Embrace a Holiday Mindset Year Round By Candi Kelley, COO, TrainerTainment Party Professor Beth Standlee passes the column-writing baton this month to TrainerTainment COO Candi Kelly, who shares some timely insights. Standlee wrote: “As the holiday season approaches and many groups fill your center, please take Candi’s advice to help energize every single experience. That energy will bring people in the door and back again and again. Take advantage of this upcoming event season and build your business for months to come!” In the world of family entertainment, the atmosphere can make or break the experience. Whether it’s a birthday party,…
Author: RePlay Editor
Looking Back, Moving Forward: Key Takeaways from 2024 for FEC Operators by Howard McAuliffe, Partner, Pinnacle Entertainment Group As the final credits roll on 2024, it’s time to reflect on the year that was and, more importantly, set our sights on the exciting possibilities that lie ahead. This year has been a wild ride for the amusement industry, a dynamic mix of challenges and triumphs. We saw the continued rise of immersive experiences, a modest decline in sales for most types of facilities, and continued consolidation of operating companies as Bowlero, Tripleshift, Five Star Parks and others continue to buy…
Retirement? For Me, No Way! by Jack Guarnieri, Jersey Jack Pinball & PinballSales.com How long do you want to do what you are doing? This interesting question gets many responses. I’m starting to see people a little older than me retire from the job they had and, I see this as a mixed bag. Some just stay home tinkering or have hobbies that seem to keep them busy. Others have taken another job, maybe working at Home Depot or Walmart mainly to keep busy and make a few bucks. I have a friend who’s been a CPA for over 40…
Kung Fu Panda VR Night Heron Entertainment Debuts Game & Lynx VR System at IAAPA There’s a new unattended VR arcade game maker on the scene – Night Heron Entertainment – and the Utah-based company made a strong debut at last month’s IAAPA Expo, showing off their first title, DreamWorks Kung Fu Panda: The Warrior’s Gauntlet. Produced in collaboration with Universal Products & Experiences, the game is played on Night Heron’s proprietary Lynx VR cabinet platform and was exhibited at the AVS Companies booth. (The dealer leads the distribution efforts across North America for Night Heron products). This game was inspired…
Reliability & Trust How Embed Redefines Tech Innovation for Amusement Operations A customer’s confidence in a business is in its consistency. The same can be said about Embed, the company says. They’ve been consistently providing their tech systems to FECs and other locations, boasting themselves to be trailblazers for more than 20 years with breakthrough innovations. True to its commitment to operators and the business of fun, Embed said it has been “the industry’s constant thought leader and innovator, a staple and household name in the FEC business.” With customers like legacy multi-location FEC Fun Factory, dating back as early…
The closing year in America has been marked by high inflation and sluggish job growth. Whether or not these conditions inversely affected game room collections is debatable, but there’s little doubt that a bunch of amusement arcades…whether in an FEC, mall, bowling center or free standing…saw a decline in revenues. The odd thing is that economic indicators improved during the fall, but coin-op still needs some time to play catch-up. Machine prices continued to be a concern. Operators may want to buy one, two or a dozen of the often-excellent new pieces launched in 2024, but when measured against collections,…
Tapping Into More Revenue AMI Entertainment Reignites Tap TV Trivia for On-Location Earnings Boost It’s always great when you can bring in a new piece of equipment that earns well, but what’s really great is being able to make more money with the product you already have! For operators of AMI jukeboxes, coming soon is an even easier way to deliver the additional revenue stream provided through the company’s Tap TV Trivia (which will soon be rebranded “AMI Trivia.”) It’s already possible for operators to offer this money-maker to locations using a small box with the hardware inside that’s connected…
The 2024 IAAPA edition of the VR Arcade Game and Attraction Buyer’s Guide, produced by Bob Cooney and The VR Collective, is now live and online. The guide contains extensive resources to inform VR buying decisions, including insightful articles and a product directory divided into the main VR categories, from arcade cabinets to free roam and interactive simulators to VR for waterparks. This year, the producers have moved away from its previous print/PDF model to online only. Explained Cooney, “PDFs are hard to read on mobile and challenging to distribute as attachments (they are big and get caught in spam…
Webster, Texas, and other cities across the U.S., are gearing up for Andretti Indoor Karting & Games. The venue in Webster is set to break ground in mid-2025 and be completed by spring 2026, reports Community Impact. In addition to their high-tech karting, there’s arcade games, laser tag, mini-golf, laser tag and ropes courses, too. Andretti has another Greater Houston area facility in Katy, Texas, which is just west of the city (Webster is southeast, about halfway to Galveston). There are currently nine Andretti’s locations with five more planned for 2025. (By the way, RePlay caught wind of one of…
The former 204 Lanes candlepin bowling alley in Harvard, Mass., reopened earlier this year under new management, according to the Worcester Business Journal. The 14-lane bowling alley was purchased by Jim Shook for $1 million. He reopened the biz with refurbished lanes and new pins and balls, plus a fresh paint job, new seating and a new food and beverage program. The venue hosts candlepin bowling leagues on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Learn more about the business, in operation since 1950, at www.harvardlanescandlepin.com.