Music & Games
Amusement centers face challenges reopening: a report from the front lines
Amusement center operators share notes on their initial efforts to reopen following COVID-19 closures. Challenges include deploying new operating procedures, knowing what sanitation products to use and more.
May 11, 2020 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times
Reopening an amusement business after being closed for a few months is a multi-disciplinary undertaking. Capital, goodwill, patience and luck are required.
Amusement center operators reported from the front lines on their reopening efforts during a webinar last week sponsored by the American Amusement Manufacturers Association, the third in a series on reopening.
Three things are already clear: 1) patrons and employees alike will need to follow new procedures than pre-COVID-19, 2) business recovery won't be a fast process, and 3) there is much to learn about sanitation products to protect exposure to viruses.
Centers deploy new operating procedures
Bob's Space Racers in Holly Hill, Florida, recently reopened after being closed for a month. The amusement center now requires employees to wear masks at all times, which is difficult in the hot weather, said Jack Cook, company president.
Hand sanitizers have been placed throughout the facility, he said, and employee meals and breaks are now staggered.
"We're asking everyone to please follow the SOP (standard operating procedure), use some common sense," he said.
Cook has also deployed a home-made hand sanitizer which he built using parts from one of his game machines since he has found hand sanitizers difficult to find.
His biggest concern is what employees are doing when they're not at work.
"If they (employees) bring something in, we could be totally shut down," he said.
Scene 75 Entertainment, an Ohio based chain of entertainment centers, has not yet reopened, but the company already requires employees to wear masks at all times and work in different work spaces, said Jonah Sandler, founder and CEO. He plans to install social distance makers in the queue lines. He also plans to use disposable menus, disposable utensils and more limited menu.
Sandler said he will distribute the bowling balls differently; they will not be on racks. He will also put hand sanitizers near skeeballs and basketballs.
One listener said they put out fewer basketballs and skeeballs in the game so there are fewer to sanitize, but Sandler noted that this could affect the pleasure of the game.
To make guests feel comfortable, Sandler said it is important to demonstrate that the business has invested in guest safety. "People are going to be hesitant about spending money during the recovery," he said.
Sheryl Bindelglass, CEO and CFO of Sheryl Golf, an amusement industry consultancy, agreed with Sandler on the importance of gaining customer trust and encouraged operators to produce videos demonstrating sanitation practices and promoting them on social media.
"You don't get that trust overnight," she said. "It's not going to happen overnight. They're not ready to come back yet."
Bindelglass recommended having hand sanitizers with the company's logo on it.
Bone Daddy's House of Smoke, an eight restaurant chain in Texas, has opened one of its restaurants and has deployed several new procedures. There is now an employee who opens the door to let people in and out, said Mike Leatherwood, founder and CEO. There is also someone who keeps track of how many people are in the restaurant to comply with the occupancy limit.
Sanitation practices are also stricter. A clean cloth is placed on a table for every party, with a six person limit per table. Every other table has been removed to ensure social distancing. There are disposable menus and plastic utensils, and no condiments on tables.
Leatherwood is also considering requiring reservations for everyone who dines in, and having all guests pay at the table rather than at a cashier.
To date, the one restaurant that has reopened is doing 40% of the pre-COVID-19 volume.
Getting employees to come back to work has also been a struggle, noted Leatherwood, since they would lose their unemployment payments.
"It would be almost impossible for us to reopen all of our restaurants," he said.
Game density still unresolved
The density of games in the floor space is a big issue for amusement centers, especially for multiplayer games.
Cook said it is not yet certain what the government will require in this area. "There are so many things that change every day, it's really hard to get a handle on what we'll need to do," he said.
Frank Cosentino, senior vice president, Bandai Namco Amusement America Inc., based in Santa Clara, California, said he has noticed people at four-player stations are not six feet apart. He wondered if plastic screens will be necessary for such games.
Sanitation products require a learning process
One challenge is there is no cleaning product that has been proven effective against COVID-19.
There are coating products that will reduce the amount of time it takes for a virus to die on a surface, Cosentino said. He is also looking at a non-toxic spray to use in conjunction with the coating.
"This would be able to be an active agent on these items if you're wiping them down during the day, it would kill it off in five minutes, but it's not going to prevent the next person who walks up to the game if they're right behind them from potentially getting something if someone's just sneezed or coughed," Cosentino said.
John Gustafson, Ph.D., professor and department head at Oklahoma State University's biochemistry and molecular biology department, said it's important to read what the manufacturer puts on the label. Some disinfectants last longer than others.
Gustafson also said it makes more sense to have hand sanitizer available than to have patrons wear gloves since they cannot play games wearing gloves, and they have to wash their hands once you remove the gloves.
He also warned about the use of UV lighting, a technology used in the medical industry.
"UV lighting is incredible at killing microbes, period, but it's also incredibly effective at causing skin cancer," Gustafson said. "You would never want to expose customers to something like that," he said.
Asked about using ozone machines as a disinfectant before and after the location opens, Gustafson was skeptical. He said there is no evidence to show that at concentrations that do not exceed public health standards that ozone is effective at removing many odor causing chemicals. If used at those concentrations, ozone applied to indoor air does not effectively remove viruses.
"You want to talk to the manufacturers and you want to see evidence to demonstrate that these systems are effective," he said.
"We'll never be able to mitigate all risks," Sandler said.
Image courtesy of the American Amusement Manufacturers Association.
About Elliot Maras
Elliot Maras is the editor of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times. He brings three decades covering unattended retail and commercial foodservice.
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