There 's no question that 1976
will go down in the log books of
the coin -op industry as the year
of the state : solid -state, state of
confusion , state of flux , buy in
the next state , and ship into the
next state .
It' s becoming clearer and
clearer that the changes taking
place in the industry are going to
test the mettle of operator,
distributor and manufacturer
alike . Arid for no mysterious
reason . Just analyze our industry
for a minute .
As of this writing, there are
more game manufacturers than
at any time in our history . If the
New England states can serve as
any kind of indicator, there are
more operators now than at any
time in the last 20 years . There
are more basic types of locations
than at any time in our history .
There is more interest and more
dollars from the public --the
economic community--in our
industry than at any time since its
beginning . There are more words
being written about our industry
by our trade press and the dailies
and Sunday newspapers
throughout the country in a
month than we previously saw in
two or even three months.
There are more advertisements
in the " Biz Op " sections of major
newspapers than ever before :
This writer has talked to several
people who have paid $1 ,595, all
the way up to $2 ,195 for cocktail
tables (tv games) . I have had a
sales mangler (sic) visit me ( He
looked like a caricature from a
movie) to offer me his line (and to
ask for some marketing advice).
W e parted company more or
maybe less friends when he
informed me that his bread and
butter was selling "cookies"
equipment developed from Biz
Op (business opportunity)
advertisements .
Put it all together and you have
the profile of an industry, or at
least part of an industry, that is
growing faster than it can handle
its own growth problems .
Fertile ground -- fertile
conditions can produce so much
growth that the healthy and
strong are crowded out and
weakened by the healthy, let
alone the weeds.
It is inevitable that this rampant
growth will take its toll on
PlAt' /tf£TER
Love me, love my dog
By MARSHALL CARAS
operators, distributors, and
manufacturers alike . Within the
past year, we have seen major
changes among distributors and
manufacturers-- up to and
including bankruptcy . We most
assuredly will see this year, the
demise of certain of the game
manufacturers, some of whom
we haven 't yet met or heard of .
Unscrupulous distributors are
overselling , overloading,
over-financing many operators.
There is simp ly too much
equipment being made by too
many manufacturers . Love me,
love my dog --the 115 volt AC
species .
Maybe there is an element left
that we've temporarily lost sight
of--Ioyalty. Not the kind of
one-sided loyalty-- You do
business with me and I'll
appreciate it-- but the kind of
loyalty we knew just a few years
ago . When a handshake with a
location was significant . When a
fast deal meant a deal that held
fast, not a fast shuffle .
Now don' t misunderstand my
point of view : It is just exactly
some of the things that we have
mentioned above-- new
manufacturers, new locations,
new marketing techniques, new
products-- that are giving us the
impetus and push to make 1976
probably the biggest in history .
But there is still room for "the
old values ," for a degree of
conservatism . Why? Let' s not
ignore the age-old concept of
" the survival of the fittest. " Let's
not back away from a good
scrap--or competition ; let's not
get soft, but let's also be realistic.
Playing a hard -nosed game, the
distributor, who has an obligation
to be loya l to and support the
manufacturers he represents, can
still be loyal to his territory and to
his customers . There 's still a
mutuality, an interdependence
between and among all the links
in our industry . A businessman
has an obligation to himself and
every successful operator must
keep this uppermost in his mind .
But he also must realize that if he
gets into the equivalent of a " gas
war " with his competition , the
locations gain (and so do the
distributors) and that ultimately,
the operator is the loser .
In 1975, we saw several
manufacturers (with several
obvious and significant
exceptions) break down their
own avowed attitudes and
habitudes : if the shoe fits, wear
it --Iove me, love my dog.
We have seen distributors and
operators alike, caught up in the
fervor of expanding locations and
income, temporari ly forgetting
old friendships and old loyalties.
We view the influx of many
new operators who are just now
developing a "game plan " and do
not and should not be expected
to have developed strong
relationships with distributors or
locations or product lines . The
concepts have changed with the
times . Have we?
Do we indeed have a thesis?
Do we have anything that even
remotely can be considered
relevant? Just this : ours is a
business that only recently has
come of age in the eyes of the
community at large . But we are
still vulnerable, and still
somewhat suspect . Let us then
not get too hungry; let us not
then drop all semblances of
ethics and / or morality for the fast
buck .
That is not to say we should all
become a club of mealy-mouthed
do-gooders . This writer is a prime
advocate of fighting --and
fighting hard. Fighting to win .
And when necessary , fighting to
hurt--to come out on top .
But by fighting out front and
up high, we can get better dea ls
in the long run . We can give and
get better service, in the long
run . And rather than watch
locations milk us dry (and get fat
on the cream) , in the long run ,
maybe we can take a tip from
industries that have policed
themselves, thereby benefiting
themselves .
We might even find out that
we can earn more money in the
process of learning what ethics
and loyalty mean . Let's give it a
shot .
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