[FSPA] Testing the waters for possible PINCADE in Herndon

[Roland Joyal]

Interesting, and yeah, its easy to open a store selling trinkets, some of the "special" other stuff is a nitemare, and no garauntees with permitting, etc.  Very risky with lots of time and money, hard to pull off ...all just in the hopes of breaking even ...not worth it unless u are out in a super, and i mean super low rent district..  And if it isn't in a semi convenient location with people feeling safe, etc, it doesn't work well.  Btw, i have had, and still have several Moose Lodges, Elk, and American Legions, they often change their mind every time a new board member comes in and has a "new" idea, which lasts until the members don't like it or another board member comes in, with no regard to your investment and time and effort.  



-----Original Message-----
From: ethan via fspa <fspa at fspazone.org>
To: Roland Joyal via fspa <fspa at fspazone.org>
Sent: Wed, May 31, 2017 3:09 pm
Subject: Re: Testing the waters for possible PINCADE in Herndon


A group in Richmond just spun something up and they're running something 
like a moose lodge. They're allowed to have 12 events a month I believe, 
which is enough to cover opening on a Fri/Sat night type schedule. They're 
allowed alcohol, maybe it's members only -- there is some way they're 
doing it.

I had thought about trying to do something similar to what they're doing 
but would have to find at least 6,000 sqft warehousey but climate 
controlled space dirt cheap. And I don't think the business property 
market is there yet -- I mean, retail is dead but that doesn't mean 
landlords are going to admit their losses on paper by leasing at a really 
low rate. I had a 3,800 square foot hackerspace in Norfolk so have been 
through it all before -- dealing with the landlords and scoping spaces.

The other issue of course is permits. Not sure about here but when I 
looked at it in the Norfolk - Virginia Beach area there was a special use 
permit needed (90 days lead time) for recreation hall, and for live music 
(that includes DJs.) Going the museum route gets around the coin drop 
issues, including cost + mechanical + theft and keeps "non-interested 
parties" from hanging around due to entrance fee.

Loudon County needs a computer history / video game museum :-)





> Running a bar in VA is usually an, eventually, losing proposition unless 
> you are one of the rare lucky ones.  Some of my favorite 
> bars/restaurants have gone out of business after hemmoraging money for 
> years.  And I have had many commercial bar as accounts over the years in 
> business and I hear all about their wows and their lack of income at the 
> end of the balance sheet.  I know a bit about the business from 
> listening to all of them, as that was originally the idea many years 
> ago, but the bar/restaurant business has only gotten worse.  Even the 
> properly run places tend not to do that well, there are many factors 
> that contribute to that.  And you have to deal with all the ABC and 
> license and health inspector issues, I don't want to get into all that 
> hassle, and the tremendous expense of a bar restaurant.  Even with a 
> Bachelor of Science in Business Management, I'm smart enough to know 
> that if i don't know what I am doing in that particular area of 
> business, that I should not have any dillusions that I do.  -Roland



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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stephen Jonke via fspa <fspa at fspazone.org>
> To: FSPA Mailing List List <fspa at fspazone.org>
> Sent: Wed, May 31, 2017 11:52 am
> Subject: Re: Testing the waters for possible PINCADE in Herndon
>
>
>
> I'm not near enough, but I do have one question. Why not a barcade? Craft beer+pinball will always get a visit from me!
>
>
> On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 11:39 AM, Roland Joyal via fspa <fspa at fspazone.org> wrote:
>
> Matt, can you send me an email to my personal email address, so I can contact everybody in a separate list?  My address is JoyalRJ @aol.com.   Thanks for your support to pinball!   -Roland
>
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Roland Joyal via fspa <fspa at fspazone.org>
> To: fspa <fspa at fspazone.org>
>
> Sent: Wed, May 31, 2017 11:35 am
> Subject: Re: Testing the waters for possible PINCADE in Herndon
>
>
> Thanks Matt, appreciate it, and being in Reston definitely helps.   And yes, bringing in Avatar, and, by next week GB should be great.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Matt Burke via fspa <fspa at fspazone.org>
> To: fspa <fspa at fspazone.org>
> Sent: Tue, May 30, 2017 7:43 pm
> Subject: RE: Testing the waters for possible PINCADE in Herndon
>
>
>
> HI Roland,
>
> As I live in Reston I support the idea and could almost definitely “man” the location at least 1 or 2 days a week.
>
> Keep me updated and thanks for the new machines @ Mighty Mikes!
>
> Thanks,
>
> Matt
>
> Sent from Mail for Windows 10
>
>
> From: Roland Joyal via fspa
> Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2017 3:06 PM
> To: fspa at fspazone.org
> Subject: Testing the waters for possible PINCADE in Herndon
>
>
> Hey all, hope everyone had a good long weekend.  As a couple of you know, I had a huge effort last year to open a Pincade in Reston, having a proposal on a small, but expensive $200k+ space.  After all the research and work, contract review, and meetings with county officials, it was all thwarted and rejected ultimately by a conservative panel of merchants that thought pinball is "bad" and attracts the wrong crowd.  I can't begin to tell you how much thought, planning, and ultimately incredible disappointment this project entailed ...I will go more into the details at some point in the future because some of you might find it interesting/sad.
>
> So moving on ....I have a tentative plan for another Pincade (not to be confused with a Barcade or place that serves drink/food) operated by a pinball enthusiast/reconditioner for pinball enthusiasts, and I am in negotiations for a space in Herndon, near the Toll road.  As any reasonable businessman knows, pinball arcades (other than niche markets where pinball is secondary to the main business) is a non-starter and a big loss commercially.  Having said that, in an effort to "only" take a small recurring loss, which I am willing to do for pinball, I would need volunteers to man the place on a regular or semi-regular basis.  So I am just testing the waters to see if there is any interest from anyone and how much help they can lend.
>
> The "payback" to those volunteers would be all the pinball they can play while they are there for free.  It would require almost no work and no repairs, just a pinball-knowledgable person to open or close the place and stay for a few hours in the evenings and/or weekends, and they can simply play pinball and break bills for people when customers need it to use the changer, and maybe free a stuck ball on a game from time to time.  It will be fairly low key and low volume.
>
> I see the place open 5 days a week (5pm - to maybe 9:30PM most weekdays) and Friday/Saturday noon till midnight, Sunday noon till 6PM.  This is all speculative, so if anyone even thinks this is something they may be interested in doing one night a week, two nights a week, etc, or for a few hours on the weekend, etc. (with no obligation) please eMail me off-line at JoyalRJ at aol.com   I just want to gauge the interest and possibilities.
>
> Thanks -Roland
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--
Ethan O'Toole

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