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RePlay Magazine Podcast - Terry Moss
In Episode 2 of the RePlay Podcast, we chat with Terry Moss (Moss Distributing). In the 1960s, Terry was working in the music industry in Los Angeles when a tragic plane crash claimed the life of his father and pulled him back home to Des Moines, Iowa, to run the family business. We’ll never know how Terry Moss might have shaped the business of music over a lengthy career, but he’s had a significant impact on the world of coin-operated entertainment, growing Moss into a five-office, leading a...
Kineticist’s take
Terry Moss recounts 50+ years building Moss Distributors into a major amusement wholesaler through ethics and work ethic.
Synopsis
Terry Moss, founder of Moss Distributors (established 1961, Moss joined late 1970s), discusses his five-decade career in amusement machine distribution. Following his father and brother's death in a plane crash shortly after joining the family business, Moss took over operations and expanded from Des Moines through Denver, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Kansas City. He discusses navigating major industry shifts (COVID, tariffs, gaming proliferation), the rise of FECs, his philosophy on ethical business practices, a significant buyout by Nelson Peltz's Triangle Industries/Rowe International in 1985, and his current focus on serving new operators entering the FEC market.
Highlights
- Moss Distributors has been in business for 61 years (founded 1961); Terry joined in late 1970s
- Terry's father and brother died in a plane crash in Kansas City, Missouri within six months of him joining the company
- Terry worked as a record promoter for Capitol Records in Southern California before joining the family business
- In 1985, Nelson Peltz bought Triangle Industries which owned Rowe International, and Peltz offered to buy out Moss's operations
- About a year after the Peltz buyout, Peltz acquired National Can/American Can and Snapple, and told Moss to take back his operations
- Moss Distributors was recognized by Arachnid as the largest dart distributor in the world
- Moss Distributors currently operates facilities in Denver, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Des Moines, and Kansas City, Missouri
- Terry is 80 years old and has been in the amusement business for over 50 years
- Moss Distributors does not operate its own machines to avoid competing with customers
- FECs (Family Entertainment Centers) now dominate the amusement operator industry over traditional street operations
Entities
- Arachnid· company
- Capital Records· company
- Goldfinger Amusement· company
- Moss Distributors· company
- Rowe International· company
- Touch Dunes· company
- Triangle Industries· company
- Arizona State University· organization
- Quicksilver Messenger Service· organization
- Ira· person
- Jerry Gordon· person
- Nelson Peltz· person
- Randy Chilton· person
- Stan Chilton· person
- Terry Moss· person