No Experience Required by Jack Guarnieri, Jersey Jack Pinball & PinballSales.com Experience, according to the Collins English Dictionary, is knowledge or skill in a particular job or activity which is gained by doing that job or activity for a long time. They do not define a “long time,” but it’s while doing the job. Before you interview and hire someone, is experience one of the qualifications? Most often, the answer is yes, but you see many jobs advertise “no experience necessary.” These are typically entry-level, unskilled labor positions and usually not well paid. If you hire a tradesperson to work…
Author: RePlay Editor
Earning Our Keep How the Best Operators Will Win in 2026 by Howard McAuliffe, Partner, Pinnacle Entertainment Group Well, we made it. We’re closing the books on 2025, and as we stand on the threshold of 2026, the industry-wide numbers are telling a story some of you already know. The post-pandemic “revenge spending” boom is officially over. The easy money is gone. Let’s not sugarcoat it: most locations are reporting that they are down 5% to 10% from the highs of the last couple of years. The inflationary pressures on the consumer, the return of student loan payments, the simple…
Dark Escape Games Launches at IAAPA Looking for something new? How about a whole new category of fun: arcade cabinet-sized escape rooms? That’s exactly what Dark Escape Games debuted in the AVS Companies booth at IAAPA Expo with two brand-new titles Clown Around and Pyramid Scheme. (Clown Around was an IAAPA Brass Ring Finalist in the Best New Product category.) The business is the brainchild of Sean Tyler, who’s been involved with custom game room lighting manufacturing for the past 15 years (think those great, oftentimes branded, lights above pool tables). With his Dark Escape Games, Tyler is bringing to market…
One of the greatest TV series of all time was the saga of Walter White called Breaking Bad. And one of its most memorable scenes came when a meth-addicted wife pushed a stolen ATM machine onto her meth-addicted husband’s head. (Shades of Mortal Kombat!) This bit of marital anger not only resulted in “instant divorce” but in the machine’s cash vault dropping open. The show’s writers exercised a bit of poetic license here, but the story of ATM larceny isn’t poetic at all. Besides the more classic ways thieves have been getting at the cash, now comes blowing them up.…
A Legacy that Plays On The 4th Generation Joins Sacoa; Powerhouse Partners Program Debuts From the golden age of seaside amusement centers in Argentina to today’s global cashless revolution, Sacoa has always been a family story. Founded more than six decades ago by father-son duo Mauricio and Jorge Mochkovsky, Sacoa Entertainment began as a small chain of FECs that would later give birth to Sacoa Cashless, one of the world’s leading pioneers in debit card systems for the amusement industry. Sacoa’s technology “empowers operators to streamline operations, boost profitability, and enhance the guest experience through an integrated ecosystem of readers,…
The Early Line on New Games at IAAPA by Adam Pratt, Arcade Galactic & ArcadeHeroes.com Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another pre-IAAPA Expo write-up of new amusements I expect to see at the show, games that will help shape the industry as we crawl our way into the latter half of the decade. I do want to stress that this is an incomplete preview, crafted well before many companies finalize their game announcements and exhibition plans. As you know, some companies completely withhold details on what they are bringing. I’ll do my best with some educated guessing in some of…
Human Interaction in the Sales Process When Your Sales Process Lacks a Personal Connection By Beth Standlee, CEO, TrainerTainment Human interaction plays a critical role in successful sales. While scripts can serve as useful tools, offering a framework to guide conversations, they are not a perfect solution. The real value in a sales interaction comes from person-to-person conversation, which helps to build a stronger connection between the seller and the buyer. Effective communicators know they must understand the customer’s needs and wants, and also be able to “read the room” and adapt accordingly. Learning from Real Experiences To illustrate this…
Should You Participate in an Amusement Auction? by Jack Guarnieri, Jersey Jack Pinball & PinballSales.com Many years ago, I’d faithfully get the Sunday New York Times and look at the back pages for the weekly advertised auctions. There were a lot of listings for restaurant equipment, automobiles, distressed merchandise, yard equipment, estate sales, electronics, furniture, collectibles and all kinds of things. And once in a while, there’d be a listing for arcade games. Out of curiosity, in 1980, I went to one of those game auctions. What did I know? Not much, but boy did I learn! First, you had…
Rev’d Up Fun & Dirdie Birdie Latest Finds: Garage Parties to Smoked Old Fashioneds by Barry Zelickson On our latest adventures with Fun Across America, we made two exciting stops that showcase just how creative and community-minded today’s location-based entertainment facilities can be. First up, we visited Rev’d Up Fun in Woodhaven, Michigan – an award-winning FEC that takes its inspiration from Detroit’s Motor City roots. From attractions to food to theming, Rev’d Up Fun is a shining example of how to build a family-owned business that feels welcoming, engaging and uniquely local. Our next stop took us to Austin,…
If you’ve done any traveling around the country lately, you’ve surely spotted stores in big cities and small towns that have been vacated and often shrouded in paper or plywood. I say “shrouded” because these stores have died in large part because of the retail market disruption caused by on-line merchants like Amazon, Costco and Walmart, which make buying stuff so easy folks can do it from home and avoid hopping in the car and charging off to a brick-and-mortar outlet that used to get their business. I don’t know about you, but I think the sight of a shuttered…