A January 2020 grand opening certainly wasn’t ideal in hindsight, but that’s exactly what happened with GameCraft Arcade & Bar in Southington, Conn., which reopened yesterday, Aug. 13, after being closed since March due to Covid.
“We had to close for five months so at this point we were closed twice as long as we’ve been open,” said owner Brody Marion. “That was already a big impact for us being able to only operate for about 10 weeks before being forced to close.”
In order to reopen, they’ve had to start serving food to “comply with health and safety guidelines,” according to the Southington Record-Journal. Bars in Florida have been forced to do the same – a loophole of sorts that makes virtually no sense to most operators.
“That was a big challenge – finding a way for us to get food into the place even though we don’t actually have a kitchen,” Marion added. “There were requirements that were given to us by the state that we had to follow, and it took a lot of time for us to get a solution that kind of worked for everybody.” That solution was to team up with Bistro Café, which serves food at Witchdoctor Brewing Company next door.
They’ve also pulled about 15 arcade games off the floor to accommodate social distancing. Barriers have been put up between most games, where physical distancing isn’t feasible. The venue has video games, pinball machines and classic video game consoles.
Read more about the business at www.gamecraft-arcade.com and give them a like on Facebook.