Play Meter

coin
operated
~~vstems
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GREENWALD INDUSJRIES
1340 METROPOLITAN AVE
Dept . P
BROOKLYN. N Y 11 23 7 · TEL 212 456-6900
TH EX • U 8'
SPACE
WARS
by Cinematronics
it never stops earning
contact your
local distributor
10
veloper in the United States. "My telephone biU for
that one month," he recalls, "was $800."
As a result of that effort, he landed a lease at the
Six Flags MaU in Arlt"ngton, Texas. So he and his
wife, Carol, pulled up their roots and moved to
DaUas. The Singers now have four children - Stacy,
Jamie, Leslie, and Emily.
A n interesting success story, this month's
Coinman seems to have a lot of things going for him.
PLA Y METER: Where do you see yourself in the
overall scheme of the coin-op amusement machine
industry?
SINGER: I don't really relate myself to the
amusement industry very much. The shopping mall
amusement centers are really apart from the street
operators. However, I am presenting the amuse-
ment industry to the shopping center industry in
a new and creative way.
PLA Y METER: We understand that when you first
contemplated getting into the industry you ran up
quite a large telephone bill canvassing shopping
center developers across the country. What kind of
reaction did you get when you made those original
calls?
SINGER: The developers were very reluctant- in
fact, some still are- because they felt the
amusement center image was not one they wanted
in their malls. On the whole, though, they were
courteous; they just didn't want us in regional
shopping malls. They didn't believe the amusement
centers could be viable sources of income for them
and , at the same time, be right for the malls.
PLA Y METER: When you opened your first
amusement center, you had no previous work
experience in the industry. How did you
compensate for this lack of expertise in the
beginning?
SINGER: I worked long hours at that first store
and learned the business. That first location was
1,000 square feet. We spent about $3,000 to '$4,000
for renovations. We installed carpeting and awning',
with canopies over the games. My wife picked the
name "Nickles and Dimes," and it sounded great at
first. Then when we opened up, people came in
asking "Where are your nickel and dime machines?"
We immediately decided that future locations
would need another name, that is, if there were to
be future locations.
PLA Y METER: What did you learn about the
industry from that first store?
SINGER: I learned that location is everything.
With that realization , I began looking for a better
location to establish my second store and found it in
Sherman, Texas. We called it the Gold Mine. Then
we had the ball rolling. We opened a third store in
San Antonio, and after that, still with the
conviction that location is everything, I took the
next big step, I got into an out-of-state shopping
center, the Omni complex in Atlanta. Through it all
we stayed around 1,500 feet. We didn't start
looking for bigger tores at that point.
PLAY METER, August, 1978