Play Meter

(Co nt inued/rom page 57)
also, a you know, t he cost of parts is increasing
constantly. Unless you are equipped to handle the
repair of video games, the cost is anywhere from
$25 to $50 each. It is necessary to stock a goodly
amount of this type of game if we are to remain
competitive.
That, I would say, is another problem--competi-
tion. You alway have to be up. You can't afford to
slack up at any time. It is a day-to-day business.
You need to money every day.
PLA YMETER: How do you combat the cost
problem?
CALFIN: One of the things we have done with our
managers and our mechanics, who are responsible
for saving money on a day-to-day basis, is to involve
them in a profit-sharing program. They get a
percentage of the profit twice a year. This
stimulate their interest in saving us money. They
have learned to be on the outlook for cost control.
That ha been the biggest help to us . It is good to
have someone there every day watching for
expen e reduction.
PLAYMETER: I suppose you have been greatly
aware of the competition element since you were
the fir t arcade in your area.
CALFIN: Yes, three arcades opened within six
months after we did.
PLAYMETER: How do you cope with this sort of
competition?
CALFIN: I'm glad you asked that question. The one
thing that I make certain of is appeal to the pinball
player . I know we are out there to make money,
the
pool table with
the Velvet Touch
innovators of
the industry
•
•
•
•
•
•
Zenith , Crest, Adjust-a-price
Pool Tables
Sportacard
Sportaball
TV Cocktail Table
Bimbo
United Billiards Inc.
51 Progress St .• Union, N.J. 07083
(201) 686-7030
58
but what we do is et them up so that the pinball
players gets his fair share. The machines are
running well all the time. He can come in on any day
of the week and hi machine will be running as fine
a po ible. That, to me, is the most important
thing becau e even though I am an operator, I am
till a player at heart. I play all the time.
I know the t rend in the industry is to go one play
for a quarter and three play for 50 cents. As far as
pricing goes, I don't feel that the student economy
with which I'm dealing dictates that increase. I'm
dealing with people I need to come back every day
and tay with me throughout their college career.
We have done other things to offset expenses
uch as changing replay cards. Instead of the usual
three or four replay , we have cut that to two. We
have also cut the amount of total free plays from 15
to 25 to omewhere around 10. That eliminates a lot
of long-time free -play.
PLAYMETER: From the arcade owner's stand -
point, is rotation of equipment a problem?
CALFIN: You would think that rotation would be
ea ier in arcade , but the problem we have
encountered is that we try to keep the best
machines in all of our locations at all times. In that
way, we find ourselve with a lot of duplications. It
is really difficult to choose good pieces. It is for that
reason we have chosen to institute a rental
program.
PLAYMETER: Do you hold tournaments and if so,
how often and how have they affected your
business?
CALFIN: Ye , we do hold tournaments in each
arcade at least once a year, but at different times,
of course. The response to the tournaments in our
area was just average. We needed a lot more
promotion than we could afford to do on the scale on
which we are operating. In tead, what we have
gone to is a weekly promotion where we take a
machine that i not producing that much and carry
on pecial promotins in individual location with
pecific machines. We benefit from this type of
promotion on the quick reward basi .
We have found it very difficult to house groups of
people watching one machine in a tournament-type
atmosphere. We had riser et up for spectators in
a tournament I ran in Wa hington, D. C. several
year ago. That proved to be very uccessful. I have
considered close-circuit TV, but the cost makes that
out of the question . I'm looking for national and
regional tournaments in the future sponsored by
large manufacturer and distributors. There have
been succe ful uch tournaments like the recent
one pon ored by the American Pinball Association.
It take o much time, money and organization to
come up with thi sort of thing that it becomes
impractical for the operator to do it by himself.
PLA YMETER: What do you think about the use of
newspaper and radio pots for promotion of arcades
or the amu ement industry in general?
CALFIN: We do have contracts with the student
paper to in ert an ad every week . We have also
publi hed a tudent ID number and the student
with the corre ponding number i treated to a pizza
or pinball games. We have ladies' day, short people
day, that ort of thing. I al o test Bally and Gotlieb
I •
n xt pag I
'