Since 1970, the Greenspan family has operated two popular arcades on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland. Sportland boasts more than 200 video and redemption games and nearby Fun City has 140. Jerry Greenspan recently upgraded his arcades with a hybrid cashless technology system from Intercard. Now customers can pay with cash or credit to play the games at these exciting oceanside arcades, giving Greenspan the best of both worlds.
Veteran operator Greenspan had noticed that increasing numbers of customers were using credit cards to buy game tokens and realized that credit card use would continue to grow. He also wanted to enjoy the other benefits of cashless technology, from increased revenue, reduced coin handling and less theft to less time spent on game maintenance for coin and token jams.
But cash customers are still 40% of Greenspan’s business, and he didn’t want to lose his cash customers in the transition. “Not everybody uses credit cards, especially [impulse players] who are walking on the boardwalk and just want to play the cranes or play some of our games that are facing the boardwalk,” says Greenspan. Intercard’s system allows players to pay by coin or play card, so he enjoys the best of both formats.
However, it wasn’t cost-effective to convert all his games to cashless, since some older games are difficult to adapt (he plans to phase those out eventually.) With Intercard’s hybrid system, he could leave some games coin-op only, while the rest were converted to allow customers to use coins, tokens or a play card.
Greenspan chose Intercard because of its reputation for quality and service. “I spoke to people on the Jersey shore that used Intercard,” he says. “The system works, it’s very robust, the equipment has held up overall. We’re very satisfied with it,” he says. “[Intercard’s] response time is great when we have issues. We call tech support and they’re able to help us navigate the system.”
Revenues have increased as much as 30% since Greenspan installed his Intercard system. That’s partly due to new customers paying with credit cards, and their tendency to play more when using a play card instead of coins or tokens. “The credit card number is probably all new money,” says Greenspan. “It’s a big amount of money.”
The Greenspan family began in the arcade business in the 1970s when Jerry’s father, a developer, found himself without tenants for a commercial building he had built along the boardwalk. With the start of the summer just weeks away his father’s business partner suggested they fill the empty storefronts with arcade games. Jerry Greenspan took over the business in the 1990s.
“Jerry has two amazing places. They are some of the best arcades I have seen anywhere,” says Todd DeMott, Greenspan’s Intercard sales rep and a veteran arcade operator. “It’s right on the boardwalk and now that he has a hybrid system, they are unbeatable places for fun and convenience.”