One of the cool things about "boosting" events and targeted ads on Facebook is they tell you exactly how many people click through to your post and break down the price per click. The also give you a lot of demographic info on those people, so you start to get a feel for who your audience is. For our pinball and arcade show I used targeted keywords like: pinball, arcade, videogame, games, playstation, xbox, jukebox, coin op and sometimes branch out into geek culture more because a lot of the people that like D&D, Magic the Gathering, gaming, etc. also like arcade games and pinball. I've found our demographics are both men and women with most falling between the ages of 25-50, but I usually target 18-65. Anyway, even if you don't see a big payoff instantly, it's cheap, you gain some demographic info, and it spreads the word and brings people to your Facebook page, where they may like it and start seeing your social media posts.

I strongly disagree, the college market is a perfect market.

In Cambridge, MA a place called A4cade opened practically on MIT's campus (just a block away). It has been bringing in money hand over fist. 6 pins, 20 arcade games, pop a shot, skeeball, you name it.

I'm up in Charlottesville several times a year. I often stay at the Omni on one side of the Mall. There is an ice rink with a few pins right across from there. I have played there, but would really like to come visit your place. Where exactly is it?

Just hit the magnifying glass on the left here:

https://www.pinballmap.com/charlottesville?utf8=%E2%9C%93&region=charlottesville&by_location_id=&by_location_name=

Yelp says your business is unclaimed:
https://www.yelp.com/biz/pauls-pinball-palace-charlottesville-2

I think understanding your demo of 'new' vs 'repeat' vs 'passing through' customers would help you a good bit.

You are offering a unique product, you don't need beauty or 'all in one' benefits. But people do need to know you exist, they do need to cross the tipping point to commit to come, and they do need to want to return.

Online discovery can overcome the 'street level' discovery... but people need to be looking to begin with.

Do you know what the promotion abilities are on-campus? Can you pay a kid to hand out flyers at the student union a few days a month? Find similar spots it may be useful to get your idea in front of eyeballs... and hope they search your name online.

It's been a few weeks, how is the promotional efforts going? Any improvement in attendance?

So, did any of that help? Did the business pick up?

I was curious too, there were a bunch of great suggestions in this thread, I was hoping some worked out.

There was a story about them looking to move a month ago:
http://www.nbc29.com/story/38542798/pinball-palace

Supposedly Aug 1 was drop dead for closing shop if they couldn't find a new location, but it looks like they found a new spot and are moving to Carlton Ave in Charlottesville (the "Belmont area") and will reopen in September.

They definitely sell alcohol. But I’m sure that’s not the only reason why they get good foot traffic. Tourists a plenty. I’ve never heard of Charlottesville VA but I’ve been to Asheville NC 3 times in the past two years.

https://www.facebook.com/CVILLEPINBALL/

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Hey pookycade I made it to your old place on your last day. It's awesome! I'm glad you have a new place with parking. It was very hard to find your place. I would've stayed longer, but my family was not interested and they were hungry! Mexican food by your new spot will work next time!

One last thing to think about - swag. I would have paid $20-25 for a T-shirt with your places name and art or something. Firefly is in a grimy looking building, but Google maps found it ! Family approved of food and I got to play some games. Oh, and I have a firefly t-shirt now!

Good luck!

Officially re-opening at the new location on 10/12/18 with a name change to "Decades Arcade" which is MUCH BETTER. Good luck!

Facebook, Twitter , Instagram all help. Good luck and update locators like pinball map!

Wow, is that a woodrail next to a bingo machine on location? Awesome!

That looks really nice. Quite a setup and lineup. That's a ton of work just having all those pins ready let alone the facility. Congrats.

Nice set up, it looks a little like a place here in Seattle called Add-A-Ball. Gotta find some local artists to paint some cool murals on your walls now That's the trend here with the local arcades and barcades.

Yeah, except it's way too bright in there to ever be mistaken for AAB!

I live in Portland, Oregon which is currently the most pins on location per capita city in the USA and possibly the world. What I've seen over the last decade of my involvement with the community is that a location that has beer/drinks and food stands a far better chance of anchoring people inside a given location. I also travel to Eugene, Oregon and Seattle a fair amount and the same stands true in these locales, Blairally in Eugene Oregon being the most organically grown endeavor that I am aware of, the place is simply the best and they also offer several HDTVs that broadcast Portland Trailblazers games.

I'd suggest reaching out to your local league organizers as well as consulting with other bar/restaurant owners, an ideal situation might be partnering with someone looking to do a bar and most importantly knows how to properly promote one. With the exception of the Seattle Pinball Museum (SPM) and Next Level (Hillsboro, Oregon) every location operates I am aware of in the Pacific NW operates on coin drop, for SPM this works out awesome as they are in the "international district" and next to the Amtrak station and the foot traffic of tourists is strong and constant. I think the "pay once" model works well for families and occasional visitors but for getting a regular scene going, you may want to consider moving to coins/tokens as some folks want to also get a beer and a burger for that 20.00 burning a hole in their pocket on a given Friday night.

Ideally, you'd find some partners that know this industry to some degree and can write up a solid business plan.. I've seen the "build it and they will come" thing work out occasionally but nothing beats a solid location coupled with a locked in multi year lease as well as a team of people who can work together in a coordinated manner.

Wishing you the best of success and hope I get to visit sometime!

new place looks great! Just the right vibe.

By the way, do you realize that you're basically doing what people have been doing for nearly 100 years now? It looks pretty much just like the old pinball halls.

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Congratulations- this is so good to hear!

Well done. It’s looking good

IFPA tournaments
And Birthday Parties

First of all, kudos for opening a pinball museum. For a while I had a small route, more
as a hobby business than trying to make a living at it. One of the things I noticed
is I had a dedicated core group of customers that would play regularly. And it
was a diverse group from high school kids to olde farts (like me) that just
enjoyed playing.

I'd suggest seeking out those core players and getting them organized into
a league that meets regularly. Offer prizes of some sort. From this group
the word will spread. Bowling alleys have been doing this for a long time.
Steve

Location, location, location. Well done. It sounds like your having a blast. Keep the updates coming.

What has been your feedback from your party bookers?

How did they find you?
Are they repeats? Are they recommending you?

You were really trying to protect the 'walk up' access at the old location, yet you are having better success here... Is the location visible? Have any idea how people are discovering you now.. vs before?

Thx for the updates, it's been great following along

That plus hard work and perseverance. Badass story, kudos to you.

You're not giving yourself hardly any credit at all. These people aren't coming in because it's raining out, you've obviously built an experience that attracts people. People want to have birthdays there. People like to return. People talk about it and attract new people.

You're making money in a business most people are unable to. Congrats on a job well done, no luck involved in my opinion.

Just wanted to pop in and say congratulations!! It's not often that someone is able to turn a passion for a hobby into a successful business. Here's hoping to many years of sustainability.

It was the Pinsiders!!!

Congrats - this is great news and I am so happy to hear about more location pinball! Hopefully you're creating new fans of the game and I'm sure some will get hooked and probably end up here

We made the 2 hour drive down to Charlottesville from Winchester today for a minor visit to UVA’s Children’s Hospital tomorrow.

Since we were here a day early, we got to spend some time at Decade’s Arcade....
Absolutely loved my time there and would even consider making the trip just to spend a few hours there. Thank you so much for opening a place like this. It’s like a dream for me to see a place like this come to life.

Grateful to have have found this thread. We are probably within weeks of pulling the trigger on leasing our own pinball themed museum/gallery/recreation/event center kind of space in rural TX. Have found a lot of useful info here that is likely to inform our first leasing experience.