Another arcade getting closed down.

Scucci

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That's right... found out today we have until the end of the month to move all the machines out of the Rivergate Mall location here.

There's a business moving into the mall called "Incredible Dave's"... basically a Dave and Buster's ripoff. Dave wants us out of the mall before they begin construction. Enforcing an "anti competition" clause in the contract they have with the mall... the only thing is, there is no competition... they have all redemption games, we have none. They serve food, we don't allow it in the arcade. Etc etc. At least they DIDN'T. We called the Incredible Dave's in another city and talked to them... they have no arcade machines. Then Dave himself came down to the mall to look at our arcade, came it walked around... probably took notes. So I think this location of Incredible Dave's will have a couple of arcade machines just to enforce that clause.

Needless to say, I won't be frequenting "Incredible Dave's"... another example of the big guy squashing the little guy.

Luckily we still have the Hickory Hollow mall location... and I'm sure we'll be looking for someplace to open a new arcade around here.

Wish us luck, we'll need it.

I say "we", but I don't really work for or own any part of the arcade (minus my Tron machine they let me keep on location)... I have a vested interest in it because 2 of my friends do own/work there. I do tech work for them for next to nothing ($5 for a cap kit, stuff like that). But I've been helping them as much as I can since day one... and this sort of stuff REALLY pisses me off.
 
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How much do you earn monthly keeping your Tron on the floor?

Chicago arcades have disappeared. Nowhere to go to play arcade classics; you gotta own them instead!
 
How much do you earn monthly keeping your Tron on the floor?

Chicago arcades have disappeared. Nowhere to go to play arcade classics; you gotta own them instead!

Yeah, that's pretty much true everywhere. djw90 and I were talking about that the other day. No one has the classics out on location anymore.
 
I went to Scandia in SoCal here to check out their arcade and it was pretty lame. Mostly redemption machines. They had 1 pin and maybe a dozen arcade machines.
 
I went to Scandia in SoCal here to check out their arcade and it was pretty lame. Mostly redemption machines. They had 1 pin and maybe a dozen arcade machines.

Have you been to the Family Fun Center in Montclair/Upland off the 10FWY anytime recently? That used to be my 2nd home... I was there ALL THE TIME. I've not been there in, oh, 18-20 years now.
 
Sorry to hear that. Hopefully things will get right again.
 
How much do you earn monthly keeping your Tron on the floor?

Chicago arcades have disappeared. Nowhere to go to play arcade classics; you gotta own them instead!

My Tron? After the 50/50 split, I get enough money to stop by Taco Bell and get something to eat once a month. lol I get about $15 a month... not really worth it but I like seeing them on location.

The arcade runs pretty much classics. I'd say it's about 75% classics, 25% newer games, and 0% redemption.

More focused on keeping the classic arcade scene alive than anything else.
 
It really sucks to hear that. I'm from just down the road in Huntsville. I think that I saw the owners at an auction in TN early last year. They picked up an original house of the dead (one) and some other games. It's a shame, but there certainly are not enough TRUE arcades around anymore. It's mostly redemption these days. I would rather just pay someone $5 and let them kick me in the nuts than have to deal with giving some attendant 217 "valuable" tickets and having to choose between the Chinese "finger torture" device, a neon bouncy ball and little plastic parachute men.

One thing is for sure. If I had a time machine, I would DEFINITELY use it to go back to the summer of 1983 and visit my favorite arcades from back then...
 
Have you been to the Family Fun Center in Montclair/Upland off the 10FWY anytime recently? That used to be my 2nd home... I was there ALL THE TIME. I've not been there in, oh, 18-20 years now.

Funny, that's about how long it's been since I've been there. It was changed to Bullwinkles, then to Boomers a few years ago. I believe it's still open. I'm headed over to the Montclair plaza today...might just stop by and check it out.
 
Bulwinkles was a building next door... it was actually separate from the Family Fun Center (at least at one time)... it also had it's own arcades... and animated shows ALA Chuck E Cheese. I saw it became Boomers...and I think it's still "Boomers".... not sure if Bulwinkles is still there (separate) or if it's part of Boomers or what.

Do you remember the Grand Prix raceway just about 100 yards west of the batting cages on the other side of the road?
 
It wouldn't be such a big deal if they weren't so adamant on lying to the mall. They told the mall and its parent that we are "running the same things they are" and "people will think this place is Incredible Daves." I mean, you can't be any more wrong than that when you look at the website and see their Louisville location. www.incredibledaves.com

What is even sillier is there is a Chuck E. Cheese in the same shopping plaza also leased by the same property management company, and they seem to have no problems with that, or the movie theatre with the coin operated machines in their lobby.

People wonder why places close sometimes, and I can assure you, even in THIS economy you would THINK someone who WANTS to lease a spot and open a business would have a say but it's very difficult to get some shopping centers to call us back (and they don't even know what kind of store we are, this is just to get pricing and a meeting to look at places).

I'm not really sure what commercial property leasing agents are doing these days but most of them aren't calling us back on spaces that say FOR LEASE with phone numbers on the window that have been there for 12-24 months...
 
You would think in this economy that companies would get smarter and keep a closer eye on how things are run, unfortunately from what I've seen, the ignorance overfloweth. Their loss!
 
Dream - if you guys were making decent money on the location they're forcing you out of, it might be worth consulting with a lawyer. I wouldn't be surprised if they're simply counting on you guys to not deal with the legal hassle.

In most places you can get a free consultation, so it'd be worth looking into.
 
I havent even been to the Rivergate location yet! Geuss we'll be moving those machines soon. Sorry to hear the news Jason.
 
Dream - if you guys were making decent money on the location they're forcing you out of, it might be worth consulting with a lawyer. I wouldn't be surprised if they're simply counting on you guys to not deal with the legal hassle.

In most places you can get a free consultation, so it'd be worth looking into.

The same company owns both of the malls the arcades are in... so... yeah, probably wouldn't go over too well with them.
 
The same company owns both of the malls the arcades are in... so... yeah, probably wouldn't go over too well with them.

It might still be worth getting a consultation. It's possible that if they were armed with real legal advice on the issue it could be resolved with a simple discussion.
 
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