Yahoo Finance Arcade game cabinet maker Arcade1Up sales surge during coronavirus pandemic: exclusive
Sales for a number of companies have suffered since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. But not for Arcade1Up.
Arcade1Up, the company that sells officially licensed arcade cabinets of popular games, exclusively told Yahoo Finance that it met two monumental sales goals.
In less than two years, the company sold its 1 millionth cabinet (which can range in price from $300 - $500)
Sales have surged 96% week-over-week since March.
“We could have never anticipated these numbers given the current state of the world. We noticed that with a new norm, there are new patterns and behaviors that are starting to show. People are obviously spending more time at home, and our Arcade1Up machines have been one of the products chosen to entertain families in these trying times,” says Scott Bachrach, founder and CEO of Tastemakers, which owns Arcade1Up. “Simply put, people realize now more than ever what you have in your home is important. We feel that because our arcade machines have authentic artwork, gameplay and controls, they hit a certain nostalgic nerve bringing people back to a simpler time. It is often said these arcade machines are in ways a time machine and connect our consumers to a part of themselves growing up when they first experienced these games.”
Arcade cabinet sales of popular properties such as Viacom’s (VIAC) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Disney’s (DIS) Star Wars helped push sales over the 1 million mark.
Retro gaming has been in high demand, mostly thanks to 80’s and 90’s nostalgia, and has sent video game prices surging. This is playing a major role in boosting Arcade1Up. A new generation of gamers are excited to have a retro-arcade feel in their home. Some of the new games they’re currently playing are Pac-Man and BurgerTime and Bachrach isn’t worried about the excitement fizzling out, with more games in the pipeline.
“We realize while people are socially distancing, they are lacking social connection. To try and bring our fans closer together, we are rolling out a bunch of Wi-Fi-enabled arcade machines to allow them to connect to one another while gaming, he said. “We are developing many new titles, games and products to have online capabilities as well to add as much value as we can to our products while keeping our fans connected.”
Despite disruptions in the supply chain, Arcade1Up has been able to keep up with demand for consumers. But some are concerned that the company may hit a roadblock at some point. Bachrch feels otherwise.
“We are, of course, concerned about the supply chain but not just globally. When things were bad, even American operations were closed in part. We hold a good amount of inventory domestically to keep up with consumer demand and at points, yes, overseas were slowed down, but even our own operations were closed or operating at a far reduced capacity as well,” he told Yahoo Finance. “We are confident given the trials we have overcome in the last few months we will be more than able to keep up with our partners and consumers demand but want to ensure we do so as safe and cautiously as possible.”
Nick Monte is a producer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MontesMayhem
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit.
