A vending machine having a merchandise chamber for a flowable body of merchandise items of a selected normal depth is disclosed. The chamber is defined by a bottom wall, a top wall, a vertical front wall that is at least partially transparent, and vertical side walls. A mechanized dispenser near the bottom of the chamber dispenses the merchandise to the exterior of the chamber, and a display is positioned behind the front wall and above the normal merchandise depth. In one preferred embodiment, there is a vertical hopper partition extending between the side walls behind the display to divide the merchandise chamber into a front display chamber and a rear hopper that extends above the normal merchandise depth. The front display chamber is suitable for storing a plurality of such merchandise items. The bottom of the partition is spaced above the bottom wall a distance corresponding to the normal merchandise depth so as to allow the front display chamber to be kept at a stable level. There is also provided an external loading aperture near the top of the hopper.