Re: How to get youth into pinball, and not lose my shirt.

Try to get it in the closest mall/hangout spot to the school. Fair City Mall
is the closest mall to my high school, and it probably gets 50-100 people
going every day from a 2000 person school.

As much as I wish you could, you're not going to get anywhere with just
pinball. You'll probably want a few vids. You might consider setting up a
lounge area with a decent TV and couches, with a computer and games or
something. I'm a 100% pin guy, but I'm trying to think about what my friends
would want. You could get a wii or something and hook it up to a small TV.
People would definitely come to play that. DDR is also still popular.

It really depends on how much time and money you're willing to put in to
this. If you had one of those plans that get all the football games, people
would come just to see the games and they would play pins at halftime,
during commercials, etc.

Get comfortable couches! It really makes a difference. I would think you
could get some really cheap but comfy ones at a Salvation Army kind of place
and put some new upholstery (I think that's what they call it on mom's TLC
shows) on it.

Teenagers (excluding me) don't tend to want to hear music from the '60s and
'70s. You're going to have to settle with the station that mostly plays top
40 hits.

Snack bar needs the essentials. Hot dogs, fries, chips, soda, water, pizza.
People who come just to hang out aren't going to be ordering the fried
calamari.

Here's another thought. Hire some juniors and seniors from the high school
to work there, because their friends will come to hang with them. They'll
gladly work at minimum wage at the snack bar if they get to play video games
and stuff. Thing is that you'll have to be careful about them giving free
stuff to their friends. You might want to consider either a zero tolerance
policy or having an older supervisor when you're not there. An arcade can't
afford to risk losing any more money than it's already probably going to.

As for pinball machines, I really want to say get some NIB Sterns, but it's
hard. Paying $4200 isn't realistic for a small operator. I would recommend
getting some games with popular themes. Games I notice my friends playing
that aren't too expensive are HSII and WCS. Both good, fun, new games that
can be had in good condition for under $1500.

-Ethan Blonder
--
www.virginiapinball.org


"beechwood" <jzylstra1970@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1189637064.837904.146150@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I have been considering taking my pins and opening a small arcade. In
our small town, kids have no place to meet and socialize. My idea was
to rent a relatively small building (Michigans economy SUCKS, so many
are available), put my pins there, add a few couches, a snack bar, and
rent wi-fi laptops by the hour. It is near both the high and junior
high. I figure, if the parents find the environment to be safe, they
will not only let their kids hang out there, they will give them
money, kind of a "watch my kids" mentality. The great thing would be
the exposure they would have to pins. All my kids friends are
mesmerized when they see my machines, some even ask what they are.
But after they play them, they always come back for more. I am trying
to get the building rented for cheap, as I know the profits would be
small, but I think of all the good times I had hanging out at Rockin'
Ralphs, and feel compelled to do this. Any input, suggestions? Should
I pick newer machines? Any input is appreciated.



.

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