Play Meter

Coinman of the Month
GARLAND GARRETT
GarkLnd Garrett, Sr., president of the AMOA and
this month's Coinman, started his career in the
coin-op industry back in 1936 in Danville, Virginia.
Back then an area operator who was recovering
from minor surgery needed a driver to chauffer him
around for a couple of weeks. Mr. Garrett,
however, remained around a little longer than two
weeks - about fifteen years to be exact.
There was a brief speU of 23 months in between
jobs for Southern Vending Company in DanviUe,
when he worked for a shipyard in Wilmington,
North Carolina, but then a return visit to his old
employer was aU that was needed to get him back
into the fold.
In the early 1950s he finaUy struck out on his
own. He noticed that there were no cigarette
machines on the streets in Wilmington,' so he moved
back there for the sole purpose of going into the
cigarette machine business. He bought out a few
cigarette machine vendors and quickly his business
began to grow. He was also in partnership with a
friend in another line of coin-op equipment and in
1955 bought him out. "From there I just continued
to grow," Garrett said. He bought out one business
after another and found himself acquiring more and
more jukeboxes and arcade pieces, as weU as
auto-photo machines.
A t present his operation extends into five
states - North Carolina, Tennessee, South Caroli-
na, Florida, and Georgia (around the Augusta
area).
Though he once operated about 130 auto-photos,
that total is now down to 75. His cigarette machines
stiU comprise a kLrge part of his operation, about
140 to 150 machines. He also operates about 250
jukeboxes and, in the summertime, about 1,750
amusement games. That amusement game figure,
8
however, drops to around 1,000 during the winter
months because he does good business in the
summer months in the resort areas.
Mr. Garrett is 59 years old, married (his wife's
name is Evelyn). His son, GarkLnd Garrett, Jr.
works in the business with him. And his daughter,
Linda Jean, lives in Danville, Virginia. In aU, this
month's Coinman has five grandchildren-aU boys.
He's an avid fan of aU major America?1
sports-baseball, basketbaU, andfootbaU. And he 's
quick to add that the AtkLntic Coast Conference is
"probably the strongest in the nation . .. Mr. Garrett
is a longtime Yankee fan who can talk firsthand
about Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and aU the other
Yankee sluggers. He is especiaUy fond of talking
about having seen Phil Rizzuto break into the
majors from the Yankee farm club in his hometown.
He's a nine handicap golfer who belongs to two
country clubs, Pine VaUey and Echo Farms. His
busy schedule as president of the AMOA, however,
hasn't left him any time to practice his golf swing,
but he promises that come November he 'U become a
common sight once again on the fairways .
He is also very active in his church, The First
Baptist Church in Wilmington, where he serves on
the board of deacons and also on the church's
finance committee. His other activities include
membership in the local chamber of commerce
where he belongs to a committee that is looking for
new business for the area. And he also sponsors a
little league basebaU team and a bowling team .
For the past year he has been right in the thick of
the copyright discussions with ASCAP, SESAC,
and BMI. So with the registering date of January 1
fast-approaching, we thought this would be the best
place to begin our discussion with the AMOA
president.
November, 1977, PLAYMETER