Ouch… that Hertz. 
Do you see Watt I did there…? 
Sorry but I am staying neutral on this as I’m no live wire when it comes to this sort of thing, I could trip out and go into overload if I thought about it, in saying that nothing usually phases me
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We have them too in the Lot Valley (big tourist area) they have a larger capacity than domestic appliances and suspect they’re mainly used by gite owners. You don’t need a pizza machine nearby 'cos they automatically send you an SMS when the laundry’s ready.
A lot of the seasonal vineyard workers are very grateful for them.
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Yup, 10€ for 18kg of bedding, including the water and cleaning product. Perfect for 6 beds of linen and towels for the gîte, as not sure could do it at home for that price. And then pillows and duvets every month or so.
Our friends use them for their duvets and coverlets.
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They’re very popular round here, as they were in Deux-Sèvres when we had an MS 15 years ago. We use them to wash duvets.
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That particular one is about 100m from where I work 
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Agricultural friends of ours have a fruit and veg ‘drive’ in the Monts Lyonnais. They also have a vending machine for quieter periods when the drive is closed. In answer to your comment about making a decent profit, the answer is yes, as they are selling direct. There’s obviously a certain initial investment for the machine, but this is taken with a loan over a few years which gets absorbed into the overall farm business accounts. They’re very happy with this way of selling part of their production.
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Here in Charente Maritime I think the first oyster vending machine was installed some years ago by the local producer Girardeau - a famous brand much in demand in Paris and with prices to match. And, of course, the oysters from the machine carry a premium over that price due to the cost of the machine (and perhaps waste). At times lobster and other luxuries are available and payment is by credit card.
A little more down to earth we had a couple of local produce vending machines open near the Emmaus depot but they were poorly used and removed after a year or so - with so many places offering fresh produce until 7:00pm the number of people desperately needing a sack of potatoes at 10:00pm must be pretty limited and we only used it for a bit of fun.
One of our local boulangeries is open from 6:00am to 8:00pm 6 days a week and has a vending machine outside those hours (or inside them for when there is a queue for patisserie and you only need a baguette). On Wednesday, when they are forbidden from opening due to French law, they run the bakery throughout the day and keep replenishing the machine as the stock falls low, so you can even get hot bread from that machine.
And, finally, the local pizza machines are run by an artisan pizzaiolo and can be flash baked in about 3-4 minutes, resulting in a pizza that is much higher quality than 95% of pizzerias I have tried in France (admittedly not such a high bar, given the generally dire standard of pizza here). For the most part pizza in France (IMHO) is something reserved for the hours when restaurants don’t operate and when it is either that or a crepe .
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