The “temporarily closed or worried about having to close my arcade” thread

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2

#951 3 years ago

OP

PAY

pookycade

Pinside member

11y 95,300 1,837

Quoted from Ericpinballfan:
True and True.
What I meant was the traffic to arcades and indoor fun will take 3-5 years to cone back to what it was. Even a year from now most will be at 50% of foot traffic it was. If you cant survive on that, then stop the bleeding now.
Two i know out here on west coast are currently shopping storage solutions. Open back up in a year or 2 in new locations.

We can survive on 25% of pre-pandemic income, which seems entirely feasible, but for now I am questioning even that low bar assumption. Now you might say, with that kind of profit margin, why don't you have oodles of reserves ? Well, there was debt to start the business, and at 25% we don't pay any of it down, but luckily its not overwhelming right now. Second, we used all our first 18 month revenue to increase what we offered to people, since the effort seemed to continue to grow month over month. But yeah, hindsight would have helped a lot here. Even during the pandemic, I remained overly optimistic (which is surprising for me to do) and kept assuming it would be shorter and we would do a better job getting this under control. So I spent additional funding to get some more games operational and put in a bunch of infection control measures. Those expectations were not met. Science did not win out over "freedom" in this instance. When you can still walk into the local Walmart and there is so little corporate oversight that even their own employees are not being required to wear a mask (despite the governor requiring it) then you know we are all just hosed. As I said I have had really low expectations, but have come to realize they weren't low enough .... keep digging.

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#952 3 years ago

STK

flynnibus

Pinside+ Frequent

11y 134K 13,217

Beach arcades are open here now.

Basically no changes except pexi screen at counter... a roped area to queue for the prize counter... and sanitizer stations near the entrances and change machines. Lots of signs everywhere...

Masks are supposed to be worn... but saw mixed.

Other arcades didn't even have tge sanitation stations as obvious

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#953 3 years ago

NIC

NicoVolta

Roanoke Pinball Museum

Roanoke, VA

10y 139K 4,059 35 1

We've had a steady trickle come in since opening on the 1st. Only a fraction of normal capacity during high tourism season (maybe 20% at best), but nonetheless encouraging to see the lights and hear the bells again.

Limiting to 12 attendees per two-hour session inside the museum. Masks required. Two-machine distancing required. Hand sanitizing required at entry and exit. Daily sanitizing of all touchable surfaces (staff equipment and phones too). Plexi ticket screen for front desk. 4800CFM exhaust fan baffle system doing its job with at least 8x indoor airflow turnover per hour. Building is doing temperature checks at the main entrances. No eating or drinking allowed inside.

I don't blame people for staying at home. Nevertheless we are remaining vigilant and making it as difficult as possible for the virus to get in here or spread to others.

Just have to hang on and get the worst of this behind us... fight on!

pinhand (resized).png

(yes, this sculpture is just down the street)

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#954 3 years ago

OP

PAY

pookycade

Pinside member

11y 95,300 1,837

Quoted from NicoVolta:
We've had a steady trickle come in since opening on the 1st. Only a fraction of normal capacity during high tourism season (maybe 20% at best), but nonetheless encouraging to see the lights and hear the bells again.
Limiting to 12 attendees per two-hour session inside the museum. Masks required. Two-machine distancing required. Hand sanitizing required at entry and exit. Daily sanitizing of all touchable surfaces (staff equipment and phones too). Plexi ticket screen for front desk. 4800CFM exhaust fan baffle system doing its job with at least 8x indoor airflow turnover per hour. Building is doing temperature checks at the main entrances. No eating or drinking allowed inside.
I don't blame people for staying at home. Nevertheless we are remaining vigilant and making it as difficult as possible for the virus to get in here or spread to others.
Just have to hang on and get the worst of this behind us... fight on!
[quoted image]
(yes, this sculpture is just down the street)

Glad you are finally back up. It’s gonna be a long haul for all of us, but we are in it together. Here’s hoping for the best for arcades in the US and I suppose worldwide too

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#955 3 years ago

OP

PAY

pookycade

Pinside member

11y 95,300 1,837

Quoted from flynnibus:
Beach arcades are open here now.
Basically no changes except pexi screen at counter... a roped area to queue for the prize counter... and sanitizer stations near the entrances and change machines. Lots of signs everywhere...
Masks are supposed to be worn... but saw mixed.
Other arcades didn't even have tge sanitation stations as obvious

https://redcap.vdh.virginia.gov/redcap/surveys/?s=Y4P9H7DTWA

I doubt it will do a lot of good but I am personally reporting businesses that aren’t following the rules. Link is above if you feel so inclined. They undermine those who are trying to do their best to make their facilities safe. And yes today I reported my local Walmart with multiple employees, including the one helping me with pickup, for not wearing masks and even the US Post Office for god sakes (neither front counter employee wearing a mask). And I will keep reporting every business I go in that isn’t following these mandates. And yes I won’t be returning to those businesses to give them my dollars. I know at the end of the day it likely won’t make a damn bit of difference here, but this is doing my teeny tiny part to try to control this pandemic beyond what I do seeing my patients everyday. When most of your patients (Including my mom) are staying shut in because they are elderly and worried about venturing outside, I just have no tolerance for this flippancy of businesses or citizen about other people’s health that we somehow now equate to personal freedom. My employees have been told in no uncertain terms mask on at all times. Even when I work in my arcade by myself my mask is on, just in case I contaminate the place. Off my soapbox.

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#956 3 years ago

MJN

BeaglePuss

Pinside member

Watertown, MA

10y 80,800 851

As Massachusetts enters phase three today, my boxing club has gotten the green light to reopen. There are some SERIOUS restrictions in place, all of which we’ve prepared for at this point.

As we were readying our gym to reopen, I thought about this thread.

We are required to have “partitions” between members if 14’ of social distancing cannot be had. We used 18 gauge steel wire rope, some concrete anchors, a turnbuckle to keep things tight, and loaded up on shower curtains from Ocean State Job Lot ($2.99 each). Where we couldn’t run wire rope, we used magnetic hooks and fishing line.

These partitions give a nice-clean look, are easy to move, easy to sterilize, and were an affordable solution. We hung 40 in a day. We received a quote for plexiglass partitions, and materials alone were in the $8,000 range.

We saved money by getting cloudy/frosted curtains, but you can get clear curtains for not much more.

Thought this would be a great solution to slide between machines. These will allow plenty of airflow still as well.

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#957 3 years ago

YBX

yancy

Pinside member

West Dundee, IL

11y 122K 7,202 25

No offense, still looks like a petri dish to me. I don't see a lot of windows, vents, etc. Get a couple dozen people in there huffing & puffing, pretty soon the shower curtains will be moot.

Seems like safety theater, vs. actual safety (exercise at home). Just my opinion. But I guess people don't get into boxing for safety. Good luck.

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#958 3 years ago

NIC

NicoVolta

Roanoke Pinball Museum

Roanoke, VA

10y 139K 4,059 35 1

Partitions make great sneeze guards, but poor virus cloud guards.

Breeze it out, or breathe it in.

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#959 3 years ago

MJN

BeaglePuss

Pinside member

Watertown, MA

10y 80,800 851

Quoted from yancy:
No offense, still looks like a petri dish to me. I don't see a lot of windows, vents, etc. Get a couple dozen people in there huffing & puffing, pretty soon the shower curtains will be moot.
Just seems like safety theater, vs. actual safety (exercise at home). Just my opinion. But I guess people don't get into boxing for safety. Good luck.

Each level of our building has garage bays that will remain open, and massive exhaust fans that will be circulating air at an incredible rate. At 7,500 square feet, were allowed to have 60 people in the building at a time. With that said, we’re only allowing 23 at a time.

Partitions are used in addition to mask. All members will be wearing mask, be separated by 6+ feet, and there will be zero shared equipment.

While the virus is a very real threat still, we’ve taken measures well beyond telling people they need to have two pinball machines between them.

Massachusetts is at the absolute forefront in terms of combating the virus, and we’ve taken great measures in doing so.

The pictures were to illustrate an easy, additional measure of protection that is applicable to the arcade/pinball industry. By no means are they a be-all, end-all solution.

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#960 3 years ago

MJN

BeaglePuss

Pinside member

Watertown, MA

10y 80,800 851

Quoted from NicoVolta:
Partitions make great sneeze guards, but poor virus cloud guards.
Breeze it out, or breathe it in.

True, which is why we have remarkable ventilation and air circulation at our location as well.

If you need to smoke to detect whether or not air is circulating in your arcade, my guess is that you need to look into something more effective. Our airflow makes it look like a shot of the weather channel.

Note: The two bags by the fan have been removed.

1FE410E9-5D2E-4AC1-A7AD-9AC60D17238D (resized).jpeg

AD9E0438-F3A1-4824-BF47-282DA80189D9 (resized).jpeg

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#961 3 years ago

NIC

NicoVolta

Roanoke Pinball Museum

Roanoke, VA

10y 139K 4,059 35 1

Without smoke checks, you may not be certain airflow is moving evenly.

Even with tornado-level airflow if you have cross-currents coming from overhead AC systems and unusual nooks and crannies it could create air loops which feel breezy but only end up recirculating the air.

Smoke checks also help with optimizing fan placement. I didn’t “need” them considering our 4800CFM rating and relatively small interior volume, but nevertheless it helped fine-tune the system. So why not use it?

Usually it is best for the air to flow through the room like an arrow than an octopus. At least that was true in our case.

Regardless, very glad you’re putting some muscle into clearing your indoor air. It’s a must.

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#962 3 years ago

EJS

Pinball Outpost

11y 223K 14,851 1

Quoted from BeaglePuss:
As Massachusetts enters phase three today, my boxing club has gotten the green light to reopen. There are some SERIOUS restrictions in place, all of which we’ve prepared for at this point.

Now would be a good time to be in the shower curtain ring business after seeing pics like that. I only know one guy who used to sell them, but he hasn't been home in years...

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#963 3 years ago

JDS

JohnnyPinball007

Pinside+ Frequent

6y 162K 16,328 22 1

Quoted from EJS:
I only know one guy who used to sell them

I miss that guy, he left the world way too early.

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#964 3 years ago

GGB

GGBGROUP

Pinside+ Frequent

9y 48,650 188 12

We're down about 50% over the 2019 July 4th weekend. Have already located a warehouse to store our machines should we have to pull the trigger but we really don't want to go there until at least Q4. I'm trying to prepare myself for some dismal financials for the rest of 2020. I've realized that no matter what I do, It's really up to our community at the end of the day.

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#965 3 years ago

OP

PAY

pookycade

Pinside member

11y 95,300 1,837

Quoted from NicoVolta:
Without smoke checks, you may not be certain airflow is moving evenly.
Even with tornado-level airflow if you have cross-currents coming from overhead AC systems and unusual nooks and crannies it could create air loops which feel breezy but only end up recirculating the air.
Smoke checks also help with optimizing fan placement. I didn’t “need” them considering our 4800CFM rating and relatively small interior volume, but nevertheless it helped fine-tune the system. So why not use it?
Usually it is best for the air to flow through the room like an arrow than an octopus. At least that was true in our case.
Regardless, very glad you’re putting some muscle into clearing your indoor air. It’s a must.

Agree with the arrow approach. We have gone unidirectional with all fans, back of arcade with bay door open to bring air in, directed out front door of arcade. Wish we had your windows and smaller volume, but some aspect of cavernous space can be helpful too I hope. If not then the air purifiers in each room will hopefully make up the difference

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#966 3 years ago

OP

PAY

pookycade

Pinside member

11y 95,300 1,837

Since this has turned into a confessional, the numbers for the month are a bit more on the positive side than I had feared. $2K from July 2-9th, need to hit $5.5K a month to break even, planned for losing $1.5K a month for the next year. Basically ok for now. Stay tuned, it’s gonna be a wild roller coaster ride.

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#967 3 years ago

WS

desertT1

Tucson Pinball

Vail, AZ

12y 72,550 4,032 23

OP
Quoted from pookycade:
Since this has turned into a confessional, the numbers for the month are a bit more on the positive side than I had feared. $2K from July 2-9th, need to hit $5.5K a month to break even, planned for losing $1.5K a month for the next year. Basically ok for now. Stay tuned, it’s gonna be a wild roller coaster ride.

Hey, that’s not too bad just looking at the P/L if your goal is to break even for now. Good luck in the upcoming weeks and maybe see an increase in business as more people come give it a try.

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#968 3 years ago

CWG

Chrizg

dsmpinball

Des Moines, IA

12y 93,550 2,084 5

Modern Pinball in NYC closing at end of month =/

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#969 3 years ago

LTG

Pinside member

Hopkins, MN

12y 191K 56,933 24 7

Quoted from Chrizg:
Modern Pinball in NYC closing at end of month =/

Crap.

LTG : (

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#970 3 years ago

OP

PAY

pookycade

Pinside member

11y 95,300 1,837

Quoted from Chrizg:
Modern Pinball in NYC closing at end of month =/

Really really sad. That was a great place, and I aspired to be even 1/10th what they were. Unfortunately likely the first of many.

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#971 3 years ago

DOG

Whysnow

Pinside member

12y 187K 35,338 30 1

it is interesting to me that so far many of the older places are the ones to toss in the towel first.

Makes me wonder if their experience and expertise tells them that it is the best thing to get out early
or
if they have just been around long enough and timing is right.

Edit: Modern is closing due to lease and this was planned apparently. Not pandemic related I guess.

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#972 3 years ago

JDB

Joe_Blasi

Pinside member

Des Plaines, IL

11y 39,900 2,401

Quoted from Whysnow:
it is interesting to me that so far many of the older places are the ones to toss in the towel first.
Makes me wonder if their experience and expertise tells them that it is the best thing to get out early
or
if they have just been around long enough and timing is right.

NYNY is high cost and they don't have an bar

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#973 3 years ago

BJB

BrianBannon

Pinside+ Frequent

St Charles, MO

11y 81,400 1,031 40 14

Quoted from Whysnow:
it is interesting to me that so far many of the older places are the ones to toss in the towel first.
Makes me wonder if their experience and expertise tells them that it is the best thing to get out early
or
if they have just been around long enough and timing is right.
Edit: Modern is closing due to lease and this was planned apparently. Not pandemic related I guess.

Anyone that has been in business for a time already has a handle on fixed costs, has seen the ups and downs in the normal business cycle, and knows what it will take to make their business profitable. If they can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, or even have an inkling of when things are back to normal again then it really depends on how long they can, and want to, operate in this environment.

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#974 3 years ago

ERW

chuckwurt

Pincinnati

10y 193K 31,342 16 13

Arcade Legacy Bar edition in Cincinnati is opening back up next week. They are only allowing 30 people at a time and selling tickets for Windows of time each day. Between Windows they are sanitizing all the games.

Masks required at all times plus social distancing, unless sitting at a table with your food or drink. Then you can take your mask off to drink or eat.

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16

#975 3 years ago

OP

PAY

pookycade

Pinside member

11y 95,300 1,837

Quoted from chuckwurt:
Arcade Legacy Bar edition in Cincinnati is opening back up next week. They are only allowing 30 people at a time and selling tickets for Windows of time each day. Between Windows they are sanitizing all the games.
Masks required at all times plus social distancing, unless sitting at a table with your food or drink. Then you can take your mask off to drink or eat.

I say good luck to them. It’s gonna be a hard fight and I’m rooting they can find a way.

Now for our weekly I sympathize with everyone update. Sorry in advance for the length but lots has happened.

As for us, again in complete transparency as a window into all of this, our average attendance is about 5 per session, which means I probably have to limit the hours even more to lower labor costs not being covered by attendance. To date just $3600 for the month, ugh not good. Private bookings are holding us up for now. $200 for 2 hours up to 25 in there at one time.

The next step here is to liquidate the games in storage so as to also liquidate the storage cost per month. That was kinda being planned anyway as it’s just throwing money away to let games sit there. Goal is to get basic rent and utilities down in the $2250 a month range and pay down some of the outstanding debt.l (not much thankfully)

Looks desperate, but really not quite that. If I can keep total operating expenditure below $35K for the year (and one easy way is to just temporarily close and pay rent on the place as if it’s storage), we will survive even if in hibernation.

After having driven thru Ohio last week, an arcade in Cincinnati has more chance of succeeding than Virginia. Bigger town, very sparse mask wearing there from my limited sampling, which means people perceive less risk. I’m not sure that in the aggregate is a good thing for all of us given it means more covid spread, but to solve an acute cash crunch it might suffice for them.

It does not help that our mitigation measures were undertaken in a scorching heat wave. If you are going to make your space equivalent to being outdoors by rapidly bringing air in and then out, expect the temp to reflect that. Set up an outside misting tent to help (and it did)

Oh also doesn’t help that an employee I paid thru the entire pandemic while we were closed, up and quit 20 min before their shift. Agitation with other employees (the source of the issue) is unfortunately common when things aren’t going well

This probably sounds just depressing. I suppose it is. But this business has been here in this position before less than 18 months ago so I am perhaps a bit more prepared to weather this, and more used to expect struggle than brief success. Part of not throwing in the towel is learning how to deal with adversity. That’s true even if the only lesson here may be to recognize I should have thrown in the towel earlier.

Onward we march. Got a bunch of games that decided to dump on us probably because of heat and not being played for several months. Also have no repair crew to handle most of it since they have sequestered at home (and I can’t blame them for that)

One thing you WILL NOT see me do is put up a damn GoFundMe (unlike that other thread). As long as I have games to sell, no call for any charity here.

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#976 3 years ago

DMB

PismoArcade

Pinside+ Frequent

St. George, UT

12y 143K 4,100 3 134

I was listening to The Pinball Show and they brought up an interesting point that illustrates exactly what's going on around my area.

More places are shutting down than we hear of. There used to be a few places around that had anywhere between 2 and 5 pins. (pizza places, deli's).

Since California has gone back to shutting down, not only are those places closed, but the operators have removed the machines, probably permanently.

Post last edited 3 years ago: “spelling”

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#977 3 years ago

DMB

PismoArcade

Pinside+ Frequent

St. George, UT

12y 143K 4,100 3 134

OP
Quoted from pookycade:
One thing you WILL NOT see me do is put up a damn GoFundMe (unlike that other thread). As long as I have games to sell, no call for any charity here.

That guy is one of the most loathsome people I've ever seen in the hobby and I bought my first pin in '79.

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12

#978 3 years ago

LTG

Pinside member

Hopkins, MN

12y 191K 56,933 24 7

My business has been all over the map. And being closed for three months threw over 47 years of experience of what to expect out the window.

Add in days like last Friday. Not a single customer for the first two hours. Then three people came in to play pinball. Oh boy, I'm excited. Twenty minutes later the power in my area goes out for almost two hours. Refund their money, apologize.

I love this business.

LTG : )

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#979 3 years ago

GT.

Stretch7

Pinside member

Leduc, AB

11y 75,600 1,512 94

That sucks LTG
We are going on our 4th week now and it has been slow as far as general public coming in....only thing keeping place busy is league nights and some pinhead groups getting together.

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5

#980 3 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

The Mod Couple

Wheaton, IL

20y 160K 10,056 44 37

OP
Quoted from pookycade:
I say good luck to them. It’s gonna be a hard fight and I’m rooting they can find a way.
Now for our weekly I sympathize with everyone update. Sorry in advance for the length but lots has happened.
As for us, again in complete transparency as a window into all of this, our average attendance is about 5 per session, which means I probably have to limit the hours even more to lower labor costs not being covered by attendance. To date just $3600 for the month, ugh not good. Private bookings are holding us up for now. $200 for 2 hours up to 25 in there at one time.
The next step here is to liquidate the games in storage so as to also liquidate the storage cost per month. That was kinda being planned anyway as it’s just throwing money away to let games sit there. Goal is to get basic rent and utilities down in the $2250 a month range and pay down some of the outstanding debt.l (not much thankfully)
Looks desperate, but really not quite that. If I can keep total operating expenditure below $35K for the year (and one easy way is to just temporarily close and pay rent on the place as if it’s storage), we will survive even if in hibernation.
After having driven thru Ohio last week, an arcade in Cincinnati has more chance of succeeding than Virginia. Bigger town, very sparse mask wearing there from my limited sampling, which means people perceive less risk. I’m not sure that in the aggregate is a good thing for all of us given it means more covid spread, but to solve an acute cash crunch it might suffice for them.
It does not help that our mitigation measures were undertaken in a scorching heat wave. If you are going to make your space equivalent to being outdoors by rapidly bringing air in and then out, expect the temp to reflect that. Set up an outside misting tent to help (and it did)
Oh also doesn’t help that an employee I paid thru the entire pandemic while we were closed, up and quit 20 min before their shift. Agitation with other employees (the source of the issue) is unfortunately common when things aren’t going well
This probably sounds just depressing. I suppose it is. But this business has been here in this position before less than 18 months ago so I am perhaps a bit more prepared to weather this, and more used to expect struggle than brief success. Part of not throwing in the towel is learning how to deal with adversity. That’s true even if the only lesson here may be to recognize I should have thrown in the towel earlier.
Onward we march. Got a bunch of games that decided to dump on us probably because of heat and not being played for several months. Also have no repair crew to handle most of it since they have sequestered at home (and I can’t blame them for that)
One thing you WILL NOT see me do is put up a damn GoFundMe (unlike that other thread). As long as I have games to sell, no call for any charity here.

Your strength and drive to stay alive is amazing and I sincerely wish you the success you deserve. ALL of the business owners reinventing their business model to survive this uncertain times are a testament to strength and the American dream. I so hope to visit your place some day in the near future. Keep strong.

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6

#981 3 years ago

OP

PAY

pookycade

Pinside member

11y 95,300 1,837

Quoted from Yelobird:
Your strength and drive to stay alive is amazing and I sincerely wish you the success you deserve. ALL of the business owners reinventing their business model to survive this uncertain times are a testament to strength and the American dream. I so hope to visit your place some day in the near future. Keep strong.

Thanks for the support. Though I would say its LTG who should get all the props here. Compared to him I dabble at best. And perhaps more importantly, paying my rent and putting food on my table doesn't depend on any of this. But that said, perseverance has been a defining characteristic in any endeavor I undertake, even to the point of futility. Unfortunately I get stupid sometimes and continue to let future effort be determined according to prior sunk cost. But yeah, I appreciate the challenge and opportunity of trying to pull out of a nosedive and almost certain crash. As Monty Python is so often quoted "I'm not dead yet".

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#982 3 years ago

OP

PAY

pookycade

Pinside member

11y 95,300 1,837

Another one down unfortunately. Pinball arcade museum Petersburg FL http://pinballarcademuseum.org/

Notice===>>> This comes with a heavy heart for a dream that will come again another day. This will be our last weekend open. Covid 19 has done us in too. There has been no income/ no profit since end of February. We tried our best, but our type of business with basically no social distancing and everything is so touchy feely, we just can't survive when so many scared to come in. Also being a non-profit we did not qualify for any assistance. Looks like the worst is yet to come in Florida so we will cut our losses now and wait for next year when hopefully this is all gone and open a bigger and better place again. Thanks to our GM Karen Ann, our Volunteers, our Techs, our Supporters, Fans, Customers and Players. This Museum was to bring in money to help Odessa Wildlife Rescue and Sanctuary. This is going to hurt. If you still want to Support our Mission you can always help and donate to PayPal.me/OWRS to help us feed and care for our 350+ Animals residing at OWRS. God Bless everyone, stay safe and healthy and see you on the otherside of all this next year. Machines will be stored and preserved for another day

https://www.facebook.com/2088625798110613/posts/2386277188345471/?d=n

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#983 3 years ago

COL

Colsond3

Pinside+ Frequent

Langhorne, PA

9y 143K 9,136 7 1

Well that is sad to hear, and supported another good cause.

Hopefully they can reopen in the future, in a bigger facility as they mentioned, and make up for some of the losses.

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#984 3 years ago

LTG

Pinside member

Hopkins, MN

12y 191K 56,933 24 7

OP
Quoted from pookycade:
Another one down unfortunately. Pinball arcade museum Petersburg FL http://pinballarcademuseum.org/

Bad news. I'm sorry to hear.

LTG : (

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#985 3 years ago

OP

PAY

pookycade

Pinside member

11y 95,300 1,837

Quoted from LTG:
Bad news. I'm sorry to hear.
LTG : (

If very afraid this is gonna turn into the “what business just closed” thread

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27

#986 3 years ago

???

ghostbc

Pinside+ Frequent

Lyons, CO

10y 60,900 456

I dont' know if anyone has mentioned it here yet but we have decided not to reopen Lyons Classic Pinball a few weeks ago. Hardest decision I have ever had to make. We have had a great 17yr run and have made great friends and feel we have done what we started out to do, turn folks back on to pinball and have other places open so we have places to play. When we opened 17yrs ago there were no pinball arcades in CO, now there are a bunch of excellent locations along the front range and beyond. We wish you all the best of luck and hope to visit you establishments in the near future. Keep flippin we are counting on you.
Kevin and Carole Carroll

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3

#987 3 years ago

IKE

Pinball-Ike

Pinside+ Frequent

Fort Collins, CO

4y 75,400 242 13 16

Quoted from ghostbc:
I dont' know if anyone has mentioned it here yet but we have decided not to reopen Lyons Classic Pinball a few weeks ago. Hardest decision I have ever had to make. We have had a great 17yr run and have made great friends and feel we have done what we started out to do, turn folks back on to pinball and have other places open so we have places to play. When we opened 17yrs ago there were no pinball arcades in CO, now there are a bunch of excellent locations along the front range and beyond. We wish you all the best of luck and hope to visit you establishments in the near future. Keep flippin we are counting on you.
Kevin and Carole Carroll

There was a community post about your decision recently, it was tough to read then and now. My personal experience with you Kevin has been great, and I haven’t even met you in person yet! From sharing stories about the Dixie Dregs, offering to help me connect to the local CO community, even offering fair prices on pins I was looking to add to my collection helped make my journey from 1 pin to 7 pins fun! I regret I didn’t make the opportunity to meet you at LCP after any of our conversations, but maybe we will still get the chance elsewhere! Best of luck in your next adventure!

Scott

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#988 3 years ago

NIC

NicoVolta

Roanoke Pinball Museum

Roanoke, VA

10y 139K 4,059 35 1

Dang... only heard heaps of praise for Lyons and was hoping to pay a visit someday. :/

17 years is a good run. I only wish the shutdown was on your own terms vs. the pandemic. 2020 sucks.

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#989 3 years ago

DRS

Captainhook

Pinside member

9y 77,050 810

There's a great interview with Kevin on episode #29 of the "Little Kings Pinball Podcast". I agree 2020 Sucks.

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#990 3 years ago

COZ

Coz

RiverCity Arcade

6y 125K 3,818

Sad times. A few friends with locations say they are only earning 25% of what they were earning pre covid. There will be a lot more locations closing if they can’t make enough money to pay bills.

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#991 3 years ago

LTG

Pinside member

Hopkins, MN

12y 191K 56,933 24 7

Quoted from Coz:
Sad times. A few friends with locations say they are only earning 25% of what they were earning pre covid. There will be a lot more locations closing if they can’t make enough money to pay bills.

The next half year or so isn't looking good.

And may be forever changed.

LTG : (

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#992 3 years ago

OP

PAY

pookycade

Pinside member

11y 95,300 1,837

Quoted from Coz:
Sad times. A few friends with locations say they are only earning 25% of what they were earning pre covid. There will be a lot more locations closing if they can’t make enough money to pay bills.

Well our 30 day number is $5200 which is exactly minimal breakeven for us (but also 25% pre-pandemic). And I don’t pay myself or our techs anything at all (it’s the “fun” of it all I guess that fuels us). I am going to liquidate our extra storage to get us down to $4300 break even per month just to give some breathing room. $1100 receipts this week so as long as that holds we can be ok. Of course Fall usually sucks for us, so I still consider this precarious beyond belief. Thanks to several pinsiders who came from afar and rented out the place to help out. This is a great supportive community.

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#993 3 years ago

LTG

Pinside member

Hopkins, MN

12y 191K 56,933 24 7

OP
Quoted from pookycade:
Of course Fall usually sucks for us, so I still consider this precarious beyond belief.

I don't know how it is for you.

For me. 47+ years of experience is meaningless after being closed for 3 months. Basically starting over. Which will take years. What works. What doesn't. What to expect. What not to expect. All the basics out the window.

I never dreamed that I'd be relearning a business.

LTG : )

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#994 3 years ago

OP

PAY

pookycade

Pinside member

11y 95,300 1,837

Quoted from LTG:
I don't know how it is for you.
For me. 47+ years of experience is meaningless after being closed for 3 months. Basically starting over. Which will take years. What works. What doesn't. What to expect. What not to expect. All the basics out the window.
I never dreamed that I'd be relearning a business.
LTG : )

Oh we are throwing everything against a wall at this point. Just got back alcohol thru our brewery partner, but only outside, not in arcade. Might help, might not. Just put up a mist tent outside. The thing is that I haven’t been doing this long enough to have ever assumed I knew how to do any of it. It’s been one long continuous “fake it til ya make it” fest.

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#995 3 years ago

DOG

Whysnow

Pinside member

12y 187K 35,338 30 1

Quoted from ghostbc:
I dont' know if anyone has mentioned it here yet but we have decided not to reopen Lyons Classic Pinball a few weeks ago. Hardest decision I have ever had to make. We have had a great 17yr run and have made great friends and feel we have done what we started out to do, turn folks back on to pinball and have other places open so we have places to play. When we opened 17yrs ago there were no pinball arcades in CO, now there are a bunch of excellent locations along the front range and beyond. We wish you all the best of luck and hope to visit you establishments in the near future. Keep flippin we are counting on you.
Kevin and Carole Carroll

So sorry to hear this Kevin. What comes next for you?

I will miss my annual trip to see you and hang out. Your friendship, camaraderie, and passion. Is a large part of what fueled me to try it all in WI and largely the seed for all of WI to also see a growth in pinball.

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#996 3 years ago

EJS

Pinball Outpost

11y 223K 14,851 1

Quoted from NicoVolta:
2020 sucks.

No doubt. By this time of this year I was hoping to have had or planning to have some gatherings here at the house for a little pinball get together. I've pretty much crossed that off for the year. Best case scenario maybe something spring 2021. There are a couple locations close to me with the new TMNT but I just can't get excited to go play it when I hear about other locations near me struggling or others around the Midwest/country closing up shop. I am hoping this all has some sort of silver lining behind it. Already had family loss and other setbacks personally and among my friends. We need some good news the latter half of this year in terms of pinball. Pinball has definitely been an escape for me knowing I'll probably have to cross off sports for this summer and fall too.

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#997 3 years ago

JDS

JohnnyPinball007

Pinside+ Frequent

6y 162K 16,328 22 1

Quoted from EJS:
I am hoping this all has some sort of silver lining behind it.

Off topic and sorry, but for me anyway I had never heard of social distancing, and I never knew how many people the regular flu killed every year.

Things suck at the moment, but if we can all just be careful for a while maybe not only could we get rid of this current mess, but also the flu.

At the same time I have read every post here from day one, and all the ways people are trying to use fans and other things to help.

It sucks all the suffering going on from a owner having to close down, and people that still would love to get out to a game room.

I just hope in the future the silver lining is we can chill out just long enough, to end all the virus stuff and flu stuff.

(just wishful thinking, too many people just have to jump on a plane anymore and travel a long way).

It would be awesome if we could all live to be over a 100.

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#998 3 years ago

P L

SimpleSam

Pinside+ Frequent

Reno, NV

5y 41,300 137

Press Start in Reno is a barcade with a variety of pins and video games. They had to shut down several months ago due to the governor's order but were allowed to reopen about a month ago. That was very short lived because the governor changed his mind and bars are now closed. Press Start found a new, temporary business model; arcades are allowed to operate in NV so they closed their bar and are operating on a fee based model. Because they are no longer a bar, they are now open to all ages so hopefully people will bring their children/young adults. Let's hope it's enough to get them through the shutdown.

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#999 3 years ago

---

ForceFlow

Pinside Moderator

9y 236K 31,330 268 14

Here in upstate NY, arcades are still not allowed to open. Just caught a news story on one of the large area arcades and what they've done in preparation to hopefully reopen.

https://wnyt.com/capital-region-comeback/arcades-remain-closed-during-pandemic/5809812/?cat=10114

They've removed 30 games (from their usual pool of 80 or so games) and blocked off games that are directly next to each other. It looks like the pins were removed. They're mainly a redemption arcade, and pins don't do anywhere near the business as the redemption games do, so I'm not surprised that they were taken out.