121 episodes tracked since 2023 about →
Episode 59 - How to Run an Independent Pinball Bar
PodcastAnalysis updated 3d ago56 min listen
Highlights
- Portland metro area has more pinball machines on location per capita than any other city in the world
- Oddball/obscure games earn money because they fill niche play demand and create differentiation
- Undercutting price on pinball devalues the game and creates unsustainable customer base
- A full-time skilled pinball tech must be in place before opening, ideally with ownership stake
- Wedgehead switched from coin-op to free-play model as market differentiation strategy
Notable quotes
“you're teaching the consumer that, hey, pinball is not worth the market rate. Pinball should be worth less.”
“it takes forever to build a reputation but you can ruin it in a flash”
“If you've never worked on machines before, you will need someone who will be there full-time for tech repairs. Yeah, that's critical.”
“Pinball players are ruthless. So, and skilled pinball techs aren't just growing on trees.”
“There's a lot of people that will open places and they can't even do the five minute fixes themselves.”
“don't let something sit there broken... customers don't want to come in and feel bad for your dilapidated games”
“you're not going to have all the answers, especially if this is your first time... don't be afraid to change things when things don't work.”
Entities
- Chicago Pinball Expo· event
- Pentastic New England· event
- 81 Arcade· organization
- Electric Bat Arcade· organization
- Logan Arcade· organization
- Next Level· organization
- Wedgehead· organization
- Alan· person
- Alex the Waterboy· person
- Errol· person
- Kale· person
- Rachel· person
- Rosie· person
- Zespi· person
- Ko-fi· product
- Pinball Map· product
