K&K Music Company Celebrates Centennial

West Virginia Route in the Family for 100 Years

“Count” Charles Buffalo Knowles Jr. was born in 1896 in Bluefield, West Virginia. At age 30, after an early career modeling upscale clothes in that Appalachian city, he bought his first penny pinball machines. Little did he know those devices would turn into a century-long family business that now spans four generations.

His son, Jimmy Knowles Sr., now 81, told RePlay the elder Knowles was “a professional gambler of sorts.

“He began to hang out in pool rooms and started to shoot pool quite a bit – he’d be gone from home 3-4 weeks at a time shooting pool,” Knowles said. It was when he bought a restaurant-tavern in Pocahontas, Virginia, which had a pool room, that the first countertop pinball machine came into the mix.

“He began to acquire a few more of them from a salesman who would come around,” Knowles explained. “And then he began to place them in taverns and restaurants. It became a really lucrative business.”

From there, it was jukeboxes and (of course) pool tables that he bought from furniture stores to put on location. They also operated more than 150 slot machines. “Back then, they weren’t illegal, but the government never said they were legal.”

From the late 1930s into the ’50s, Knowles said the business flourished. “During the war, we did well because everything was rationed. During the years after the Depression, we’d done well. The watering holes were places where people would go to forget their troubles and their worries and get some form of amusement.”

Knowles said his mother Elizabeth ran the restaurant in Pocahontas while his father was in the pickup truck handling the route business, which had further expanded over the years to cigarette and candy machines in addition to the amusements and slots.

“I’d go in with my dad to these locations at 6 and 7 years old and I’d be looking to see if any of those coins missed the cash pad,” he recalled. “I would find a nickel or dime or sometimes even a quarter. And of course, they’d give me candy and sodas, and I’d go home with my dad in the evening, and I wouldn’t eat dinner because I’d already ate a bunch of Hershey bars and drank a bunch of Cokes. Getting to ride with my dad from place to place was great. I grew up and got a real street education doing that.”

“Count” Knowles passed away when Jimmy was 8 years old and K&K Music Company was maintained for a number of years by its general manager. Jimmy continued to work with the service men during his summers in junior high and high school.

He came back to the business in earnest in 1968 at age 23 after getting out of the Air Force. That was a special year for another reason – he married Linda, his wife of 58 years, who today serves as K&K’s president.

While the business stagnated after his father’s death, Knowles started working to grow it upon his return from the military, gaining locations all across Mercer County, West Virginia, and the adjacent Tazewell County, Virginia, based on providing quality service.

“When a new location would open up, they would call existing taverns and restaurants and ask, ‘Who do I call for amusement machines and devices?’ Our name was the first thing out of their mouth,” he boasted. “I always tried to make them an offer they couldn’t refuse.

“We were constantly upgrading equipment, giving a better percentage of revenue and offered service seven days a week.”

Knowles added: “Every night we stayed until 10 o’clock during the week. We were in there from 8 a.m.-10 p.m. repairing equipment in the shop. It was quite a major undertaking and long hours, but we enjoyed it.”

During his time leading the business, he bought out six or so amusement outfits nearby, many of which approached him. They all had locations within 100 miles – close enough to still provide the quality service K&K had become known for.

Back in the late ’60s, they served about 50 locations in those two counties. Today, it’s more than 350 locations with thousands of machines spread across six states – West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

“My sons have taken this company to a higher level than I could fathom,” Knowles said. “They rode in the pickup truck from grade school and junior high and worked summers at the business learning it.”

His sons are Jim Knowles Jr. and Matt Knowles. Jim Jr. is K&K’s CEO and Matt is its CFO. (Jim has also been president of the West Virginia Amusement & Limited Video Operators Association for the past 10 years.)

They also had a pair of sons each, all of whom are involved in the business. Representing the fourth generation of K&K are Trey and Brock (Jim Jr.’s sons) and Nic and Harrison (Matt’s sons).

Jim Knowles Jr. recounted his own upbringing in the industry, telling RePlay it was the “greatest era, especially for a young kid.” Born in 1973, he grew up in the video game boom of the late ’70s and early ’80s.
“As a kid, I loved the business,” he said. “I never will forget when dad brought a Ms. Pac-Man cocktail table home. That might’ve rewired my brain. I was hook, line and sinker on these games. I couldn’t wait to go to our shop.”

Jim spent his youth cleaning machines and going to pool halls and other such venues, meeting with location owners and distributors. Still, a favorite part for him was opening up new games right out of the cardboard box.

“It was such a great industry to be in and to see the transition over the years, especially throughout the ’80s and ’90s,” he said. “We still love it.”

When West Virginia legalized VLTs (video lottery terminals) in 2001, the company went headfirst into it. Knowles said they have about 500 VLTs in the state. He explained that prior to the explicit regulation, these “gray machines” were often the target of law enforcement, and many operators were afraid to put them out. “You never knew when the phone was going to ring with the police raiding one of your places.”

Gov. Bob Wise enacted the video lottery bill based on a scholarship program that initially offered free college tuition for qualifying students. “We didn’t know how the VLTs would do,” Knowles detailed. “Now the state’s your partner and they get 51% of the business, plus a license fee due every May 1.”

But there’s no doubt it’s been working out well for K&K. The video slot machines represent about 70% of business today, though he noted, “We still love amusements and haven’t taken our foot off the gas pedal.”

In addition to their amusement route, which still has pinballs, pool and jukeboxes like it did back in the early days, they also bought Fannie Farkle’s in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, from Marion Paul in November 2021. The arcade-restaurant has been a fixture in that community for decades.

Back at their headquarters in Bluefield, West Virginia, K&K has a modern showroom featuring Olhausen Billiards’ tables and pinballs from Stern, Jersey Jack and the boutique maker Spooky, along with other equipment for sale to operators and the home market. (The route also now has ATMs.)

Keeping equipment fresh and customers happy is still the name of the game for K&K.

“I enjoy going to the IAAPA show in Orlando seeing all the new products,” Knowles said. “There’s lots of growth potential in the industry.” Looking to the future, they’ve been working with Mercer Mall in Bluefield on putting together their first full-scale FEC. For the past 15 years, they’ve operated The Lost Mine Arcade there.

The company says it’s always looking for new opportunities, something that’s been in its DNA for 100 years now through four generations. (And with of all those Knowles family members in the mix, shouldn’t it be K&K&K&K&K&K&K&K&K by now?)

About the anniversary, Knowles said: “It’s really fantastic and that’s an understatement. For 100 years – for it to be in the same family and still running it, it’s very, very special and I’m speaking for my brother as well. It’s monumental. It’s a tremendous feat and something we’re very proud of.”

Jimmy Knowles Sr. added: “I think we’re the oldest business in Mercer County in the same family. The future of this company will continue further than I can envision. We’re still expanding and growing. I’m real proud of that.”

Congratulations to the Knowles family on an incredible 100 years!