RePlay Magazine Podcast with Rich Babich
RePlay Magazine Podcast with Rich Babich
This RePlay Magazine Podcast episode just might be from the most exotic location we’ll ever have as Randy Chilton visits with Game Exchange of Colorado’s Rich Babich, who was docked in Bora Bora at the time of the chat. Rich and his wife of 50 years, Bev, were celebrating last year’s golden anniversary with a 4-and-a-half-month cruise, seeing the world. On the business side, Rich has sure seen the world of coin-op change over his almost five decades in the industry, which started on the operations side. Today, his distributorship sells just about as many games to the industry as he does to the home enthusiast. (The retail side of things has been built up by his son JJ.) And did you know that back in the 1980s, Rich was also a manufacturer for a bit? He teamed up with an engineer to develop Hot Seat, which he said was the first dual-axle motion simulator. There is much to this conversation from his early days in the industry, working with family, the importance for our industry to give back to the children and families who play our games and more. Give it a listen!
Kineticist’s take
Rich Babich reflects on 50 years in coin-op, from operator to elite pinball distributor and AAMA Hall of Fame inductee.
Synopsis
Rich Babich, owner and founder of Colorado Game Exchange, discusses his 50-year career in coin-op entertainment spanning from arcade operations to pinball distribution. He details his evolution from working at Funway Freeway to building one of North America's largest independent pinball dealers, his strategic pivot away from competing with major distributors toward niche markets (home retail and barcades), and his recent induction into the AAMA Hall of Fame, which he credits to industry service and giving back.
Highlights
- Colorado Game Exchange sells as many new pinball machines as the four largest distributors (ABS, Schaefer, Moss, Bettson) combined, mostly to residential customers
- The pinball business represents a significant niche market with better margins than competing in large family entertainment center distribution
- The barcade segment is a growing commercial niche that originated from pinball enthusiasts unable to accommodate more machines at home
- Rich Babich and Rick Kirby created the AAMA Hall of Fame concept seven years prior by researching bowling and park industry precedents
- Nicola Play arcade (Aurora, Colorado) demonstrates that the nickel arcade business can achieve equivalent per-square-foot revenue to quarter arcade models through extended customer dwell time
- American manufacturing companies, particularly Roth Hills and Stern Pinball, have become the most important suppliers in the industry alongside Japanese manufacturers
- Large distributors (ABS, Schaefer, Moss, Bettson) receive backend money from manufacturers for hitting specific volume targets that smaller independent distributors cannot access
- Rich Babich was nominated for and inducted into the AAMA Hall of Fame without his prior knowledge, being informed by Pete Gustafson
Entities
- ABS· company
- Automated Amusements· company
- Betson· company
- Colorado Game Exchange· company
- Funway Freeway· company
- Moss· company
- National Company· company
- National Entertainment Network· company
- Replay Magazine· company
- Schaefer· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- AAMA Hall of Fame· organization
- Ohio State University· organization
- Bev Babich· person
- Dikembe Mutombo· person
- Gary Stern· person
- Jim Stanfield· person
- JJ Babich· person
- Pete Gustafson· person
- Randy Chilton· person
- Rich Babich· person
- Rick Kirby· person