Play Meter

passing costs
( ont. from Page 5 )
"A service charge is wonderful, if
you can do it," Glass said . "But it 's
really very d iff icult. We haven ' t gone
into it yet ; we're just playing it by ear
for now."
He also cited operators who are
slow to change their pr icing as creators
of problems in that area .
"You get some operators who
won ' t go off three-for -a-quarter,"
Glass sa id. "That always creates a
problem. In fact, one operator in an
outlying area near he re called me and
asked me how I got my route to go to
two ·for-a-quarter; he sa id h is competi·
tor won't go to that and it's hurt ing
him .
" But there are other example s," he
said , " like the dart games. When they
first came out they made money at
one for a quarter, but now they don ' t
do anyth ing at all at that pr ice. So
operators are starting to put them out
for a d ime and they're making money
again. Instead of making $3 a week at
a quarter they're making $18 a week
at a d ime, so really ra ising pr ices isn' t
always the answer."
Glass also noted a problem with
location owners whose attitudes
toward operators' pr ice rai sing does
not correspond with their attitudes
toward other peopl e wi th w hom they
do bus iness.
"Some location owners don't want
you to ra ise your prices, but if the cost
of a case of beer goes up a dime,
they'll charge a nickel more for each
can and make $1 .20 extra for them-
selves," he bemoaned . "But if you
want to ra ise your prices on a jukebox
or something else, then it 's an entirely
d ifferent situation i n the ir way of
th inking. "
And perhaps the rei n I ies at least
part of the secre t for operators who
are trying to convince their locations
that they must get more money to
counteract rising opera t ing costs.
Meanwh ile, John Lotus of K ing-P in
Amusement Co . in Lans ing, M ich . said
he is offering h is locat ion owners a
chance for an added source of revenue,
per hap s to lighten the "st ing" of
changing h is commission arrange·
men ts.
Perhaps Ma lcol m K . Wallace, the
sole owner and operator of Novelty
Amu sement Co . in Newport, Vt ., had
th e best long·range planning idea of
anybody when he went into business
27 years ago .
"I never gave anybody 50 percent,"
he said . "I've always been 60-40 with
front money on music."
That front money arrangement
varies from locat ion to location, Wal -
lace said, depending on the number of
"wall boxes" at each location. He gets
$1 per month fo r each wall box. and if
there are none at a given location, he
" We il/te rn/pt tonigh t 's game to bring
yOIt a speciaL aI'lIIOUI/Cement from th e Wh ite House. '
operates at a straight 60-40.
He said h is machines are set at two
for a quarter and five for a half-dollar,
and "I don't intend upping that for
the present ; times are tough enough in
this country now.
From the survey, Play Meter found
that most operators feel changing com-
miss ions is the best way to combat
rising operat ing costs, simply because
upp ing pr ice s w i ll eventually result in
decreased play on location.
•••
fuel crunch
(Cont. from Page 5)
re-working her route that was echoed
by other operators throughout the
country.
"I have taken a long look at my
route and have tried to combine as
many trips to outlying areas as I can,"
said Mrs. Holl ingsworth, whose regular
route is largely rural.
"For instance, I have begun ser-
VICing locat ions in two outlying areas
every other week instead of once a
week, and am in that way saving
my self a trip."
Mr s. Holl ingsworth added that her
collections this year have been "run-
ning a fract ion lower, but it hasn't
hurt me much. "
While most operators interviewed
agreed with Mrs. Holl ingsworth that
their collections in 1974 had either
not dropped substant ia lly or were ac-
tually running ahead of 1973, other
operators haven 't been so l ucky.
Among operators who have felt the
fuel squeeze in collect ions were those
whose routes depend ma inly on resort
areas.
Malcolm K . Wallace of the Novelty
Amusement Co . i n New port, Vt ., the
so le owner and operator of h is music
and games concern, is an example of
an operator who has been drastically
affected by the problem .
"Some locations are off as much as
50 percent from last year ' s collec-
tions," Wallace said .
He blamed much of that bad year
on resort locations that si mply didn't
have the visi to rs they had a year ago.
But he qu ickly added that the Ver-
mont weather th is summer has left
much to be des ired.
" All we had all summer was rain,
rain, rain and very cool nights," he
said .
Wallace was hop ing to make up
some of the lost re venues with summer
ski resort business, which is beg inn ing
now.
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