that Mom and Dad were also carrying Sega Cards.
other words, what had started off as a market b
year-olds developed into a truly legitimate
amusement center. And as we thought about· ·
to make sense. The reason was we found the
the amusement centers were ~coming
centers. Because of the cost of gasoline. people ·
aren't joy-riding anymore. They're hanging
closer to home.
Y METER: Then where is the best chance for the
operator? At the strip arcade?
CSON: I don't want to say a local operator can't get
·
mall location. It depends upon what his
relabr:mships are, but a lot of times it's better if they deal
er developers.
see, there are really two types of mall
opers . You have your international mall
r
esl:ablished working relationships with such companies
as Sega Centers, Aladdin's Castles, and other multi-state
operations. But you also have a number of regionalized
pers who don't build the 300,000-plus square foot
ers but rather are building centers with local
merchants and are looking for a local flavor to their
sb:)Otl. rir
. loQ centers; so a local operator may have an
advantage in this kind of situation.
PLAY METER: Is this shift reflected in the
themselves?
ISAACSON: Well, one of the problems ·
malls in the past was that you couldn't sta open
regular hpurs sometimes. It depended upon W'llere
store was within the mall. But with a lot of the
malls where they have movie theaters, they had addled
outside access so that people could come and !:P
·
regular movie hours, which are after regular
And now we're beginning to see amusement• centers
into this section of the mall along with the r..,. •. ,.UI ....
They'll all be sectioned off together in a_n area separate
from the regular ' retail stores, and it's working fine.
PIA Y METER: As you know, there has been a great
·
of new people into the industry; and, for the most
.these people are focusing their efforts into arcade
operotions. What are your thoughts about this?
CSON: It seems that everything is an arcade today.
I go to a convenience store, for instance, I may see
, five, even six pieces being actively played, and to
mind that's an arcade. But certainly today the activity
the arcades. It all goes back to the point that our
PLAY METER: But, in the past, amusement center
operators haven't really been in a position to gel
special placement within the mall, have they?
ISAACSON: There has been a change in thinking
these lines by mall developers. That's why they're placing
amusement centers in th'e middle of food courts and
movie theater. It's becoming part of the ent.ertai:"nme:nt
center of the mall.
As you pointed out, in the beginning when
developers started leasing space to amusement center
operators, arcades were just taking unwanted spaces.
They were filler stores. They filled unwanted spaces .
developers couldn't lease to retailers because it was oo
narrow or too long or whatever. And mall developers
found they could get huge rents by leasing this space to
amusement centers. But within the last few years,
developers have found that amusement centers and
movie theaters and restaurants all share a relationship. H
grouped together, they can create an excitement, and·
will encourage families to come in together. And the
business from one store spills over into the other stores
for the benefit of everyone.
PLAY METER: And this is precisely your point, that
amusement centers no longer have to be merely impulse
stores?
ISAACSON: That's right. The feeling before was that we
were in an impulse business where people might come in
and play some games, But now we're an attraction.
We've become destination oriented, as we had been able
to show with our direct marketing program. We actually
got people coming specifically to the mall for us, to cash
in their coupons and get their two tokens from their Sega
Cards. We even had a case of a mother who stopped by
to get her son's two tokens for him because he wouldn't
be able to use his tokens until later when he got out of
school.
PLAY METER: Has the fact that amusement centers
are becoming destination oriented improved the
bargaining position of arcade operators with mall
developers?
ISAACSON: Unfortunately not. There is a frenzy on the
part of operators to get those spaces because there are
only so many available. So it's still strictly a seller's
market. You have a limited number of malls being built
today because of the economics and a growing number
of operators competing for those locations.
10
~Our
industry is becomfftg more
de s tina tion oriented than in the
past. A t one time we thought
· the only place you could have a
successful amusement center
as in an enclosed mall.'
is becoming more destination oriented than in
e past. At one time we thought the only place you could
e a s uccessful amusement center was in an enclosed
Then we found we could operate in an open air
Then we found out we could operate on the
premises of an open mall, but not necessarily in the mall.
And now we're seeing some very nice places being built
o the street that are doing great business, and I think it's
wonderful.
I think this kind of expansion is great for the industry
~
as long as it's being done with forethought. -If the
opera or is making a long-term committment to being a
professional in our industry, if he's managing his business
properly, if he's keeping his store clean, if he has the right
kind of employees, and if he has the right kind of
atmosphere to encourage the family environment, then
he is helping this industry grow.
What I am conerned about are those people who are in
this business for the quick buck, such as investor groups
whic h really have no idea about our business but see it all
as a great tax write-off. I think some of these people are
not being properly counseled on what it is our business
really means, what it means in terms Of managing and
replacing equipment. I am truly concernetl that the quick
buck artists could give legitimate operators a bad name
and make municipalities and local authorities take a
ne~ative view toward our whole industry.
PLAY METER, June 1, 1981