Pocket Box Puts Frivolity, Practicality, and Art at Your Fingertips

Apr 17, 2023

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Just inside the front door of the Grand Avenue Ale House sitsa large, yellow vending machine. If you’re in the mood for a questionableplastic-wrapped sandwich or a run-of-the-mill candy bar, you’re out of luck.But if you’re looking for some art and adventure, you’ve found the right place.This machine has come to you by way of Pocket Box, a new endeavor owned andoperated by Kari Graczyk and Chris Rapp, who intend to deliver a bit of fun andconvenience to your favorite haunts.

The couple moved from Portland, Oregon, to Bellingham inApril of 2021, and enjoy the similarities they’ve found between the two cities."We’ve not been here very long, but we have friends that are from here so we’vebeen visiting for a really long time," says Kari. "We fell in love with thisplace a long time ago."

While they lived in their former home, the discovery ofsimilar vending machines planted an idea in Kari's head. "When Kari first movedto Portland there were just a couple of places that had vending machines withweird, kitschy stuff in them," says Chris. "Whether it be zines that some localartist had drawn up, VHS tapes, He-Man toys — just really random, cool, weirdthings."

It didn't take long for the unusual business with itsunusual treats to make a lasting impression on Kari. "It kind of became myobsession," she says. "They were in taverns and bars, and all sorts of differentvenues around town, and then as the years went by they were increasing. Whenfriends from out of town would come into town, I would specifically take themto those places so we could check out the machines."

After settling into life in Bellingham, it became clearthat Kari had the creative vending bug. She soon quit her job and began theunusual search for a vending machine of her own. "There was a lot of staring atFacebook and Craigslist marketplaces, and phone calls to every vending companywe could find," she says. A friend found the first one the couple purchased. "Wescrambled to figure out how to move an 800-pound machine and put it in our tinystorage unit."

As COVID restrictions eased and businesses started to openup again, the couple made the rounds, and decided to focus on the Grand fortheir first placement. "Selling the brand is really hard when you can't see it.People just hear vending machine and they’ll say, ‘Yeah, we have a snackmachine,’" Kari says. "Then we say, ‘That's not what we’re thinking; we are anextraordinary vending machine company.’"

The couple describe the stock in the machine at the Grandas a mix of convenience items, nostalgia, and mystery. "You can find a lighterin there, gum, Tums, chapstick," says Kari. But some of the convenience itemsmight seem a little less obvious. "You can find condoms and pregnancy tests. Wekeep selling out of pregnancy tests, but we haven't sold a single condom. Wethought of it as kind of a joke, and then we walk in and they’re just gone."

And from there, things just get weirder. "Right now, wehave a lot of books that sell really well, which is great," Kari says, "andthen there are mystery bags of ’90s nostalgia and mystery socks."

Not only are the bags of 1990s memorabilia a good seller, butthey also helped convince the owner of the Grand to host the first Pocket Box. "Theidea behind the mystery bags is that when you get something out of the machine,you go back to your table and sit down with your friends and bust it open,"says Chris. "You put everything out on the table and play around, have some fun.Everybody has something to talk about and something to do that's a little moreinteractive, instead of falling back into looking down at our phones. If we canget people to read a book or have a conversation with somebody about a sillylittle toy that we put into a bag that's a win for all of us."

In addition to useful items and fun distractions, PocketBox is also working toward adding artwork to their offerings. "Kari has workedto get a group of artists into the machines, and their friends and fellowartists have really helped support us a lot," Chris says. "That's anotheraspect that business owners are interested in, because we’re doing this forarts in the community, too."

As Pocket Box offer more goods in more places, Kari and Chrisare mindful of the opportunity to continue surprising clientele with new itemstailored to each location. "We have three refurbished machines sitting in ourworkshop and have a location for our next machines: in Black Sheep onHolly Street, and in Rumors onRailroad," says Chris. "Once we get into other locations, then you could see acompletely different variety of artists and fun stuff in the machine. It won'tbe the same in every spot."

They hope to have all three machines placed before the yearis over, as well as a website allowing them to communicate with artists moreeasily, since any art needs to be a certain size and a certain weight, as wellas in a certain kind of packaging. "Right now we’re encouraging people tomessage us on Instagram or Facebook, orby email,"Kari says, "because soon we’ll have other machines set up."

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