My arcade opening tomorrow in Utah, The Game Grid Arcade

Shaggy June 9, 2008 15
My arcade opening tomorrow in Utah, The Game Grid Arcade

UPDATE: We have had to move since I did this original post. I currently have a larger location inside the Valley Fair Mall at Suite C128, with many more games, more space and much better visibility than the first store, which was demolished to make way for a fancy mall entrance.

Well this is it – the “moment I’ve been waiting for”. I am ready enough to open up my arcade tomorrow (or if something really bad happens, Wednesday at the latest). I say ‘enough’ because it’s not 100% ready but I can’t afford to keep waiting this month as bills are going to start coming in here shortly. The big hurdle is getting the PC LAN setup – the computers are built and the OS is loaded but now comes the network which is the fun part and it’s going to take some time to properly set it up. The arcades are ready to go minus a couple of older cabinets as I believe I have mentioned but where my grand opening won’t be for another week and half I will be using the time to complete those minor issues.

Chase HQ2 isn’t in yet – I do not know why it has taken so long to ship out as we ordered it from Namco a couple of weeks ago and I have already received Blazing Angels and Big Buck Safari in less time than this. Hopefully it will arrive later today after I post this. I also am getting a couple of vending machines in to provide some sort of snacks to people.

For tokens I am going with 6 tokens per dollar – I had planned on 7 but my change machine isn’t that customizable so 6 will do.

Also you will notice the logo at the top – a big thanks to Connary, a reader of the site who created this for me. I won’t have the sign up for a couple of weeks as the mall finally is deciding on it today so for the mean time I will have an OPEN LED sign in the window and I will try and get some vinyl lettering for the door.

Either way I am excited to provide another arcade into Utah (Salt Lake City area, although West Valley City is the exact location). If any of you are in the area of the Valley Fair Mall, please drop in an check it out. The Utah arcade scene isn’t bad but I hope to add to it what I can.

 

[The Game Grid Arcade website] [Facebook page for The Game Grid] [Discuss on the Forum]

15 Comments »

  1. elvis June 9, 2008 at 11:32 pm - Reply

    Congratulations! I’ve been following this for a while now. I wish you every success. 🙂

  2. Old School J June 10, 2008 at 12:57 am - Reply

    This is a wonderful achievement. Very best wishes for the opening and a bright and prosperous future. Hope to hear lots more as good word of mouth spreads and your arcade goes from strength to strength. Thank you and take care.

  3. Slonie June 10, 2008 at 1:14 am - Reply

    Congratulations, an, best of luck with it!

  4. Neil June 10, 2008 at 3:06 am - Reply

    congrats, I hope you clean up! 🙂

  5. peshue June 10, 2008 at 3:47 am - Reply

    Congratulations and good luck. If I were in the area i’d stop by, but well Michigan is a long ways away.

  6. driph June 10, 2008 at 7:34 am - Reply

    Congrats, it’s looking great!

  7. Sgt. Wafer June 10, 2008 at 8:42 am - Reply

    Congratulations, I hope it does well.

  8. Shaggy June 10, 2008 at 1:36 pm - Reply

    Thank you guys, I appreciate the support. Naturally when I plan on opening something has to go wrong – the monitor on my 1942 burnt out last night so now I need to find a cap kit for it. This is another reason I’m thinking of getting some LCD monitors when I can afford too. LCD’s just seem easier to deal with (in my mind due to my experience with them)

  9. connary June 10, 2008 at 6:54 pm - Reply

    🙂 I’ll be there to support you! Maybe not for a couple weeks, as it’s a bit of a drive from where I’m at, but I’ll definitely be showing up soon. Best of luck!

  10. twistedsupreme June 10, 2008 at 10:35 pm - Reply

    Congratulations dude!

  11. twistedsupreme June 10, 2008 at 10:36 pm - Reply

    love the logo by the way 🙂

  12. Fredrick2003 June 11, 2008 at 3:13 am - Reply

    Congratulations on getting everything up and running. Games that I would definitely play are House of the Dead 4 and Gauntlet primarily. I would go if it wasn’t so far away… Maybe I will plan a road trip soon.

  13. editor June 11, 2008 at 1:20 pm - Reply

    Congrats – and good luck. Any news on the Blazing Angels yet?

  14. Shaggy June 11, 2008 at 1:31 pm - Reply

    Yes, it arrived a week ago. I’m not sure how much I got it for though as they didn’t say. I’m still waiting on Chase HQ2 though – I’m wondering if some of my harsh comments on Namco’s negative attitude about arcades lately is reason for the delay 😛

    My air hockey table will be here this weekend sometime – I’ll be happy to add that to my garrison. It’s looking like I won’t be getting Aliens though as the seller is a flake.

    BTW – thanks to all of your comments guys! I appreciate the support.

  15. Molloy June 11, 2008 at 9:34 pm - Reply

    Congraturation! You success! A winner is you!

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