The wife and I have talked about opening a small adult oriented pinball arcade in our hometown. I was wondering what everyone thought about the idea. Is it possible to make a profit with say 15 new pinballs and 5 older classics? Keep the machines in tip top shape and have a fun atmosphere around the place. We crunched a few numbers and they don't look very promising but we're not sure we are starting with the correct numbers to begin with. Any of you own or run your own arcades that might be able to share a little of your knowledge with us? Seems it would take a while to get the money back on a single 8000 dollar machine but we could be very wrong. Everything old is new again and it looks like pinball is making a huge comeback. Appreciate your input as this info could be our biggest deciding factor. Thanks again!

Yes, we would have food and a beer/wine license for sure.

Thanks so much for your responses, wifey and I have been reading them and talking and learning something from each reply. To answer a few questions, I would not be using games out of my collection, could not bear the thought of it. I've been a low voltage integrated systems guy for 35 years so I have maintained and repaired all my machines over the years. Only competition for miles and miles is Golfland in Mesa, mostly upright arcades and has 5 pins, good titles but all beat to crap and none of them ever working 100 percent. And lots of little ones running around creating havoc everywhere. Not so sure how "hip" the crowds are around here though. Thanks a million. You guys just might save me a million !!

Yes. We discussed keeping them as pristine as possible and when they got near paying for themselves, if that ever happens, then they would be put up for sale and a new machine would replace it. Awesome responses here. This info is worth a ton! Thanks.

Thank you sir, that is very kind of you. And thanks to everyone for such enlightening information. True in Arizona they only have so many liquor and beer licenses to hand out, by lottery I believe, and my understanding is its a down right bitch to get one. The secret I hear is to buy an establishment that already has one, but that could take tons of money. Wifey is also not keen on the liability of serving alcohol to the general public either. A lot to consider in this day and age. Sure would love to be part of introducing pinball back to the masses once again but now we have to put some serious thought into this crazy ass idea. Can't thank you guys enough.

If I could only find that suitcase full of money that's along side the road up there somewhere !

More great responses coming in. Thanks. We have considered everything you guys have run by us very carefully. A lot to consider for sure. As far as working with the public, both the little lady and I have been doing that for 40 years so no issues their. My family also owned several restaurants in New York in the 60's thru the 90's and it's a damn fact your employees will rob you blind in that business if your not there 24/7. Don't want to go thru that. But luckily for us we happen to have some very good friends who have opened up a pretty successful micro brewery drinking establishment in Tempe near the college and we're likening the idea of possibly renting some space from him and maybe helping each other out getting new business. Will be meeting with them this week to talk about the pinball idea. They are interested in hearing about it. Granted their won't be big money coming in with 8 / 10 pinball machine but their won't be a huge layout either. Just take care of the pins and maybe get a club going or something along those lines. Wouldn't have even thought of that idea of sharing a space with an established place if not for input here. If we ever do get this going I owe you all a day of free play and I'll buy you a beer too!

That's a pretty good idea really. Maybe not at this time in our lives but in the future for sure. Still meeting with our micro brewery friends next week about bringing in pins. He said he'd give us the space for 7 or 8 pins and it wouldn't cost us a thing. Might be a good way to learn what you can really make on pinball without breaking the bank.

Lots of encouragement in the last few posts, thank you guys. Short of something ugly coming up which I don't foresee, I think we will have pinball in Tempe in the near future. As far as a machine going down and having to go do a repair, it's what I love to do so I doubt that will be a major issue for me. Our business's now a days are Custom embroidery and building Custom Harley Davidsons. We're both semi retired and both doing what we love. Grandpa said a long long time ago, "find a job you love to do, and you'll never work a day in your life grandson". That advice has worked for me for over 40 years. Thanks again everyone and have a wonderful Christmas, and a Blessed and Happy and healthy New Year. And a bit late, a very Happy Hanukkah.

Absolutely agree. Customer service is key in any business. They would hardly be down for more than a few hours unless I was away ( which is once a year for a weekend, most ever, three days ) or I did not have a part on hand that was needed. Wouldn't want it any other way. I want people to know that these are the best damn games in the state to play. Or I just wouldn't want to do it.