Industry Arcade is a private arcade shop in New Westminster available for 60, 90 minute and 2-hour rental sessions. Pricing is based on 10 guests. For different-sized groups, please send them an email listed on their website.
Question: How are you supporting other local businesses?
Answer:
We like to buy as locally as we can. We have some amazing neighbours in the Sapperton Industrial Park and the Sapperton neighbourhood more generally. Ultra Limited Screen Printing does our screen printing for all our arcade swag, like t-shirts and hats. Also, Seen Signs creates all our signage for the arcade as well as vehicle wraps, stickers and some of the art on display in the arcade. We love recommending local eateries to our guests. We supply guests with a document that contains names and phone numbers of a few places that either does take away or deliver in the area.
We also have an amazing relationship with our neighbour Another Beer Company. We love telling our guests that we have a brewery next door. As a destination rather than a drop-in facility, people are really excited to hear that they can make a night of it by stopping into ABC before or after their arcade rental. Beer and pinball are a great pairing! Around the time we opened, ABC produce a beer called, Tilt or Die, which highlighted the occasion. The beer can showcased art and decals created for the occasion by Seen Signs.
Question: What social and environmental practices are you proud of?
Answer: We are so proud of the reach and impact the arcade has had during such uncertain times. The arcade opened approximately 6 months into the Covid-19 pandemic. The space, a warehouse at the beginning, was full of arcade and pinball machines we had removed from various pubs and restaurants due to covid restrictions. While we needed to pivot our business strategy to stay economically viable, we also quickly recognized that the pandemic was going to be difficult for many reasons and that we had the means to create something that was fun and safe and could distract people from what was going on around them.
In the weeks before the arcade opened, we auctioned off playtime at the arcade to raise money for a toy drive organized for the BCCH oncology unit. The children are then able to choose from hundreds of toys from a treasure chest toys as they receive their treatments. Looking back, the arcade hadn’t made any money yet. The toy drive was rooted in the same principle as the arcade—fun and brought a bit of joy in otherwise difficult times. Shortly after, through a member of the New Westminster diaspora, we became aware of a little boy from their new community who was at Ronald McDonald house and had been recently deemed terminal. We were also able to open our doors to him and his family and donate playtime at the arcade to them with the hope of bringing a bit of joy and light to them during a dark time. In the spring, we asked our social media followers to nominate a Frontline worker that they knew and we invited them and their family to the arcade for a free play session. Creating joy in otherwise difficult times has really influenced how we contribute to the community around us.
For us, the amusement business has always been about sharing our love of games and the psychological toll of the pandemic was difficult for so many for so many reasons. We feel so lucky that we can share it with others. We receive such heartfelt thank you’s from guests. One particular guest, during the thick of the pandemic, just kept saying thank you over and over, she said her kids hadn’t been so happy for months. At the time, there were so many restrictions and there was so much worry, kids, parents and grandparents left a little bit lighter after a visit. It was a joy to see people smile again.
Four out of the five of us who work at the arcade are even from the Sapperton neighbourhood. Opening during the pandemic, we were acutely aware of the risk that our staff members were taking on working with the public. In an effort to keep everyone as safe as possible, we committed to keeping all of the arcade’s financial transactions online to eliminate as much face-to-face contact as possible. One of the added environmental benefits of keeping the transactions online is the lack of paper waste created. We are proud to be from New Westminster and the community that this city provides us.
Follow @industryarcadeshop on Instagram: