When Phil was 6 years old, his family took a train ride from Louisiana to California on the old Sunset Limited Railroad to visit his grandpa. On that trip there was a dining car that had vending machines and Phil was amazed that with just a few nickels he could buy whatever he wanted! He never forgot about that. In 1975 he was told about an opportunity to work at a vending company as a route driver filling machines with all those snacks and drinks. He had been looking for a change out of the restaurant business and it didn’t take much to convince him this was the right choice. He loved the job, he enjoyed going into many different businesses, and meeting customers each day. Phil advanced quickly to supervisor, operations manager and district manager, which moved his family to Omaha. When the company he was working for decided to focus more on cafeteria business rather than vending, Phil’s job ended in Omaha. With the help of business friends in the industry, Phil heard of a business in the Brazosport area that was for sale. He knew he could make it work, so he moved to the area, found a warehouse with a small office and bathroom and began working 24/7 to create Gulftex Vending and Coffee Service in January of 1988. He actually lived in the building until his home sold in Omaha and his family was able to move down in August of that year. He was able to devote all his time to the business and got to know all his customers personally. He has grown from a small one man business to a franchise of Canteen, an international vending organization. Once his wife, Vicki and the kids moved to the area, they knew that this was a good area to raise a family. Phil’s kids worked often times in the summer at the warehouse as they were growing up, sometimes because they would get paid in candy! But it wasn’t until a few years ago that his daughter, Jacqui expressed an interest in working in the business. She had been working out of state, away from any family and Phil decided to bring her into the business. Since that time, she has married, had two children and brought her husband, Chris into the business. Phil loves that he can spend more time on the golf course these days or playing with his 4 grandsons, but the one big hobby he will always have is seeing the new trends in the industry and attending many of the national conventions both in vending and coffee service. He serves on the Texas Merchandising Vendors Association board. And he still enjoys his favorite cup of coffee at the office.
