Today we’d like to introduce you to Whitney Boyer and Jeremy Smith.
Whitney and Jeremy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Jeremy and I moved back to Macon after spending a few years living in Atlanta. We bought an Antebellum home in the InTown neighborhood, utilized historic tax credits to do some updates and began enjoying the downtown lifestyle. We really loved the progression our downtown was making, but it seemed to be lacking something to do between meals. There were plenty of great restaurants and drinking establishments, as well as late night live music, but we often found ourselves with nothing to do between lunch and dinner.
We were already looking for work a little closer to home, as Jeremy was still commuting and working full time in Atlanta, so we decided to explore what we perceived to be a gap in the market. After a few months of market research, we put together a business plan and presented it to NewTown Macon. We were graciously offered funding through their business loan program.
It took about 4 months of construction to get our space ready, but almost exactly a year after we first conceived the idea, we opened our doors on December 2, 2016.
Our space and our business is ever evolving. It’s almost shocking looking back on photos from the grand opening. The space is so empty compared to now. We started out with about 20 games and have more than doubled that through this first year.
Has it been a smooth road?
There are always obstacles when building something from scratch. Jeremy and I had very little experience in the service industry and none in the arcade industry. We realized early on that we would need help, so one of the first things we did, was hire an experienced bar manager, Andy Haney. Andy was paramount in our menu and bar design, hiring and establishing procedures and daily operations.
On the arcade side, Jeremy had some experience working on computers, but had never seen the inside of an arcade until we bought our first machine the summer before opening. He joined several online hobbyist sites and taught himself to read arcade manuals. He now does all of our arcade repair and maintenance.
On the business side, learning all of the appropriate rules, regulations and industry standards took some time. Fortunately, Macon has a very helpful and proactive business licensing department that was able to coach us through the many steps necessary to becoming a legally operated business.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Reboot Retrocade & Bar – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Reboot Retorcade & Bar is a 3700 square foot space dedicated “nerdy” cocktails and classic arcade games, pinball machines, retro console games, board games and yard games.
We currently have 35 individual arcade cabinets with a total of 50 games, 7 pinball machines, 9 retro gaming consoles with over 200 games, around 100 board games and yard games on our “indoor lawn” space that include corn hole, giant jenga, and giant cup toss.
All of our arcade and pinball machines take 1 token to play ($0.25) and all of the console games, board games and yard games are free to play for customers.
Our walls feature “nerd” art by local artists that can be purchased. All of our artists set their own prices and take home between 90% and 95% of the purchase price!
We host a range of weekly events trivia, movie bingo, and team Cards against Humanity. We also host special events including our 1 year anniversary coming up December 1st, which features an entire night of free arcades and pinball, and our upcoming Triwizard Tournament and Yule ball December 14th-17th. 4 full days of all things Harry Potter!
We strive to be a place where nerds and nerds at heart can come together and play.
Pricing:
- Games are 1 token per player. Each token cost $0.25
- Drinks range in price from $3 to $8
Contact Info:
- Address: 566 Cherry Street, Macon, GA 31201
- Website: www.rebootmacon.com
- Phone: 478-621-4861
- Email: GameMaster@rebootmacon.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/rebootmacon
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/rebootmacon
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/rebootmacon
- Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/reboot-retrocade-and-bar-macon
Image Credit:
Reboot Retrocade & Bar
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