She's Got Legs Pantyhose vending machines

On her way to a job interview four years ago, Janice McLean gota hole in her stocking that "you could see from Seattle."Horrified, she ran into a convenience store and bought a pair ofpantyhose, then realized that she had no place to put them on.Fortunately, her future employer didn't hold the fashion fauxpas against her, and she got the job. But her experience set the31-year-old former administrative assistant on a mission: Toinstall pantyhose vending machines in restrooms across America.

Today, her Baltimore company, McLean Machines and Company Inc.,exists to keep women safe from pantyhose disasters, offering fourtypes of legwear styles in small to extra large for $2 to $4 apair. Twenty-three vending machines are installed in churches,municipal buildings and airports in the Baltimore area, but McCleanhopes that's just the beginning. She plans to install themachines wherever hoseless women can be found: in schools, busdepots, hospitals, theaters and other hot spots around the country.McLean will also offer the vending machines to women-friendlybusinesses.

McLean researched the business before jumping in, readingvending industry publications and visiting the U.S. Patent andTrademark Office to learn whether anyone else had a similarbusiness. "There were vending machines that sold pantyhosealong with other products," she says, "but no one had acurrent patent on a vending machine that sold only pantyhose."The coast was clear for McLean to have an engineer design a vendingmachine that she could turn into a prototype. She invested $3,000in the endeavor-$2,000 in personal savings and a $1,000 microloanfrom a local business incubator, Women Entrepreneurs of Baltimore.Marketing the business wasn't a problem. Baltimore BusinessJournal and other media learned about the enterprise throughword-of-mouth and ran articles about the vending business. NowMcLean is working on a new line of hosiery called Uni that shehopes retailers will pick up. "The biggest hold-up forme," she says, "is having the time to reach all thepotential markets."