Sega is to open its first FEC under the Prizezone brand at Hatfield, north of London.
The venue will be the first of a chain of Sega FECs “not necessarily all in the UK” and will be cashless following a deal with debit card specialist Intercard.
Revealing the news at the IAAPA trade show in Florida this week, Sega managing director Paul Williams said the company had chosen Intercard after evaluating all of the rival card systems on the market. The work will be carried out by Intercard through its European distributor Electrocoin.
Gabino Stergides of Electrocoin said the Hatfield location was with the Galleria shopping mall. “We are delighted that Sega has chosen Intercard after studying all of the competition. They liked our system’s reliability, security and technology, plus the return on investment,” said Stergides.
Prizezone will contain 50 games and other pieces of equipment, with a few small rides, and will house a retail store for Sonic and Sega branded toys and gifts.
Roger Pennington, CFO at Sega, told InterGame: “We are already into operating, of course, with around 500 pieces of equipment in locations across Europe, under the management of David Burnham, but this is our first complete centre. It will cover 3,000sq.ft with mainly redemption games.”
Image: Left to right, Lynda Brotherton, director of marketing at Intercard; Scott Sherrod, Intercard CEO; Sega’s Paul Williams; Gabino Stergides of Electrocoin and Intercard’s vice president of international sales, Alberto Borrero.
