Commentary
How do we as coin-op entrepreneurs respond to COVID-19?
Coin-op entrepreneur Brad Brown cites discrepancies between the potential risks that businesses deemed as "essential" pose of exposing people to COVID-19 and those that smaller businesses pose.
December 14, 2020 by Brad Brown — President, Worldwide Video Entertainment, Inc
How I live my life is defined by the choices I make. As I go through these very difficult times with COVID-19, my choices will determine how I respond, and will reflect who I am.
In war time it is up to our commanders to think and plan strategically. The first thing they do is effectively and accurately identify obstacles. Second, they identify their current strengths and weaknesses to fully assess the situation. Then they come up with a plan of action that moves them towards a path to victory.
COVID-19 has completely disrupted my personal life corresponding with my financial livelihood. On a personal/emotional level, COVID-19 is affecting my sense of self-esteem, self-worth, and in a broader perspective, it is affecting my understanding of what my purpose is today.
We as part of a "coin-op amusement tribe," are dizzy, seemingly at a loss in what we can do other than to endure the response of government towards our industry whose decisions are not in our control or sphere of influence.
How are you responding to this current situation? Maybe you have been like me, receiving calls or texts asking to pick up machines. Emotionally I am responding in frustration, at times I am infuriated at the situation, and sometimes I am downright angry at what appears to me to be inept decisions. It seems that our federal, state and local government officials, who have no entrepreneur experience, have randomly treated our coin-op amusement games sector as "plague spreaders."
We have been dealt a terrible blow. Our entire industry from manufacturers, distributors, family entertainment center owners, street operators and the many suppliers of the products we buy, (toys, stickers, plush) are all massively suffering. Politicians have arbitrarily banned our machines from being turned on based primarily on the initial misunderstanding that COVID-19 was spread by touching surfaces and then putting our hands to our faces. But now, as we all have come to understand, the primary cause of the spread of COVID-19 is by breathing in air from those that are infected. COVID-19 is not heavily spread by surface contact, so the question begs to be asked, why are the restrictions still the same?
Instead of adjusting the policies that were initially made as what was thought to be an effective way to combat the spread, those policies that were intended to protect us have instead turned into an economic disaster. Many "rules" are very unfair at best, and at its worst, seem to allow many giant corporations a hall pass while burdening nearly all of the small main street business owners whom we service.
The discrepancies are evident in how what's described as "essential businesses" (those businesses that are allowed to continue to remain open) and "non-essential" businesses are allowed to operate. "Non-essential" businesses have been handed what can be best described as far more adverse restrictions and enforcement that greatly differs from the big box brethren. Small businesses as viable ongoing businesses are at a disadvantage. These small business owners are heavily constrained from operating at a level which keeps their cash flow positive.
"Essential businesses" are more freely able to avert the stringent enforcements that a small business owner's footprint cannot hide.
Let's look at some of the discrepancies as it specifically applies to coin op.
Convenience stores have handles on drink cooler doors, and they also are allowed to have frozen drink machines which require you to grab a handle and pour your own drink. Convenience stores also have self-serve coffee machines where you choose your drink by pushing buttons. Grocery stores generally have 30-60 cold and frozen food door handles that one has to grab to acquire food.
There are interactive adult amusement gambling machines such as state run lottery ticket machines where you push buttons to purchase an instant "scratch to win" ticket.
Most states with legalized gambling are allowing casinos to operate their slot machines that require either touchscreens, buttons to be pushed, or handles to be pulled. .
ATMs, information kiosks, grocery store self-checkout kiosks, certain fast food ordering kiosks, vending machines of all types and the like seemingly are okay. But somehow touching a joystick and buttons on an amusement game device whose primary demographic is amongst the very lowest risk group of getting COVID-19 is not allowed.
These are uneven policies directly affecting our industry and they also directly affect the very businesses with whom we do the majority of our business.
Restaurants, many retail stores and public entertainment venues such as bowling alleys, movie theaters, trampoline parks, indoor jumper locations, ice skating rinks, roller skating rinks, etc. — those businesses (our customers) have been severely limited in the way they are allowed to operate. By default, those restrictions and policies are reducing their ability to successfully function as ongoing businesses. In many cases this is already leading to their permanent closure.
As I'm experiencing this, in order to comply with distancing rules, many owners have been "forced" to ask me to remove my equipment. These removal requests have the multiplier effect of further accelerating my financial decline by incurring additional expenses for my physical labor costs and storage costs associated with that request. I have been forced to pick up my equipment...and fill up my warehouses. Mine are full.
I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say many coin operators I know may well have two to three years' worth of good working amusement machines squeezed into warehouses, storage units and garages, or are tarp and covered in driveways and patios.
Does this situation describe you or someone you know?
In my next post, I'll address my fears as a coin operator, and identify my strengths and weaknesses as I form a strategic return.
About Brad Brown
Brad combined manufacturing, distribution, and street route operations in 1995 starting with the Striker 1945 series of combat flying video games. Worldwide Video was widely known for buying and selling video games worldwide but was primarily known in the USA for selling video game conversion kits during the 1990’s up until 2001
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