OPERATOR OF THE '80s
E. Randall Reed of Austin, Texas
;;J
- ..... ~...,
-~,;;~"'F,: .. ~~ ............
•
liz_?D:r----..._ . . :. ____ _
What do video games, cattle breeding
and flying have in common? E. Randall
Reed of Le Fun in Texas has combined
these three diverse activities in his
unique lifestyle.
Not a typical amusement center
owner, Reed commutes by plane once a
week to his other source of income-his
cattle ranch which is 35 miles east of
Laredo. It's a two hundred and fifty mile
stretch between his arcade in Austin and
the ranch in Laredo, and too far to drive,
so he uses his single-engine Cessna.
Reed was in charge of an aviation bat-
talion in 1964 during the Vietnam War
and before that he was in Korea, so fly-
ing between Laredo and Austin is all in a
week's work.
On his 800-acre ranch, he has sixty
registered Beefmaster cattle-a new
breed of cattle and the second fastest
growing, according to Reed. They are a
unique breed because of their ability to
thrive on the semi-desert land of south-
ern Texas.
Reed, besides having sixty cattle, has
about sixty video games in his other
place of business-Le Fun, in Austin.
Reed got started in the amusement in-
dustry about ten years ago. His wife's
uncle, an amusement park operator in
another Texas city, encouraged Reed to
try his hand in the amusement world.
Reed's center, Le Fun, is located right at
the entrance to the University of Texas at
Austin which has an enrollment of about
42,000 students. Le Fun's clientele is
mostly students because of its close
proximity to the campus. It is open be-
tween the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 1 :00
a.m., and on Friday and Saturday it is
open until 3:00 a.m.
"Le Fun is a clean, straightforward,
good game room," says Reed. "We're
not unusually different from any other ar-
cade." One of Reed's six twenty-hour-a-
week employees has a little more to say
(about the arcade) than his modest em-
ployer. Richard Malley, a manager at the
amusement center writes .... "Hello
from one of the strongest bastions of vid-
eo games in the country. Austin, with its
large student population, is brimming
with family amusement centers and I am
proud to be an attendant at the finest
one, Le Fun. My employer, Randall Reed,
has for years believed that the best way
to run an arcade is to emphasize the
games as the best drawing card and it is
because of this that he is a loyal Atari
customer. Atari's excellent maintenance
record fits in very well with Mr. Reed's
:.,C-"]11 . , 'IS " "
~
@! • ' Y,
commitment to provide the best and
most playable games to his customers.''
Reed's straightforward personality is
reflected in his arcade. No smoking is al-
lowed; neither is drinking or eating. He
adds approximately four or five games a
month and tries to keep up with the lat-
est machines. The arcade is set back
about ten feet from the street with a
porch at the entrance. Le Fun is about
twenty five feet by seventy feet on the in-
side. The floor carpet is deep red and
video games skirt the walls. There are
also some islands of cocktail style
games in the center. Two feet from the
ceiling, a mirror encircles the room. The
southern wall has a strip of stained glass
and it is reflected off of the mirrored
walls. The illumination of the stained
glass gives color and movement to the
arcade.
A tribute to the Texan rancher, Le Fun
is a popular straightforward amusement
center to which students flock.
-
::, , --
, ~4'4 "ii F J
/
~ ,
I
,
f'
~
'J;j,
j,, ,. ', .f ' , '} ' ~''
.
.. . - ,
• ti i: ~ ,'.-; ~
-
4
-- • ,_
....
-'
-
-..,.-:;
•
I
,
l:_ ~ •II'¥
I
-
•
j
Trade Show Calendar
Atari will be presenting their latest coin-operated games at several trade shows this fall.
Mark your calendar now with the following trade show dates. We hope to see you there !
Show
Dates
Location
Contact
Congress of
Recreation
and Parks
Oct. 24-27
Commonwealth
Convention Center
Louisville, KY
Nat'I Recreation
and Park Association
P.O. Box 17413
Dulles International Airport
Washington, D.C. 20041
(703) 471-5761
A.M.O.A.
Nov. 18-20
Hyatt Regency
Chicago, IL
Amusement and Music
Operators Association
2000 Spring Road
Suite 220
Oak Brook, IL 60521
(312) 654-2662
I.A.A.P.A.
Nov. 18-20
Bartle Hall
Kansas City, MO
lnt'I Association of Amuse-
ment Parks and Attractions
7222 West Cermak Road
Suite 303
North Riverside, IL 60546
(312) 442-5866