisors,” Salterio pointed out.
The three partners have known each other for many years. They interacted while buying, selling, and reviewing other vending machine businesses. Heubner and Pretzer became clients of Consolidated Services Group (CSG), a management company owned by Salterio.
For four decades, Heubner has helped run four successful independent operations, the last of which was acquired by market leader Compass Group, parent of Canteen Vending Services. He agreed to the acquisition and recently retired in August 2021. During the latter part of his career, Heubner was involved in a dozen M&A transactions, half of them during his tenure at Compass.
Pretzer served on the board of the Better Vendors Association. He has also been involved in the M&A sector, working closely with CSG in recent years. “We’ve all been very successful running sales and OCS businesses,” Pretzer noted.
To strengthen and formalize the consulting alliance that Pretzier and Salterio were developing, the two pulled Heubner out of retirement to help advance their marketing efforts. “The timing was perfect to bring Orrin into what Gary and I have been doing,” Salterio said, “especially considering that current market conditions are very supportive of what we offer, which is consulting, valuations and M&A transaction services”.
According to Heubner, partners can touch all areas of a retail, micromarket, or OCS business. “If an operator is looking to improve what they are doing today, we can help them,” he said. “Or if they want to know what their business is worth today, we can provide that information. Likewise, if the value of a transaction is not sufficient, we can help create value to make it more attractive to buyers. Or if they want to sell right away, we not only have the experience of successful mergers and acquisitions, we also have resources of people to go to who are looking to acquire businesses.
Since Partners have been through many sales and acquisitions themselves, they can offer advice on what to expect after a sale.
“Typically today it’s the ‘big boys’ who acquire, so it’s important to guide sellers whose businesses are being integrated into a larger operation,” Heubner said. “What happens after the sale and what should your expectations be? Because the three of us have experienced this firsthand, we can talk about it successfully.
To learn more about how this new business can benefit your operation, email John SalterioGary Pretzer or Orrin Heubner.