Play Meter
Issue: 1977 October - Vol 3 Num 19 - Page 8
COINMAN OF THE MONTH
CHUCK FAI
coin-operated games industry, and Chuck Farmer is
good evidence of that. As vice president of
marketing for Shaffer Distributing of Columbus,
Ohio, Chuck is presently handling more promotions
than one would think possible. Tournaments,
exhibitions, and sales promotions-all have become
a way of life for this month's Coinman.
Chuck began his professional career in the
pharmaceutical business, after graduating from
Ohio State University. And he worked for Wyeth
Laboratories until about twenty years ago when he
got the calling to join the coin industry. "It was a
natural thing for me," he said. "After all, my
father-in-law is Ed Shaffer, president of Shaffer
Distributing. "
Shaffer Distributing has been around for 5J,. years
and is now distributing every major game line in
the United States. Presently, the firm is serviCtng a
three-state area- Ohio, West Virginia, and Ken-
tucky.
Chuck is J,.1 years-old, married (his wife's name is
Jeanne), and he has three children (Sherry, 17;
Julie, 12; and Jeff, 9).
He is very much the gamesman both in and out of
the office. In the office, though, that energy is
funneled into promotions such as his foosball and
pool tournaments which have been meeting with
great success. Out of the office, he transforms into a
ten-handicap golfer (He quickly qualifies that by
saying "It's a very tough course"). He's also an avid
follower of football and is active in coaching youth
sports, specifically little league baseball and
football. In addition, he is quite active in church
functions.
.
Though he's been in the business for twelve
years, perhaps none of those years have been as
rewarding to Chuck as 1977. He's got a $25,000
foosball tournament on his hands and a large,
probably the nation's largest, pool tournament.
And his other promotions also have the earmarks of
success.
With all this interest in promotions, he seemed to
us just the man who could give us some hints about
picking up an industry that is just coming out of its
annual summer slump.
We understand that you're
involved right now with several table game
promotions. Why do you find this necessary at the
distributor level?
FARMER: With the price of equipment going up as
high as it is, the operator is ending up with less and
less money to work with. That obviously makes it
harder for the distributor. How can he sell an
arcade piece for $l,995-even if the piece is
guaranteed to make a lot of money-if the operator
can't meet the overhead costs of buying new
equipment? So we found ourselves faced with
having to come up with ideas to help the operator
get more money out of his present equipment. And
promotions and tournaments, we found, were the
answer. If we can help the operator get more
PLAY METER:
8
October, 19n, PLA Y METER
CHUCK FAI
coin-operated games industry, and Chuck Farmer is
good evidence of that. As vice president of
marketing for Shaffer Distributing of Columbus,
Ohio, Chuck is presently handling more promotions
than one would think possible. Tournaments,
exhibitions, and sales promotions-all have become
a way of life for this month's Coinman.
Chuck began his professional career in the
pharmaceutical business, after graduating from
Ohio State University. And he worked for Wyeth
Laboratories until about twenty years ago when he
got the calling to join the coin industry. "It was a
natural thing for me," he said. "After all, my
father-in-law is Ed Shaffer, president of Shaffer
Distributing. "
Shaffer Distributing has been around for 5J,. years
and is now distributing every major game line in
the United States. Presently, the firm is serviCtng a
three-state area- Ohio, West Virginia, and Ken-
tucky.
Chuck is J,.1 years-old, married (his wife's name is
Jeanne), and he has three children (Sherry, 17;
Julie, 12; and Jeff, 9).
He is very much the gamesman both in and out of
the office. In the office, though, that energy is
funneled into promotions such as his foosball and
pool tournaments which have been meeting with
great success. Out of the office, he transforms into a
ten-handicap golfer (He quickly qualifies that by
saying "It's a very tough course"). He's also an avid
follower of football and is active in coaching youth
sports, specifically little league baseball and
football. In addition, he is quite active in church
functions.
.
Though he's been in the business for twelve
years, perhaps none of those years have been as
rewarding to Chuck as 1977. He's got a $25,000
foosball tournament on his hands and a large,
probably the nation's largest, pool tournament.
And his other promotions also have the earmarks of
success.
With all this interest in promotions, he seemed to
us just the man who could give us some hints about
picking up an industry that is just coming out of its
annual summer slump.
We understand that you're
involved right now with several table game
promotions. Why do you find this necessary at the
distributor level?
FARMER: With the price of equipment going up as
high as it is, the operator is ending up with less and
less money to work with. That obviously makes it
harder for the distributor. How can he sell an
arcade piece for $l,995-even if the piece is
guaranteed to make a lot of money-if the operator
can't meet the overhead costs of buying new
equipment? So we found ourselves faced with
having to come up with ideas to help the operator
get more money out of his present equipment. And
promotions and tournaments, we found, were the
answer. If we can help the operator get more
PLAY METER:
8
October, 19n, PLA Y METER
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).