Some US arcades have been thrown a lifeline by loyal customers helping them to get through the shutdown.
A report in US trade magazine RePlay show that the Abari Game Bar in Charlotte, North Caroliina, has received over $15,000 in GoFundMe donations in a campaign led by a customer. And another in California has had similar help.
Said Abari owner Zach Pulliam: “The virus has taken away a third of our yearly revenue and depleted us of any savings we had. We had to take out two additional loans to cover necessities such as rent and insurance.”
On the GoFundMe donations, he said: “That money is two months’ rent to keep us from closing down permanently. Abari was the dream of one person with a love of games but through all of this support we realise it is a lot more than that now, we are a family.”
The Neon Retro Arcade, that has two locations in Los Angeles has also had more than $15,000 donated by patrons. Mia Guenther is reported in the local press as expressing gratitude to her supporters. “Words cannot express how overwhelmed we are today. Thanks to our incredible community the financial stress of being closed in July has been significantly eased.” She said the money would go on rent for the Neon locations.
