NEW YORK - Got worms? A vending machine at a Morgantown, Pa., gas station does.

Dubbed a cultural icon, The Wall Street Journal wrote last week that vending machines are "fading" from the American landscape, noting that traditional machines have disappeared from 134,000 locations between 2007 and 2010, according to Vending Times. Vending machine sales have also suffered, dropping more than 11%, to $42.2 billion during the same period.

However, some entrepreneurs are building "a new vending machine industry," outfitting traditional machines with high-tech features and quirky product offers like live bait, electronics and even art, notes WSJ.

Gary Harsel, who founded PA Live Bait Vending, came up with the idea to add live bait to a vending machine to supplement his Pennsylvania tackle shop. "The first year I put the machines out, [customers] couldn't grasp the concept," he told WSJ. His vision eventually paid off: Last year he sold the company to Big Rock Sports LLC and today more than 400 live-bait machines are vending night crawlers, minnows and mealworms.

Minnesota-based InstyMeds Corp. dispenses prescription medicines from its machines, which are often placed in clinics. WSJ writes that the machines are electronically linked to a doctor's computer system, validating each patient's identity and the prescription using a unique code that the doctor assigns to the patient.

Art-o-mat vending machines can be found in museums, galleries, hotels, restaurants and shops, notes WSJ. The machines sell about 30,000 pieces of art a year and the 300 artists who supply the inventory receive $2.50 for each piece sold.

Scott Blake, an Omaha-based artist, said the vending machine gives artists wider exposure.

"It's easier to sell a million one-dollar things than one, $1 million thing," Blake told WSJ. "I'm working my way up to $1 million, one dollar at a time."