DanOfEarth
Member
Warning….this is a long read. You might want to get a Starbucks before this one:
Why a Museum now? And will it be what I've been saying it'll be?
Since I've been whoring the forums recently, I DO owe an explanation as to this museum business. In all fairness, even with that being said, it doesn't prove that we're opening a museum...but we are indeed doing this and this might help. And when the private Villas are ready, KLOV members will definitely have a huge discount to stay in and play the video games.
We own the one the largest catering companies in Texas and many other restaurants. They include The Hill Country Pasta House in Austin (land only now), two Fajita Flats and one Live Oak Grill in Houston, etc. We just closed the Indian Restaurant below.
http://www.hillcountrypasta.com/
http://www.fajitaflats.com/index.htm
www.bellaterrazza.com
www.thechefstable.com
www.msindian.com
We also own part a scrub brush company that supplies scrub cleaning equipment to McDonalds, etc. It's basically a floor scrub brush, but imagine putting a 25# barbell on top of your floor brush….then scrubbing; ten times more effective.
http://theheavyweight.com/
People have tried to do something like this museum concept in the past. I researched it. But the attempts were sophomoric at best, and usually under funded. Having a collection of old video games, albeit a large one, doesn't necessarily mean anybody wants to pay to see them. Hell, some of you guy's collections and décor concepts in current basements are mind-boggling. But the concept by itself will fail. Sorry….that's a fact. I looked into it. One of my very friends OPENED the original Dave & Busters, working for Dave directly. He told me that even Dave originally kept a room with a lot of the classics, but got tired of seeing tumbleweeds blowing through it. However this same friend told me that Dave didn't present them in this fashion.
First of all, if somebody is going to try and pull this off, it has to have a WOW factor. And a large collection will only be a "one-joke-restaurant". Kind of like the Rain Forrest Café's…gee that was neat…once. To do it right, someone must go ALL THE WAY and make it a definitive collection…to the point where it is a museum….period. A half-ass attempt on this will be futile. And one must have other things to attract people to this with MULTIPLE STEAMS OF REVENUE. Alcohol, food, and possibly….private Villas on a lake with a swim-up bar under a waterfall?!! Sounds better, doesn't it. By just adding those things, I've transformed into a destination place for a family…..almost. But ironically that's NOT part of our revenue model (wouldn't hurt though).
So how are WE going to make money? You see, we specialize in weddings, to which we do five per weekend in our current building, The Bella Terrazza. The museum will be located behind our main new building being built, the Tuscany:
http://www.fullcontactwar.com/personal_dir/Dan/Tuscany.pdf
All told, this will be a $7,000,000.00 project.
We will make our money on the banquets: food and beverage, DJ rentals, flowers, rehearsal dinners, the Villas, etc. There will be a restaurant on premise as well, although I'm betting that will be a loss-leader. In other words, are using the games as what's called a "loss-leader"....we don't NEED tomake money on them.
We're trying to go after corporate retreats as well as weddings. That's where a company will fly in and book all fifty rooms and schedule weeklong meetings, etc. Well, we only have 4 1/2 acres in the middle of Houston, so we can't attract people with a jogging trail, Tennis courts, Racquetball courts, golf course, etc. So I had to make a decision. We could spend $80,000-$100,000 on a Tennis court and let 2-4 people enjoy that space and investment or spend that on a bunch of video games and have 200-400 enjoy them at the same time.
And I've never heard of hotels making a little extra money now and then off of their tennis courts….we will.
Secondly, we can attract local corporates there for that reason (like Dave & Busters) during the week. Inevitably, some CEO tells his secretary that when they book their function, they want someplace fun. Where are 80 people going to go....to a movie?
Thirdly, we have plans to go after the gaming conventions and sponsored LAN parties that are held every year. And during the summer, it's slow…we'll be cutting deals.
Lastly, as for the name, we HAVE to couch it as a "museum", and it indeed will be THE museum of record (hopefully). Our brides in the Tuscany spend $10,000-$80,000 in four hours. That kind of bride DOES NOT want to have her wedding next to a Carnival/Dave & Busters. If you take a look at that Tuscany link, you'll understand.
Now, we have several other things going for us:
A. We will not have rent…we own the property….that's a huge expense. Even the water's free…it's run on a water well.
B. We will have a continuous rotating clientele. The weekends will be booked by 100-140 out-of-towners EVERY weekend for the weddings. The guests will be locked up in the Villa compound with nothing to do except the wedding. And the wedding is free, so they will have PLENTY of disposable income. That being said, we are not relying on walk-in traffic as income. This concept would fail if that was the revenue model.
So with those unique circumstances, I thinking that this might be the ONLY museum of it's kind….EVER.
And I forgot the two most important reasons.
A. The arcade video games now are following the Hollywood mentality of flash over substance. Hey, throw a big screen and a lot of high-graphic shooting dazzle and that'll give you a quick return on investment. Sensory overload!! There's no replayability in them any more. In the 6502 days, they HAD to make them fun because nobody got a woody solely over a yellow circle that looked like a pizza. (They're still having Pac-man tournaments 25 years later…that's amazing.)
B. I'm a big kid, and this is my retirement property. I'm building a Villa on the lake for myself, so there are personal reasons. This was a large part of my childhood, as was a lot of peoples'. And frankly, the whole genre has been relegated to basements and a living-room after-thought. I lament the fact that it doesn't exist anymore. The arcade was a multi-billion dollar social atmosphere and part of history, and deserves the respect that other museum items command. And hopefully, just hopefully people will finally appreciate the creativity, artwork, and special atmosphere that used to exist and understand why we call it "the golden-age of the arcade."
Why a Museum now? And will it be what I've been saying it'll be?
Since I've been whoring the forums recently, I DO owe an explanation as to this museum business. In all fairness, even with that being said, it doesn't prove that we're opening a museum...but we are indeed doing this and this might help. And when the private Villas are ready, KLOV members will definitely have a huge discount to stay in and play the video games.
We own the one the largest catering companies in Texas and many other restaurants. They include The Hill Country Pasta House in Austin (land only now), two Fajita Flats and one Live Oak Grill in Houston, etc. We just closed the Indian Restaurant below.
http://www.hillcountrypasta.com/
http://www.fajitaflats.com/index.htm
www.bellaterrazza.com
www.thechefstable.com
www.msindian.com
We also own part a scrub brush company that supplies scrub cleaning equipment to McDonalds, etc. It's basically a floor scrub brush, but imagine putting a 25# barbell on top of your floor brush….then scrubbing; ten times more effective.
http://theheavyweight.com/
People have tried to do something like this museum concept in the past. I researched it. But the attempts were sophomoric at best, and usually under funded. Having a collection of old video games, albeit a large one, doesn't necessarily mean anybody wants to pay to see them. Hell, some of you guy's collections and décor concepts in current basements are mind-boggling. But the concept by itself will fail. Sorry….that's a fact. I looked into it. One of my very friends OPENED the original Dave & Busters, working for Dave directly. He told me that even Dave originally kept a room with a lot of the classics, but got tired of seeing tumbleweeds blowing through it. However this same friend told me that Dave didn't present them in this fashion.
First of all, if somebody is going to try and pull this off, it has to have a WOW factor. And a large collection will only be a "one-joke-restaurant". Kind of like the Rain Forrest Café's…gee that was neat…once. To do it right, someone must go ALL THE WAY and make it a definitive collection…to the point where it is a museum….period. A half-ass attempt on this will be futile. And one must have other things to attract people to this with MULTIPLE STEAMS OF REVENUE. Alcohol, food, and possibly….private Villas on a lake with a swim-up bar under a waterfall?!! Sounds better, doesn't it. By just adding those things, I've transformed into a destination place for a family…..almost. But ironically that's NOT part of our revenue model (wouldn't hurt though).
So how are WE going to make money? You see, we specialize in weddings, to which we do five per weekend in our current building, The Bella Terrazza. The museum will be located behind our main new building being built, the Tuscany:
http://www.fullcontactwar.com/personal_dir/Dan/Tuscany.pdf
All told, this will be a $7,000,000.00 project.
We will make our money on the banquets: food and beverage, DJ rentals, flowers, rehearsal dinners, the Villas, etc. There will be a restaurant on premise as well, although I'm betting that will be a loss-leader. In other words, are using the games as what's called a "loss-leader"....we don't NEED tomake money on them.
We're trying to go after corporate retreats as well as weddings. That's where a company will fly in and book all fifty rooms and schedule weeklong meetings, etc. Well, we only have 4 1/2 acres in the middle of Houston, so we can't attract people with a jogging trail, Tennis courts, Racquetball courts, golf course, etc. So I had to make a decision. We could spend $80,000-$100,000 on a Tennis court and let 2-4 people enjoy that space and investment or spend that on a bunch of video games and have 200-400 enjoy them at the same time.
And I've never heard of hotels making a little extra money now and then off of their tennis courts….we will.
Secondly, we can attract local corporates there for that reason (like Dave & Busters) during the week. Inevitably, some CEO tells his secretary that when they book their function, they want someplace fun. Where are 80 people going to go....to a movie?
Thirdly, we have plans to go after the gaming conventions and sponsored LAN parties that are held every year. And during the summer, it's slow…we'll be cutting deals.
Lastly, as for the name, we HAVE to couch it as a "museum", and it indeed will be THE museum of record (hopefully). Our brides in the Tuscany spend $10,000-$80,000 in four hours. That kind of bride DOES NOT want to have her wedding next to a Carnival/Dave & Busters. If you take a look at that Tuscany link, you'll understand.
Now, we have several other things going for us:
A. We will not have rent…we own the property….that's a huge expense. Even the water's free…it's run on a water well.
B. We will have a continuous rotating clientele. The weekends will be booked by 100-140 out-of-towners EVERY weekend for the weddings. The guests will be locked up in the Villa compound with nothing to do except the wedding. And the wedding is free, so they will have PLENTY of disposable income. That being said, we are not relying on walk-in traffic as income. This concept would fail if that was the revenue model.
So with those unique circumstances, I thinking that this might be the ONLY museum of it's kind….EVER.
And I forgot the two most important reasons.
A. The arcade video games now are following the Hollywood mentality of flash over substance. Hey, throw a big screen and a lot of high-graphic shooting dazzle and that'll give you a quick return on investment. Sensory overload!! There's no replayability in them any more. In the 6502 days, they HAD to make them fun because nobody got a woody solely over a yellow circle that looked like a pizza. (They're still having Pac-man tournaments 25 years later…that's amazing.)
B. I'm a big kid, and this is my retirement property. I'm building a Villa on the lake for myself, so there are personal reasons. This was a large part of my childhood, as was a lot of peoples'. And frankly, the whole genre has been relegated to basements and a living-room after-thought. I lament the fact that it doesn't exist anymore. The arcade was a multi-billion dollar social atmosphere and part of history, and deserves the respect that other museum items command. And hopefully, just hopefully people will finally appreciate the creativity, artwork, and special atmosphere that used to exist and understand why we call it "the golden-age of the arcade."
