What's new

Shall I open a pinball cafe?

Matt

Matt

Registered
Joined
Sep 9, 2016
Messages
12
Location
Farnham
I've got a harebrained idea of opening a small cafe with some pinball machines. I own a small retail unit and unfortunately the tenant has just gone bust. Before I try and re-let it I'm seriously thinking about having a 'pop-up' pinball cafe. It's in Farnham, Surrey and I need some pinball help (a lot of help actually).

The unit is divided so one room would be for the pinballs separated by a thick brick wall from the cafe area which will help with the sound. My questions include:

- I have 4 pins myself but is it a good idea to use my own machines or rent them?
- What revenue could I expect (Farnham is a town of c. 30,000 with a 3,000 art student college).
- will older machines produce the same revenue as newer machines (might give me an excuse to buy a Dialed in!)
- I can do basic repairs but anyone know some who could help?
- what's the best way to charge - £1 in the machine, pre-paid card, new contactless card?
...and what should I call it?

I haven't really started on the cafe side - but I know who to talk to. No guarantee that it will happen but it's always been a bit of a dream and now I have an opportunity.

Matt
 
I’d say go for it !
You already know what’s involved in renting/buying a venue. What machines do you own ?
I think older machines would be fine although I would recommend having at least one newer title (preferably a licensed game that casual players can relate to).
Make sure you get some advertising done around that art college. Maybe do a student discount day.
 
I've wanted to open a barcade for ages. Maybe I'll do it one day. Good luck dude, hope you go for it
 
Matt said:
I've got a harebrained idea of opening a small cafe with some pinball machines. I own a small retail unit and unfortunately the tenant has just gone bust. Before I try and re-let it I'm seriously thinking about having a 'pop-up' pinball cafe. It's in Farnham, Surrey and I need some pinball help (a lot of help actually).

The unit is divided so one room would be for the pinballs separated by a thick brick wall from the cafe area which will help with the sound. My questions include:

- I have 4 pins myself but is it a good idea to use my own machines or rent them?
- What revenue could I expect (Farnham is a town of c. 30,000 with a 3,000 art student college).
- will older machines produce the same revenue as newer machines (might give me an excuse to buy a Dialed in!)
- I can do basic repairs but anyone know some who could help?
- what's the best way to charge - £1 in the machine, pre-paid card, new contactless card?
...and what should I call it?

I haven't really started on the cafe side - but I know who to talk to. No guarantee that it will happen but it's always been a bit of a dream and now I have an opportunity.

Matt
Click to expand...
If you can walk from town to the unit then why not. Fascinated to understand what turn over you might work on. Thinking the same myself in Hereford. Loads of properties in and around the centre with a huge college set-up.... question is, is it worth it!!
 
Leeds would be a great place for a pinball cafe. One of the largest student communities in the country.
Plenty of beards and 8 bit video game t-shirts in evidence too. :)
 
Yeah ideally you want hipster central. Craft beer and ideally craft gin and you'll make a mint. Talking barcade obviously.
 
There's a very good reason pins are no longer in pubs etc. If your business works as a café then the pins might be a nice USP on top of your revenue. If you are hoping that the coin drop will be a major part of your income then I suspect you could be in trouble.

Location is always going to be a factor.

Do a quick bit of research. Is there a pin situated anywhere in town? Go there on a Saturday and watch how many people put cash into it over a morning or afternoon. If it's sitting there untouched for 3-4 hours then why would your ones do significantly better? Everything I go to our local bowling alley the pin sits there unused while kids play airhockey and shooting games.

Your target market won't be the people on here. Obviously we all love pins and stick cash into them. Would your art students be the same?

You've got two big pluses. As you own the unit you won't be paying commercial rent. Also you already have 4 machines so can dip your tow into the water at a very minimal cost.

I think we've all toyed with the idea of running a barcade at some time. I'm 10 min away from one of the London universities lots of hipsters, beards and craft ales. The reality though is rent and staff costs are a killer.

There's a couple of people on here who might be able to privately tell you there own experiences of running cafes. There's Sam who runs the one in London and there was also the guy who ran the café in Leicester.

Good luck if you do go for it

John
 
go for it, worse case it doesn't work out and you have to try something different! but as John notes above make sure you do your homework to make it as successful as you possibly can.

to quote a friend: "You’ll never know how good you are unless you try. Dream the impossible and go out and make it happen. I walked on the moon. What can’t you do?"

good luck, I'm near Farnham so ill pop round!

Neil.
 
I guess the question is are you a cafe with pinballs or a pinball place with coffee?
 
It all comes down to location and if the cafe with be able to pay for the whole site fees ect, then the pins are the icing on the cake.

If your looking at holding events then you may need to consider parking ect.

If your not able to carry out repairs then an op is the best way to go as you'd just call them when things go wrong and they'd be able to swap machines around when the titles go stale with the regulars.

If the pin space is big enough you could look at forming a pinball club where members will pay to join, this could be a monthly fee or by loaning a pin.

Whatever you do best of luck with it.
 
J.C.Rox said:
I've put my plans on hold to open one in Edinburgh to do a house build but as soon as that's done it's happening. Have a chat to @philpalmer as he supplies other places....
Click to expand...
Get a move and build your house then. We're waiting!

The other option Jon is just build a pin wing to the house.
 
Cmor111 said:
Get a move and build your house then. We're waiting!

The other option Jon is just build a pin wing to the house.
Click to expand...
Cheers Chris, it's a small cottage that we're planning to develop but it has a nice space at the end of the garden so I've been watching @newdos pin shack build for inspiration, might get him to do the electrics he knows more than the average sparky by now!!
 
yeah that sounds like fun Jon - wait til you see the finished box of tricks in my shack!!!! just tweaking the software at the moment!!!

Cheers

Kev
 
barcade pincafe etc best advice is the pins are your usp not your main revenue stream . they will make you venue stand out and best for everyone provide more .games on location。 per coin play unless your opening a massive venue then id .veer to the prepaid .card system
 
What you are looking at is a completely different model of commercial pinball to the one that worked for decades.

Back in the 70s, 80s and 90s it was all about having one or two machines in a pub, club, cafe, sports centre ..... Or having them in a huge arcade.

In your shoes I would not try to reinvent the wheel. I would look to see whether anyone NOW has made a go of it in a venue like yours

See what you can learn from them

Tilt is Leicester was an independent cafe with a separate room with three pinballs in it. Sadly that didn't last long

Tilt in bham is a craft beer and coffee shop with loads of games, maybe 12 or so. That seems to be going well. The range of Pinballs is absolutely top notch.

If you get someone else's machines in, they would maintain them but expect half of the drop. The big benefit of this is that you could rotate machines without having to buy and sell them yourself.


Many of us on here have thought about doing something like this. Or thought about siting our games. So we all wish you well and would love to hear how you get on.
 
Matt said:
I've got a harebrained idea of opening a small cafe with some pinball machines. I own a small retail unit and unfortunately the tenant has just gone bust. Before I try and re-let it I'm seriously thinking about having a 'pop-up' pinball cafe. It's in Farnham, Surrey and I need some pinball help (a lot of help actually).

The unit is divided so one room would be for the pinballs separated by a thick brick wall from the cafe area which will help with the sound. My questions include:

- I have 4 pins myself but is it a good idea to use my own machines or rent them?
- What revenue could I expect (Farnham is a town of c. 30,000 with a 3,000 art student college).
- will older machines produce the same revenue as newer machines (might give me an excuse to buy a Dialed in!)
- I can do basic repairs but anyone know some who could help?
- what's the best way to charge - £1 in the machine, pre-paid card, new contactless card?
...and what should I call it?

I haven't really started on the cafe side - but I know who to talk to. No guarantee that it will happen but it's always been a bit of a dream and now I have an opportunity.

Matt
Click to expand...

Hi Matt,

I've been in the hospitality industry for 15 years in Guildford next door to you and one of my best mates managed the Slug and Lettuce in Farnham, he now owns the Bluebell in Dockenfield, we've got contacts in coffee and beers locally, till companies, catering suppliers you name it we can help, let's do lunch ;)

Cheers,

Jon
 
Thanks everyone - really appreciate the ideas, warnings and support. I have the big advantage of not having to pay rent but I will need to make a profit out of it (a rent equivalent) or know that I can within 9-12 months.

Jon, it would be brilliant to talk to you about this. If I can work out how to contact you privately it would be great to set up a meeting/beer/lunch.

Matt
 
Could you turn this on its head ?

Rent out the coffee shop side of it to a credible coffee shop guy. This gets your income going. Means that a coffee guy is doing the coffee bit.

You put pins in the back ? You take the risk on the Pinball side of this? Put some signs/ neons in the coffee shop to highlight the games in the back

Run tournaments in there to drive footfall. Sell a coffee and game package.
 
Good luck dude. If you build it they will come, pins are definitely in the ascendant at the minute. All the cool kids will want to be a part of the new craze for “ping ball”
 
Matt said:
Thanks everyone - really appreciate the ideas, warnings and support. I have the big advantage of not having to pay rent but I will need to make a profit out of it (a rent equivalent) or know that I can within 9-12 months.

Jon, it would be brilliant to talk to you about this. If I can work out how to contact you privately it would be great to set up a meeting/beer/lunch.

Matt
Click to expand...
Flying South tomorrow but brief trip till Tuesday morning but pm me your number and I'll give you a buzz and see if we can grab a coffee whilst I'm down mate...
 
I visit TILT in Birmingham regularly. One that is very noticeable is that people gravitate towards the most recently installed machines.
I’m certainly no expert but IMHO, rotation of machines is a must.
Pinball Heaven will know which machines get played the most.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Is there any scope to make revenue in the evenings?

The Pinlab I go to in Copenhagen opens up a couple of nights per week and charges around £10 for a few hours access when the games are all on freeplay. It generates enough revenue for them that they can keep the machines running and typically pick up a new one every few months.

They of course have the advantage of being in the capital but with retro gaming making a resurgence you might be surprised by interest from the population of the local college.
 
Having a partner who ran a catering business/cafe, having been a licensee for many years, as well as knowing and having discussed with both owners of Tilt Bar and cafe.
The MOST important thing BY FAR is having a viable business without the pinball machines. The pinball machines will not draw enough business/ revenue if the core business is not profitable in its own right. There just isn't enough of a draw from the machines to turn a profit.
If you want to run a coffee shop and have some machines there as an additional draw go for it, if your vision is running a venue where pinball machines are the main draw then 4 machines of your own is not going to work. You'll need machines rotated on a very quick basis to have any chance of it working
 
I've had serious thoughts about opening a bar/eatery/sports pub/live music venue up here, of course pins too but they'd be icing on the cake and I wouldn't use my own. Whatever you do has to stand as a profitable idea - don't base it around solely pins.
 
I would come to farnham

I go to chief coffee a fair bit

Id def play the new pins more but the older ones are good too

£1 a go seems standard

I’ll burn through £30 or £40 too quick :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom