Atari Coin Connection
Issue: Vol 4 Num 07 - 1980 July - Page 4
Operators of the Eighties
July Profile: Melvin & Ronald Getlan, Hartsdale, New York
•
Atari is featuring Melvin and
Ronald Getlan of Amusement Con-
sultants Limited as this month's
Operators of the Eighties. The
Getlan brothers were nominated for
recognition in the Coin Connection
primarily because of their pro-
gressive method of pricing on video
and pinball games.
Amusement Consultants Limited
has approximately 3500 games dis-
tributed between 35 different loca-
tions. Each game center has be-
tween 20 to 400 machines. The
largest game center is located in an
amusement.park, and other centers
are in shopping mall arcades,
restaurants, skating rinks, discos,
and bowling alleys.
For the past six months, all of the
company's top-earning videos and
every pinball game have been priced
at 50¢ per play. Their HERCULES™
games, placed on location over a
year ago, are still priced at $1 per
game for 3 balls.
If you walked into one of the
Getlan's locations, you could expect
to see multiple numbers of the
newest equipment, all priced at 50¢
per play. You might find two
ASTEROIDS™, two GALAXIANS,
one sit-down TAIL GUNNER, a
MONACO GP, one 4-PLAYER FOOT-
BALL™, a SPACE INVADERS pin-
ball, a SIL VERBALL MANIA, and a
FIREPOWER - all demanding two
quarters per play, or one SBA dollar
for three plays.
There are many advantages to
running a large operation such as
Amusement Consultants Limited.
The business is run similar to a
di13tributorship, testing one of j'tist
about every game that is on the
market. The rotation of equipment
is also possible, and, in fact, one of
Atari, Inc.
1265 Borregas Avenue
Sunnyvale, California 94086
Melvin Getlan
Ronald Getlan
.
the most important aspects of a
large ar08.
variety' to the regular customer. Ac-
cording to Ron Getlan, "Constant
change and rotation of machines,
giving customers a variety of
games, is essential. Our customers
are repeat customers who come
back again and again, and we have
to offer them the newest and best
variety of equipment.
Amusement Consultants Limited
has a central warehouse and repair
Attention!
For the past few months we
have featured an Operator of the
Eighties in the Coin Connection.
We hope that other operators have
found these articles as interesting
and i.n formative as we have.
We look at the Operator of the
Eighties column as one way to
talk in-depth with a wide variety
of operators. Atari is interested in
learning about your amusement
games business. If you are willing
to share your experiences with
oth:er Coi."1 8onnection -read13rs,
please write to: Editor/Coin Con-
nection, 1215 Borregas Avenue,
Box 427, Sunnyvale, CA 94086.
facility in Hempstead, New York
where a full staff of excellent elec-
tronic technicians are able to do
90% of their own board repair.
There are three full-time employees
in the parts department alone. Parts
inventory, vital machine informa-
tion, cash control, and other busi-
ness functions are all maintained
on computer.
Serving the customer is also im-
portant to a successful game center,
according to Ron. He does not be-
lieve that having a change machine
is enough in a location; in the
Getlan's arca(les there are always
uniformed attendants -}TaL"lcing the
floor to service the customers and
give out change. The Getlan's do not
believe in putting "Out of Order''
signs on games; when a game can-
not be fixed on location within a
24-hour period, it is removed and
replaced with another game. If a
customer claims that a game is not
working properly, the attendants
have been instructed to give the
customer credit for another game.
In Ron Getlan' s words, ''The
customer is always right. After all
we are not selling a product, we are
only selling time, a few minutes on
a game, we can afford that.''
Amusement Consultants Limited
has recently opened a "new con-
cept'' arcade of 20 amusement
games. The location has space-
theme videos only, and is decorated
in a very futuristic mode. The
Getlan brothers are not sure if, and
how well the idea will work, but
they are willing to experiment.
Atari commends the Getlan
brotl1ers f 01· tl1eir contributio11 to
the concept of innovative leisure.
We wish them the best of luck in the
years to come.
Bulk Rate
U.S. Postage
PAID
Sunnyvale, CA
Permit 317
July Profile: Melvin & Ronald Getlan, Hartsdale, New York
•
Atari is featuring Melvin and
Ronald Getlan of Amusement Con-
sultants Limited as this month's
Operators of the Eighties. The
Getlan brothers were nominated for
recognition in the Coin Connection
primarily because of their pro-
gressive method of pricing on video
and pinball games.
Amusement Consultants Limited
has approximately 3500 games dis-
tributed between 35 different loca-
tions. Each game center has be-
tween 20 to 400 machines. The
largest game center is located in an
amusement.park, and other centers
are in shopping mall arcades,
restaurants, skating rinks, discos,
and bowling alleys.
For the past six months, all of the
company's top-earning videos and
every pinball game have been priced
at 50¢ per play. Their HERCULES™
games, placed on location over a
year ago, are still priced at $1 per
game for 3 balls.
If you walked into one of the
Getlan's locations, you could expect
to see multiple numbers of the
newest equipment, all priced at 50¢
per play. You might find two
ASTEROIDS™, two GALAXIANS,
one sit-down TAIL GUNNER, a
MONACO GP, one 4-PLAYER FOOT-
BALL™, a SPACE INVADERS pin-
ball, a SIL VERBALL MANIA, and a
FIREPOWER - all demanding two
quarters per play, or one SBA dollar
for three plays.
There are many advantages to
running a large operation such as
Amusement Consultants Limited.
The business is run similar to a
di13tributorship, testing one of j'tist
about every game that is on the
market. The rotation of equipment
is also possible, and, in fact, one of
Atari, Inc.
1265 Borregas Avenue
Sunnyvale, California 94086
Melvin Getlan
Ronald Getlan
.
the most important aspects of a
large ar08.
variety' to the regular customer. Ac-
cording to Ron Getlan, "Constant
change and rotation of machines,
giving customers a variety of
games, is essential. Our customers
are repeat customers who come
back again and again, and we have
to offer them the newest and best
variety of equipment.
Amusement Consultants Limited
has a central warehouse and repair
Attention!
For the past few months we
have featured an Operator of the
Eighties in the Coin Connection.
We hope that other operators have
found these articles as interesting
and i.n formative as we have.
We look at the Operator of the
Eighties column as one way to
talk in-depth with a wide variety
of operators. Atari is interested in
learning about your amusement
games business. If you are willing
to share your experiences with
oth:er Coi."1 8onnection -read13rs,
please write to: Editor/Coin Con-
nection, 1215 Borregas Avenue,
Box 427, Sunnyvale, CA 94086.
facility in Hempstead, New York
where a full staff of excellent elec-
tronic technicians are able to do
90% of their own board repair.
There are three full-time employees
in the parts department alone. Parts
inventory, vital machine informa-
tion, cash control, and other busi-
ness functions are all maintained
on computer.
Serving the customer is also im-
portant to a successful game center,
according to Ron. He does not be-
lieve that having a change machine
is enough in a location; in the
Getlan's arca(les there are always
uniformed attendants -}TaL"lcing the
floor to service the customers and
give out change. The Getlan's do not
believe in putting "Out of Order''
signs on games; when a game can-
not be fixed on location within a
24-hour period, it is removed and
replaced with another game. If a
customer claims that a game is not
working properly, the attendants
have been instructed to give the
customer credit for another game.
In Ron Getlan' s words, ''The
customer is always right. After all
we are not selling a product, we are
only selling time, a few minutes on
a game, we can afford that.''
Amusement Consultants Limited
has recently opened a "new con-
cept'' arcade of 20 amusement
games. The location has space-
theme videos only, and is decorated
in a very futuristic mode. The
Getlan brothers are not sure if, and
how well the idea will work, but
they are willing to experiment.
Atari commends the Getlan
brotl1ers f 01· tl1eir contributio11 to
the concept of innovative leisure.
We wish them the best of luck in the
years to come.
Bulk Rate
U.S. Postage
PAID
Sunnyvale, CA
Permit 317
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).