Thanks to a slight right turn Hurricane Matthew made before it would have hit Daytona Beach, both Bob’s Space Racers and Jennison Games escaped what could have been devastation. Both redemption game factories had prepped their buildings beforehand, so even though fierce winds and rain bashed that burg, both game makers expect to be up and running and reopened for business on Monday (Oct. 10).
Justin Jennison, fearing Daytona would have been “ground zero” this time, said there’d been mandatory evacuation of the city, so besides boarding up their place, they sent employees home to prep their own houses. Ron Malinowski at Bob’s said his factory did likewise, including having the IT people make sure everything in their computers would be preserved. (More hurricane news from Central Florida will be forthcoming.)
Further down the Florida coast, Brady Starburst’s Enzo Celani in the Miami area said: “Thank God, we dodged this one! But we got plenty of wind, water and there’s debris all over the roads. Of course there’s nobody on the roads right now, so that’s good,” he told RePlay just before noon on Friday when this newsletter item was written.
Over in Hypoluxo, Benchmark supremo Al Kress said: “The storm was unbelievable! Tree branches and other trash are all over the place! But, we’re okay otherwise and I expect American Changer is also okay. I don’t know how the people up in Daytona did yet. They were right in the target zone,” he added. By the way, Al’s plant suffered over $2 million in damages from the last major hurricane. “We had a high amount of inventory in stock this time and prepared for the worst while hoping for the best. . .and we came through just fine!” (The boarded-up Benchmark entryway in the photo from company sales VP Paula Rinker says “Station” because the place is just a short walk to railroad tracks. Paula kept Facebook friends updated with video clips throughout the storm.)