The business of making coffee vending machines fizzled out, but Rockwell found he liked vending and decided to make it his career. In 1971 he started his own company, Robert's Distributing, which was a Tom's Food distributorship. He has vivid memories of that venture, which over close to two decades he built up to a sizable route. He purchased the building he previously rented, thus becoming his own landlord, and eventually had a list of accounts totaling somewhere near 300 machines. When you start a vending business, you willingly take every account that comes your way.
Operators go through growing pains when they start out.
I found little ways to let my prime accounts know how committed I was to their needs. I'd note birthdays and special events and send cards with little personal notes. I had a pick-up with a lift gate and my customers would often ask me to help them move things, which I happily did. It was while devoting his time to his route that the idea for an air cooler for snack machines popped into his head. I was the one who heard the complaints.