Play Meter

"I'U go into a smaUer mall if there are a lot of fast
food restaurants or an ice skating n:nk. "
PLA Y METER: What was occuring in the design of
amusement centers?
SINGER: In the beginning, everyone was going
with one motif. Ours was the Gold Mine, which fit
into many malls. We featured the heavy beams like
mine shaft support posts , and brown carpeting on
the floor and walls, but we discovered that many
developers didn't like the Gold Mine style. They
wanted something more theme-oriented. So with
the next location I got, I developed a theme of
Nautilus, and wrote to the Disney people for
assistance. It was great timing because this period
was just before "Jaws" came out, and we featured a
large shark in a tank in the center of the store. This
was in the Newport News, Virginia Newmarket
North Mall.
PLAY METER: Since you're so widespread today,
how do you keep in control of everything?
SINGER: I have a good core of regional and district
managers. Without them, obviously I would have a
hard time controlling my stores across the nation.
PLAY METER: Shopping center managers have
commented on your stores' neat appearances. What
are your rules?
SINGER: We don't allow smoking or drinking of
any beverages. I try to make sure the games are
always immaculate, and I want to make sure there
is no dirt on the floor. I am a great fan of Disneyland
and have gone there just to see how they manage to
keep the park clean. If our customers don't abide by
our rules, we don't let them come back. I'd rather
sacrifice a certain amount of sales than let them
break the rules.
"If our customers don't abide by our rules, we don't
let them come back."
SINGER: We want both adults and young people,
and our patronage seems to indicate that we've
been successful at achieving that. I'd say about
forty percent of our trade comes from adults.
PLAY METER: Do you think amusement centers
will continue in their present form, or will you have
to add fast food or secondary business attractions?
SINGER: No, not as long as the manufacturers
keep coming out with innovative games that pull in
the .money.
PLA Y METER: How is solid state affecting your
operation?
SINGER: It creates a real burden on me. My
managers can fix electro-mechanical games with no
problem, but I've found that they do more damage
trying to fix the solid state games than if they'd just
leave them alone and let a qualified technician look
over the piece.
PLAY METER: Do you have your own in-house
technicians who can fix solid state boards?
SINGER: Yes, we have a full -time technician in
Atlanta and a regional manager in Houston who can
fix boards. I also rely on local solid state
technicians. In some areas it's worth it to p~y the
local technicians more to get the games up and
running again than to wait a week for us to send the
board through our own technicians.
PLAY METER: Do you have an idea of what the
PLAY METER: You said a while back that location
is everything. What is the secret to picking a good
location?
SINGER: The longer I'm in the business, the less I
know about it. I have turned down malls I thought
would be losers, and later they turned out to be
winners, and vice versa. But a rule of thumb I think
you can go by is that if a mall is over 500,000 square
feet, with two major department stores, I don't
think twice about going into it. I will go into a
smaller mall if there are a lot of fast food
restaurants or an ice skating rink. It all boils down
to the most successful centers are where the mall
has the most foot traffic.
ratio of adults to young people is at your
amusement centers?
PLAY METER: What have been your experiences
PLAY METER: How do you implement the rules
and make them stick?
SINGER: I have told our managers, when they
approach someone, do it in an apologetic manner.
We want them to have fun, but we want to keep the
center clean and presentable for everyone.
PLAY METER, August, 1978
13