Don’t Fear the Fall Changes Propel Columnist into an Exciting 2026 Owner of Planet Novak & The Novak Network If you’ve spent any time in the industry lately, you’ve seen the explosion of the boutique crane arcade. They are popping up in malls and storefronts across the country, characterized by bright neon, rows of identical white machines, and bags filled with high-end plush. For my first Novak’s Notes column of 2026, I wanted to take you inside the journey of my newest venture: Planet Novak. Opening a new location is always a humbling experience, regardless of how many years you’ve…
Author: RePlay Editor
How’s Your Party Business? By Beth Standlee, CEO, TrainerTainment Group events and birthday party business is something this industry can count on. Even when times are hard, people desire social connection. Hoping for enough walk in traffic to provide your business all the profit you need may not be the best strategy these days. Marketing Alone Is Not Enough Discounts, marketing promotions, social likes or clicks can be an iffy way to generate enough revenue to cover payroll. Soooooo, maybe it’s time to break out your party shoes and work on inviting people to hold their next group event or…
Setting the Stage for Q1 Understanding Timing, Cash Flow, Consumer Psychology & Buy Now Pay Later Trends by Nick DiMatteo, Pinnacle Entertainment Group Q1can feel mysterious. It’s the quarter where operators can feel totally opposite forces at the same time. On one hand, guests may walk in with a little financial hangover from the holidays. On the other, the calendar quietly starts loading your building with reasons to celebrate again. If you plan for the timing of cash flow, the psychology of deal season and the reality that more households are working extra hours, Q1 can be less of…
How Are You Doing? Just Ask Customers by Jack Guarnieri, Jersey Jack Pinball & PinballSales.com I’ve been flying Continental – now United Airlines – for 25 years. I would say about 90% of my yearly flights are on United. They have a mileage rewards plan that seems to change every year and the bar gets higher. The rewards are not based only on the miles you fly, but the money you spend on a ticket is calculated as well. I have heard that the airlines make all their profit from the front of the plane. One thing I know about…
Like many, if not most, Americans today, almost every “cash transaction” I make is done with a credit or debit card. So, it was unusual for me to spend $5 at a donut shop recently and get change back. I keep an old olive jar on my kitchen table for change and as the years go by, it takes longer and longer to fill it up. The change I got at that shop included a red quarter which brought back the memory of those days when quarters with a dab of red nail polish were the number one way the…
Fun Company Going Strong for 35 Years For three-and-a-half decades and counting, Fun Company has served the in-home and out-of-home entertainment industry with its own proprietary products as well as growing into the industry’s largest contract manufacturing company. 2026 marks the 35th anniversary of Fun Company, which started building bare cabinets for redemption companies in Tennessee, Alabama and other southern states out of a 6,000-sq.-ft. building that housed the wood shop, assembly, warehouse, shipping and receiving and office space. In 1997, they jumped on the opportunity for kit-ready cabinets in the coin-operated amusement sector as many of the game manufacturers…
I’m a writer by trade, not an electrical engineer (nor any other kind of engineer), and when I look at any of the new deluxe games like the driving simulators, I honestly wonder how anyone could have developed and built such an amazing contraption. Where AI (artificial intelligence) might take us in the future is tantalizing, but I don’t understand AI either. Neither do most people, including the game players who look at this industry’s inventions and take them for granted, thinking somewhere on the earth some very clever people make these things. It does take clever people to make…
Don’t Fear the Fall Changes Propel Columnist into an Exciting 2026 By Clint Novak, Owner of Planet Novak & The Novak Network For those of us in the family entertainment industry, December is a time of both high-octane execution and quiet reflection. We’re deep in the holiday rush, but we’re also starting to think about the year that was and the new one on the horizon. For me, this December marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter, and I wanted to share it with you, the community I’ve been so proud to be a part of. As many of…
Game Changers How Fowling Warehouse and Holey Moley Redefine Social Play by Barry Zelickson This month, Fun Across America takes you on a trip to two very special locations: Fowling Warehouse and Holey Moley. Everything about our industry revolves around social play, but these two venues are next-level. Read why. • • • Fowling Warehouse www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrM5wmqNPQw At our visit to the Fowling Warehouse in Atlanta, one thing was immediately clear: simple games, when packaged right, can drive serious social engagement. What started as a tailgate accident – football plus bowling pins – has grown into a scalable attraction that thrives on…
The Ups and Downs Continue by Adam Pratt, Arcade Galactic & ArcadeHeroes.com With this being the last issue of RePlay in 2025, it’s the right time to reflect on how things went this year as we look to the future. At the midpoint of a roller-coaster decade, business was once again all over the place, just as it has been since 2020. This time last year, we were discussing how there was no pattern to earnings anymore. I used to be able to reliably expect highs in the summer and during the holidays, with lows in the months when school…