After about 19 months of reconstruction, Pinball Pete’s held a soft opening — an initial test launch — of its new location at 500 East Liberty St Friday. The arcade was previously located in the Galleria Mall on South University Avenue for 32 years until Landmark Propertiesbought the building to construct “The Metropolitan,” an 18-story high-rise development.
The new space features both a main floor and an underground level. Visitors could freely walk in and explore rows filled with various game machines, while employees worked to continue setting up finishing touches throughout the venue.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Tapper Arnold, an employee at Pinball Pete’s, said the redevelopment process was challenging. Arnold said the business had to store material off-site because their new location was not yet ready for occupation.
“We had to move everything to a third party to have it stored outside while this space was developed, so it was kind of hard to have everything tucked away for almost like six months,” Tapper Arnold said. “So once we did finally get everything out, we got it all up and going as fast as possible, and we were able to open in, I think, three weeks.”
Ted Arnold, Pinball Pete’s owner, told The Daily he intentionally planned for the arcade to reopen in time to coincide with large community events such as the Ann Arbor Film Festival and Hash Bash to capitalize on the city’s increased tourism, even if the business wasn’t completely ready.
“I just had a lot of overhead and improvements, and I needed to get it open, just so that the people could get a feel for it,” Ted Arnold said. “Those are really critical times to be open. That’s why we just did what we could and got 90% of the games working and open today.”
Law School student Evelyn Pigott, who attended the soft opening, told The Daily she thinks East Liberty Street’s high foot traffic makes it a good location for the arcade.
“I’ve just been seeing them set up in here for the past few weeks because I live around the corner, so I was curious,” Pigott said. “It was more of a passive thing, but I think it’s a good location for that — maybe there’s a lot of people that walk by.”
LSA junior Hasan Robert Demir, who visited the soft opening, told The Daily he preferred the new location’s ground-level, accessible layout, as the previous one required visitors to use stairs to reach the underground arcade.
“Before, (the arcade) was underground,” Demir said. “I’d say it’s probably easier to walk in now, just because you don’t have to go down a bunch of stairs. I wasn’t sure if they even had an elevator at the other location, and I see that they have an elevator here now, so that’s nice.”
In an interview with The Daily, Ann Arbor resident Francesca Brunelli, who had previously visited Pinball Pete’s original location, said she was happy the arcade reopened in a more visible area.
“When I have someone that comes here to visit me, I always bring them (to the arcade),” Brunelli said. “I’m happy that they opened another place. I would have been sad if it was just closed. I think it’s a place where it’s easy to get to and maybe more visible than the other one.”
After working with other businesses downtown, such as the Michigan Theater,State Theatre, Ted Arnold said he liked the new community around the arcade.
“Now that I know all these people and have met all these people that are helping me … everybody’s just excited because they feel that this arcade is going to turn this street into an entertainment corridor,” Ted Arnold said. “It’s really the heart of Ann Arbor, in my opinion.”
Tapper Arnold said he hopes to ensure every aspect of the arcade, from its machines to its products, works properly for the customers. He said that he and the rest of the staff plan to continue decorating and making the most of the new space, even if it is slightly smaller than the previous location.
“We just want to make sure all the machines are running how they should be, and the product is ready for everyone,” Tapper Arnold said. “We’re gonna keep on putting the stuff up. We have more decorating to do. We want to use all the square footage that we have to the best of its ability, because we lost about 4,000. We had to make it a little smaller, but hopefully it’s better.”
Ted Arnold said he is excited to welcome new customers into the arcade and see what the new location will bring for Pinball Pete’s.
“We’ve got a 20-year lease, and we just are really excited for the future — just letting the people come in and experience the new store,” Ted Arnold said. “I just want to thank all the people from the city of Ann Arbor that have supported us, and we look forward to the future.”
Daily Staff Reporter Grace Park can be reached at gracepm@umich.edu.
