Page 34 - BCM_April_2024

THE BEC INTERVIEW

of labor — certainly creates challenges. Oh, and staying in on the Hudson River that relies heavily upon its arcade.
compliance with all the regulatory issues. In addition, we have a new concept launching in Harford
(Connecticut) that will be heavily arcade dependent.
At your Spins Bowl locations, how important are the lanes
as a venue for bar and restaurant sales, and are there any Is there anything you do for arcade operations today that you
special challenges there? didn’t do back at the beginning? How did that evolve?
Most of our food-and-beverage is served on the lanes. We’re focused on branded merch in our E-Claws and
We’ve added self-ordering kiosks to every one of our ven- redemption stores. This past year we became very focused
ues, which we believe enhances the customer experience. on merchandising our plush for our cranes and now we
We are rolling out kiosks throughout all of our venues and exclusively use branded products — whether Marvel,
have had nothing but positive feedback from them. They Mario, Barbie, et cetera. We find it dramatically helps with
allow us to track food-and-beverage revenue from corpo- generating revenue.
rate headquarters, which SKUs are selling, and we can cen-
trally control pricing displayed on the kiosks. In addition, Is redemption as important a part of the mix today as it was
this facilitates our goal of minimizing cash and eventually then?
becoming cashless. Absolutely, and we put a lot of effort into making sure
our redemption stores are properly merchandised.
Most operators would say food-and-beverage is the most
challenging part of the operation. Agree? What are your thoughts on virtual reality? Is there a format
Food-and-beverage is always the most difficult. But that you prefer?
we’re putting a lot more focus on this category. We hired For our operations, we like attractions that do not need

“Food-and-beverage is always the most difficult. We’re putting a lot more
focus on this category. We hired an executive chef and we’re making a
big attempt in 2024 to grow this revenue, focusing more on presentation,
consistency of SKUs across the portfolio, cost of goods, etc.”

— Bill Diamond

an executive chef and we’re making a big attempt in 2024 to be staffed. We generally fail at it if we need to staff the
to grow this revenue, focusing more on presentation, attraction. For us, at least for now, we’re only interested in
consistency of SKUs across the portfolio, cost of goods, et new attractions that do not need to be staffed.
cetera. Technology is also playing a big role in how we’re
improving the food-and-beverage side of our business. [In What is your league profile at GPNY and Spins Bowl loca-
addition to installing] kiosks at all of our venues, we also tions? Is it a big part of the mix?
utilize a cloud-based application where we can monitor What’s surprising is that, even with our bowling centers
what is being purchased across the entire platform. We so focused on league bowling, league revenue makes up
can monitor down to what SKUs are being ordered in each only roughly one-third of bowling revenue and only about
kitchen, quantities and what pricing we’re being charged 17% of revenue overall. The important part of this reve-
from the distributors. All of this info flows seamlessly up to nue, of course, is it is almost entirely during off-peak hours,
an online portal that our executive chef can monitor from which is why it is so important to maintain and to keep a
corporate. In addition, we are now instituting branded good relationship with the leagues.
plating and cups across the portfolio, as well as standard-
izing how all items are plated. As with any community-based, family entertainment busi-
ness, keeping them coming back is a key to success. What
I know you’re an arcade fan. Do you operate any other com- do you do to keep your guests returning?
plementary FEC attractions? We try to focus on providing a positive and engaging
Yes, our flagship location is the Grand Prix New York experience. We do this through customer service, clean
Racing. That 120,000-square-foot venue has a massive and well-maintained facilities, special promotions, a strong
arcade. And we have a great venue in Peekskill, New York, social-media program managed by corporate, and a com-

BEC 32 APRIL 2024

3/13/24 7:24 AM
030,032,034_BEC_Interview_0424.indd 32
030,032,034_BEC_Interview_0424.indd 32 3/13/24 7:24 AM