The Electric Circus Retro Arcade in Nuneaton will be closing permanently on July 30th at midnight (not in honour of Rudy but that's our licence!)
The Summer at the Circus IFPA matchplay event will be the last hurrah so lets ALL make it a good one - BBQ ,prizes,giveaways, drink promos, 100 plus ? We can do it!!!
The FIFE Street building is a BIG place (site isover 5000sq feet) with high maintenance and designed for high footfall. This has not been the case since the end of lock-down andhas got worse since the cost of living crisis. The energy hike in October made the business unviable and in want of a better word has limped along. The lack of casual customers obviously filtered into the arcade where video game income dropped to 10% of pre-covid and pinball 50%. Despite the fantastic support of our regular league players and community support for the bigger tournaments , a bar that holds 200 people cannot survive on Tuesdays alone!
I have looked for a much smaller venue both retail and commercial units but nothing viable has been found locally. Business rates kill larger units and smaller ones are just that - toosmall. My health isn't that good so any venue would needstaffing and that all adds to costs. To be frank with you guys,public pinball is not popular enough on its own. It was run here as aloss leader and is done so elsewhere. Those who thought the 50ps paid for machines obviously live on a different planet. Since Christmas the machine takings have not even covered general maintenance.
A few machines are being sold and some may find homes with renters. I have had kind offers to temporarily home my classic games which I am more attached to. I have a lot of stuff(much not owned by me but in my care) not on public display at the pub and safe secure storage for this is being paid for so there is no need for a fire sale. If it doesn't sell I will just store it. There will also be some projects for sale to the hardcore as I make a few decisions.
A few glasses of wine before the next bits..
June 2023 was the 40th anniversary of my first arcade game , a fruit machine that sat in my parents garage.
For so long I lived in a standard semi detached house with 4 big sheds (and no garden!) and between myself and my good friend Jon , had close to 200 pinball machines - but not ONE set up to play. It got ridiculous. Buying this stuff is FAR more addictive than playing it. So I opened the first electric circus in an industrial unit to let the games be set up and played. In all honesty, hardly anyone ever turned up but the rent and bills were low and covered by the paying commercial events like EGX and Revival that we used to do (which have now also virtually ceased) . I would take that unit back in a heartbeat but its not available and in Nuneaton now I'd be looking at FIVE times as much!
I decided that people loved beer and pinball and set about finding somewhere large to combine a bar and arcade. We were priced out of "desirable" Birmingham and looked for over a year at dozens of properties in a wider area. Fife Street was terrifyingly too big but the owners did us a deal. Courtney threw herheart and soul into it and the first year was a steep learning curve.But 363 days later it all came crashing down and the very high standing bills put us in deep trouble. To come out the other side to then face the cost of living disaster is "harsh"
30 machines went when I moved out my house. 30 more when we moved over to Fife Street and 25 more to help ride lockdown.
Now I shall personally (hopefully) get down to a more manageable 40 or so. I will own no arcade video game for the first time since July 1990. No more bandits. One jukebox.
I'm glad my Dad got to see me open an arcade. Itold him I would when I brought home that Circle Skill all those years ago as a skinny and spotty 15 year old oink (yes I was skinny once!)
I thought about jacking it in and selling the lot but the lure of the silverball is powerful. You start to think –ill just keep that one and that one and .. then give up such nonsense.
My partner wants to move to Spain , if my health was better or I had a pension we'd probably be off. But with still a few of my favourite games in the back of the van hurtling through France!
I'm not tied to Nuneaton though I have made some fantastic friends here. Anyone want to team up with a venture PM me! Anyone with or know of a commercial space PM me. The Electric Circus is dead. A Midlands Pinball Club would be great! Pay to enter model in that scenario. I still dream of a UK venue with 100+ games.
Maybe that dream is possible but I can't do it alone.
Good luck to other the other pinball clubs and retro arcades. Support them. Support places of public amusement. The government wants you to stay at home. F++K that
Medieval Madness will be up for sale tomorrow night (it needs a video taking first) My flame proof jammies are at the ready.
Please be nice.
“Pinball Forever” - CENTAUR
The Summer at the Circus IFPA matchplay event will be the last hurrah so lets ALL make it a good one - BBQ ,prizes,giveaways, drink promos, 100 plus ? We can do it!!!
The FIFE Street building is a BIG place (site isover 5000sq feet) with high maintenance and designed for high footfall. This has not been the case since the end of lock-down andhas got worse since the cost of living crisis. The energy hike in October made the business unviable and in want of a better word has limped along. The lack of casual customers obviously filtered into the arcade where video game income dropped to 10% of pre-covid and pinball 50%. Despite the fantastic support of our regular league players and community support for the bigger tournaments , a bar that holds 200 people cannot survive on Tuesdays alone!
I have looked for a much smaller venue both retail and commercial units but nothing viable has been found locally. Business rates kill larger units and smaller ones are just that - toosmall. My health isn't that good so any venue would needstaffing and that all adds to costs. To be frank with you guys,public pinball is not popular enough on its own. It was run here as aloss leader and is done so elsewhere. Those who thought the 50ps paid for machines obviously live on a different planet. Since Christmas the machine takings have not even covered general maintenance.
A few machines are being sold and some may find homes with renters. I have had kind offers to temporarily home my classic games which I am more attached to. I have a lot of stuff(much not owned by me but in my care) not on public display at the pub and safe secure storage for this is being paid for so there is no need for a fire sale. If it doesn't sell I will just store it. There will also be some projects for sale to the hardcore as I make a few decisions.
A few glasses of wine before the next bits..
June 2023 was the 40th anniversary of my first arcade game , a fruit machine that sat in my parents garage.
For so long I lived in a standard semi detached house with 4 big sheds (and no garden!) and between myself and my good friend Jon , had close to 200 pinball machines - but not ONE set up to play. It got ridiculous. Buying this stuff is FAR more addictive than playing it. So I opened the first electric circus in an industrial unit to let the games be set up and played. In all honesty, hardly anyone ever turned up but the rent and bills were low and covered by the paying commercial events like EGX and Revival that we used to do (which have now also virtually ceased) . I would take that unit back in a heartbeat but its not available and in Nuneaton now I'd be looking at FIVE times as much!
I decided that people loved beer and pinball and set about finding somewhere large to combine a bar and arcade. We were priced out of "desirable" Birmingham and looked for over a year at dozens of properties in a wider area. Fife Street was terrifyingly too big but the owners did us a deal. Courtney threw herheart and soul into it and the first year was a steep learning curve.But 363 days later it all came crashing down and the very high standing bills put us in deep trouble. To come out the other side to then face the cost of living disaster is "harsh"
30 machines went when I moved out my house. 30 more when we moved over to Fife Street and 25 more to help ride lockdown.
Now I shall personally (hopefully) get down to a more manageable 40 or so. I will own no arcade video game for the first time since July 1990. No more bandits. One jukebox.
I'm glad my Dad got to see me open an arcade. Itold him I would when I brought home that Circle Skill all those years ago as a skinny and spotty 15 year old oink (yes I was skinny once!)
I thought about jacking it in and selling the lot but the lure of the silverball is powerful. You start to think –ill just keep that one and that one and .. then give up such nonsense.
My partner wants to move to Spain , if my health was better or I had a pension we'd probably be off. But with still a few of my favourite games in the back of the van hurtling through France!
I'm not tied to Nuneaton though I have made some fantastic friends here. Anyone want to team up with a venture PM me! Anyone with or know of a commercial space PM me. The Electric Circus is dead. A Midlands Pinball Club would be great! Pay to enter model in that scenario. I still dream of a UK venue with 100+ games.
Maybe that dream is possible but I can't do it alone.
Good luck to other the other pinball clubs and retro arcades. Support them. Support places of public amusement. The government wants you to stay at home. F++K that
Medieval Madness will be up for sale tomorrow night (it needs a video taking first) My flame proof jammies are at the ready.
Please be nice.
“Pinball Forever” - CENTAUR
.
))
