Author Topic: anyone seen this, classic arcade to open in springfield, mo (Read 15885 times)

crsdawg · « **on:** June 19, 2005, 06:18:19 pm »

i'm not sure if it will last, but here's the story:

http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050619/BUSINESS/506190352/1003

i wish them luck, but not serving alcholol will hurt and a line-up of only 24 games isn't huge. my initials will be on several hi score list though.

i know this idea has been discused here in the past. it will interesting to see how it pans out in practice.

RayB · « **Reply #1 on:** June 19, 2005, 10:07:18 pm »

Interesting revenue model. ($5 adminission). I wonder if it will work. I would imagine some people would pay the $5 and then play every game till they are sick of them, then never come back.

And what about people who just want a bite to eat and then might play games? Hopefully you don't need to pay $5 to access the concessions...

nostrebor · « **Reply #2 on:** June 19, 2005, 11:08:24 pm »

They have a Gyruss!

I wonder if they need a Moon Patrol

or a Moon Cresta, or a Shinobi, or...

Kusanagi-sama · « **Reply #3 on:** June 21, 2005, 04:17:00 am »

Good to see that people ae actually opening arcades in the west rather than closing them down. Good luck to those guys...they will need it.

rchadd · « **Reply #4 on:** June 21, 2005, 06:10:12 am »

I wish them well but they really need a Centipede and Star Wars

I can't wait until www.retrokade.com re-open in the UK

paigeoliver · « **Reply #5 on:** June 21, 2005, 06:44:26 am »

Ah poor guys. Maybe I will make it down for the liquidation auction in a few months. I just don't think there is really an "arcade" business model that works anymore. Operators whose games, warehouses and equipment are all paid for can't even make enough money to stay in business, much less guys who have retail space to pay for.

Assume arcade ONLY takes 8 hours per day of labor to run (and is open say 5 hours per day, if it is open longer then it will take more labor hours and will be open in more of the dead times).

Lets say the rent and all utilities and other non-labor expenses are only $1000 per month.

Lets say the games never break down, and there are no other expenses, other than labor and that magically low $1000 per month.

Lets value these men's time @ $6 an hour.

They would need 81 customers a day just to break even. Assuming people stay only an hour that means they would need 16 people in there ALL THE TIME.

Or, lets assume they are open 10 hours a day. That makes for 13 hours per day of labor.

If they were open 10 hours per day then they would need 111 customers per day in order to break even.

Springfield just doesn't have the population to produce 80-110 people A DAY who want to spend their $5 at the retro arcade.

nostrebor · « **Reply #6 on:** June 21, 2005, 10:04:15 am »

Paige,

The only catch is that these owners are not depending on this venture for their livelyhood. All three "investors" are already successful in their respective fields. To quote the article:

"All three men have backgrounds in technology. Devin Durham owns a Web hosting business while his brother Jason works on DVD authoring and coding. Stuart is a graphic artist and Web designer."

I suspect that one or more of their other companies is also housed in the building, as well as loft apartments above. This is a typical downtown Springfield business practice at this point, and the downtown area is the strongest growing market in Springfield.

I would bet that this is more of a hobby business for them. IF they repair their own games, operate the storefront themselves, and help cover their overhead with their other ventures, they have a chance.

My guess is... If it does not succeed, they will just lease the space to someone else, and put the games back in their own collections.

Edit: Had not read this post in a while, but it struck me that I stated that I agreed with Paige. I no longer do.

AlanS17 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 21, 2005, 10:31:35 am »

The problem is that where once arcades had mass appeal, now they serve a niche market. Unfortunately, I just don't see it working.

Sooner or later, there will be more classic cabs in the hands of collectors rather than actual business owners (if that hasn't happenned already).

RayB · « **Reply #8 on:** June 21, 2005, 01:31:53 pm »

OK let's say this is a hobby for them... who in their right mind p isses money away "as a hobby"? And to add further pain to this, offers up their classic machines to an uncaring public who will use, abuse and damage them? (It's inevitable).

No I think they looked at all the retro crazes going on elsewhere (Jakks tv games, retro collections for game consoles, PCs, retro games on cell phones, etc, etc) and they thought to themselves that they had a viable business idea.

crsdawg · « **Reply #9 on:** June 21, 2005, 02:19:52 pm »

if they can keep their overhead low, they might be able to string this out for a while. i think they mentioned in the article that they had investors. sounds like a nice way to say "my daddy owns the building and he's going to let me open my arcade in it" to me. if they've got no rent, no loan, and they can knock out some of the labor cost by working there themselves........who knows. that's a lot of assumptions. if they are buried in rent and other cost they will be in trouble for sure.

Quote

Interesting revenue model. ($5 adminission).

i think tokens would be best. half the fun is dropping them in the machines and hearing that clink. plus the $5 entry will turn some off.

Quote

I wish them well but they really need a Centipede and Star Wars

along with tempest, missile command, robotron, battlezone.......... there are definetly holes in their line up. they do have several of the upper echelon games(ms. pac, galaga, defender) but i think they need to add some more. it looks like a home collection to me.....half "must haves" half "filler" games.

Quote

Maybe I will make it down for the liquidation auction in a few months.

glad to see everyone is wishing these guys well, heh heh. if/when this venture does go under these machines will just be going back into their personal collections, so i wouldn't get the trailor hooked up just yet.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #10 on:** June 21, 2005, 07:26:26 pm »

Since they're already successful, there's a fair chance they're doing this for the tax write off.

RayB · « **Reply #11 on:** June 21, 2005, 09:04:41 pm »

Quote from: Tailgunner on June 21, 2005, 07:26:26 pm

Since they're already successful, there's a fair chance they're doing this for the tax write off.

You bring up a good point. They can write off their "collection" as business expenses and even claim depreciation in future years.

Nannuu · « **Reply #12 on:** June 22, 2005, 02:52:14 pm »

Tornado Terry's here in DFW is similar. He has a $9 admission fee and everything is free play. It has always been full when I've been there (mostly younger people). It's a great time. He has some really good games too.

nostrebor · « **Reply #13 on:** July 06, 2005, 06:04:34 pm »

So,

are we taking bets on whether this thing actually opens tomorrow? I will be downtown anyway, so I'll try to check on it.

crsdawg · « **Reply #14 on:** July 06, 2005, 06:42:46 pm »

Quote

are we taking bets on whether this thing actually opens tomorrow?

i checked their forums and didn't see any announcements, i'm guessing it's still up in the air. i happened to drive by last week and it didn't look all that close.

ChadTower · « **Reply #15 on:** July 07, 2005, 11:26:45 am »

Quote from: RayB on June 21, 2005, 01:31:53 pm

OK let's say this is a hobby for them... who in their right mind p isses money away "as a hobby"?

Everyone here does that.

Actually, I would LOVE a $5 flat rate arcade. There is a $20 flat rate Bemani arcade here right near me that does quite well, even with the exhorbitant cost of Bemani machines in North America.

nostrebor · « **Reply #16 on:** July 07, 2005, 01:11:01 pm »

Quote from: ChadTower on July 07, 2005, 11:26:45 am

Quote from: RayB on June 21, 2005, 01:31:53 pm
OK let's say this is a hobby for them... who in their right mind p isses money away "as a hobby"?

Everyone here does that.

<snip>

Quite true.

I drove by today at lunch. It's not open yet, but it looks as if it could be very soon.

ChadTower · « **Reply #17 on:** July 07, 2005, 01:26:38 pm »

Lucky bastard. I would be there every day. There aren't even any good locations with classics on regular pay per play here anymore.

GameOver · « **Reply #18 on:** July 07, 2005, 07:53:34 pm »

Hey Paige - I think you got a glitch in your spreadsheet or calculator.

nostrebor · « **Reply #19 on:** July 08, 2005, 12:42:48 pm »

By the time they pay their liability insurance and other business expenses, it will take at least 2-3 times GameOver's estimate. So 75 patrons a day, if none eat

(Edit: Accidently credited GameOver's estimate to Paige.)

tristan · « **Reply #20 on:** July 08, 2005, 01:05:30 pm »

Not to mention Social Security deposits. At $6 an hour, you'd be looking at about $150 per employee/month. And that electricity bill would sure be impressive! I would think it would push that utilities bill up quite a bit.

nostrebor · « **Reply #21 on:** July 09, 2005, 08:26:42 am »

According to the news last night, they are open for business! Someone need to go down and count patrons, so we can check our business model

crsdawg · « **Reply #22 on:** July 10, 2005, 02:22:56 am »

i checked the arcade out a couple days ago. it was nicer than i expected. we were there for a couple hours and it seemed pretty busy, sorry no head count.

i sure hope this place stays open for awhile. it was a nice feeling spending time in an arcade again.

Quote

At $6 an hour, you'd be looking at about $150 per employee/month.

from the looks of it the employees were also the owners or their familys. so i don't think wages are a big concern for them. insurance, on the other hand, might be a different story.

nostrebor · « **Reply #23 on:** July 10, 2005, 09:56:22 pm »

I singed up on their forum. It sounds like everyone is liking it a bunch! I hope to get there next week

Crankshaft · « **Reply #24 on:** July 10, 2005, 10:32:41 pm »

I stopped in last night. It's fun, but there is definatly room to grow. They had some games I really liked, but the most fun I had was talking to everybody else about games. Lots of mamers there. They have 2 pinball machines, one of which is Black Knight. It's the first pinball machine that's really flipped my flipper. It's a great game. Anyway, I asked Devin about some of the features of the game, and he took the glass off and showed me the secrets. THAT is the kind of service that will get me to go back and pay $5 over and over again. At the end of the night, I hadn't used $5 worth of credits (spent too much time talking) and I felt like I got the better part of the deal. Will they stay in buisness? I would say "yes" at least for a good while. None of them need the money, they own all the games, the rent is reasonable, and downtown Springfield was jam-packed. I guess I hadn't been down in a while, because it's really grown.

That said, they could stand to double their video game selection (which they are working on) and triple or quadruple their pinball selection. Some of the games are down, awaiting repair, so that will help too. I would say there were people on at least a third of the games, and sometimes it was more like half, and then I counted maybe 3 people just hanging out, talking on cell phones or watching Tron on the projection.

I liked it.
Brian Z

monkeybomb · « **Reply #25 on:** July 11, 2005, 01:02:35 am »

Any chance some one could take a picture? $:-\$

Thenasty · « **Reply #26 on:** July 11, 2005, 10:02:42 pm »

no Donkey Kong or Moon Patrol

Vanguard too

Come on Chicken, Fight like a Robot is Missing too

Best of luck to this guys, maybe its a start and the collection will grow, but this is all I can say, if I'm ever around that area, I surely will go in and support them, even thou Pacman is missing now

Havok · « **Reply #27 on:** July 14, 2005, 05:22:18 pm »

I love the concept, but with home consoles, the whole arcade concept is passe. There's only a lot of people there now because of the media coverage and the fact it's new. Let's check in 6 months later...

Oh well, at least the BYO community is going strong!

AlanS17 · « **Reply #28 on:** July 14, 2005, 06:46:23 pm »

Don't forget about "opportunity costs" - the cost of missing out on the next best alternative for making a particular decision. By putting time and money into this venture, they can't be using it somewhere else. The question is not whether or not it will turn a profit. It's more of a question of whether it turns a better profit than the next option. You can come out ahead and still be losing money if it would do better somewhere else. See what I mean?

Good luck to them, though.

nostrebor · « **Reply #29 on:** July 14, 2005, 11:30:40 pm »

Such a positive attitude we have going here

I am goint to break the trend and talk about my trip there instead

Clean, well organized, nice games, SUPER nice guys running it. Ear to ear grins were had by all. 3 hours of hard game play, and geek laden discussions about cap kits, edge connectors, and arcade auctions. 2 player Tempest, Gyruss, DK jr, Centipede, Xybots, Space Invaders, Rampage, etc, etc, etc. All for $5!

I don't know if they will make it or not, but it is a great idea. They have location, they have a great demographic, they are not going investment wild, and are staffing with family. I think it will work, if they keep this philosophy.

GameOver · « **Reply #30 on:** July 15, 2005, 05:46:57 pm »

Quote from: AlanS17 on July 14, 2005, 06:46:23 pm

Don't forget about "opportunity costs" - the cost of missing out on the next best alternative for making a particular decision...

...It's more of a question of whether it turns a better profit than the next option. You can come out ahead and still be losing money if it would do better somewhere else. See what I mean?

Making money isn't always the goal. Sounds like these guys already are successful in their existing careers. This venture may be fullfilling other desires. Success isn't always measured in profit.

ChadTower · « **Reply #31 on:** July 15, 2005, 09:30:02 pm »

It's true... this could easily be a break even and all is cool venture. It sure as hell isn't a profit seeker.

Level42 · « **Reply #32 on:** August 31, 2005, 02:18:50 pm »

I think they should be credited for trying !!!

However, a HORIZONTAL Ms. Pac Man

That's ok for a MAME cab, but in an Arcade ??

1984arcade · « **Reply #33 on:** October 04, 2005, 02:46:46 pm »

Hello there, this is Devin from the 1984 arcade. I figured with all the people going negative and saying how we couldn't possibly stay in business, I would let you in on some of what is going on so that you can come up with some NEW reasons why we will fail.

First off and most importantly, we are not in this to make money. If it breaks even that's a bonus and we have a nice place to put the games. At one time I had SIXTEEN games in my OFFICE and I seriously needed a place to put them. So we built the arcade. WE like to go there. If no one else does, so be it. (And if you think this is pissing money away, you should start collecting pre 1949 Plymouths sometime. EVERY hobby is pissing money away, that's the DEFINITION of a hobby.)

With that in mind, and also keeping in mind that we have only been open for a little over 3 months so far, the pattern to date is that we break even on the first WEEK of business. Everything past that is profit. We have been funneling that back into the purchase of new games, we have bought about 12-14 or so since our opening.

To address some people specifically...

Level42: our Ms. Pac sucks.

ChadTower: It was not a profit seeker but it has in fact made an extremely decent profit. We deposited about $4500 above expenses in September.

GameOver: We all have day jobs, which is why the arcade is only open from 4-11 on Wed through Sat.

AlanS17: We aren't doing it because we wanted to invest some money somewhere or because we thought about an "opportunity cost", we did it because we wanted to see an honest to God 1980's style arcade in Springfield again that *WE* could go to. We are doing it for fun. I am very aware that many people can't fathom this, but you only live once, you might as well make a mark while you are here.

Havok: I am just as curious as you are as to what will happen in 6 months. The bubble might burst, who knows?

TheNasty: We do have a Moon Patrol on the way, and Vangaurd is easy to get.

Monkeybomb: Give me an email addy or something and I will send you as many pics as you want.

Crankshaft: Next time you are in, say hi!

CRSdawg: If you see someone in a vest, it's someone who has materially invested in the arcade. There's about 7 of us, we all work for free.

Tristan: Our electricity bill is about 220/month. Remember that we are only open 4 days out of the week, and only 8 hours out of those days. We had expected the electric to be closer to 1000, and had budgeted as such so that's just a bonus.

Nostrebor: Full liability including glass breakage was only about 1200/year. Would be six times that if we allowed alcohol.

GameOver: Your numbers are much closer to the truth.

ChadTower: Come on by, I'll let you in for free. ;-)

Tailgunner and RayB: We are not doing it as a tax writeoff, but it most certainly will end up benefiting us in that capacity.

CRSDawg: Our daddies do NOT own the building, we have rent, we opened the place without a single cent of debt but we paid OUT OF POCKET for everything and yes we work there for free. But we aren't getting a free ride on this in any sense of the word and honestly I resent your post a little bit. We have worked our asses off to get this thing open.

RayB: Our thought process was more like "Where the hell are all these games going to go" and "Damn I wish there was a real arcade around somewhere". Then we ran through some numbers and it looked like it might just hold on, and it is.

AlanS17: I think personal collectors already own more cabs than businesses. Which makes OUR business all that much more viable. Tell me where someone can go to play Elevator Action in an original cabinet with original controls? No where.

Paigeoliver: Your numbers are WAAAY confused. And don't feel sorry for us "poor guys". I have a set of keys that will open the door to a bona-fide 80's arcade that is filled with actual REAL arcade games and when I open that door, people flood in and THANK ME for doing what I am doing. What do you have? You piss me off.

Rchadd: We have a centipede now, am looking for an upright Star Wars. Don't have room for a cockpit.

Kusanagi: Thank you.

If we close down in a year, so be it. If we are still open in a year, so be it. The important thing in my mind is that I AM DOING IT instead of TALKING ABOUT IT and naysayers will always have the right to sit in their chairs and tell the rest of us how things don't work.

By the way, if/when we do close down, don't expect to see that "liquidation sale" as the corporation does not own a single game, every game in there is owned by the investors (us) and at worst they'll just go right back in my office.

ChadTower · « **Reply #34 on:** October 04, 2005, 02:52:13 pm »

Quote from: 1984arcade on October 04, 2005, 02:46:46 pm

The important thing in my mind is that I AM DOING IT instead of TALKING ABOUT IT and naysayers will always have the right to sit in their chairs and tell the rest of us how things don't work.

Awesome. I love that statement.

If I were within two hours of you, I'd be there often. MA to MO isn't practical, though...

Best of luck to you, and I'm very happy to see you here. Stick around.

Havok · « **Reply #35 on:** October 04, 2005, 03:01:27 pm »

I'm glad to see you are going strong. Now open more locations!

1984arcade · « **Reply #36 on:** October 04, 2005, 06:04:40 pm »

There is a certain aspect of our business plan that calls for more locations, and that's all I can say about that.

Give us 12 months. It'll take about that long to prove/disprove the business model. If this is something that can actually turn a profit then we go one way, if it ends up being something that is at best a hobby then we go another way.

I also need to apologize if I seem aggressive, I have a real tendency to get up on my hind legs when someone tells me what I can't do. Call it a personality fault.

whammoed · « **Reply #37 on:** October 04, 2005, 07:21:40 pm »

Quote from: 1984arcade on October 04, 2005, 06:04:40 pm

I also need to apologize if I seem aggressive, I have a real tendency to get up on my hind legs when someone tells me what I can't do.

nostrebor · « **Reply #38 on:** October 05, 2005, 08:40:24 pm »

One distinct thing about this thread is that there is a point where you can draw a real line... before the arcade opened, and after it opened.

Before it opened, we were all just talking out of our @$$ and basically opinions varied. Most of the talk was based upon the many disappointments of operators in the past. Dirty locations/games, non-working games, weak titles, etc. No real love for the games, just love for the money.

After it opened you can see a change in those of us who have been to 1984, but not necessarily the ones who haven't. It's understandable because this arcade is just so unbelievable.

1984 seriously blows me away. It did from day one. It is obvious that Devin and crew are not just operators. They are enthusiasts, and passionate about their collection. The collector mentality is what sets this endeavor apart from an investment, and it is obvious when you go there that they are serious about making it succeed.

I speculated about it just like the other guys, talked from my nether regions, and avoided getting in an all out argument about the place, because it hadn't opened yet. I will not be speculating any longer. I believe that the timing/motivation was right, the location was right, and the atmosphere is right to make this place a mainstay in downtown Springfield.

Now... DEVIN, GO BUY A STAR WARS!! Please

ChadTower · « **Reply #39 on:** October 06, 2005, 12:10:09 pm »


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