The lease has been signed and Glenside’s Classic Game Junkie owner Frank Stanchek Jr. is ready to push play on the opening of a second retail retro gaming and repair location at 311 W. Main St. in Lansdale – with an arcade.
“Yup, we finally did it. We've signed a lease for a second shop set to open at 311 W. Main Street, Lansdale, PA sometime in November,” wrote Classic Game Junkie on its Facebook page on Friday afternoon, which has received an overwhelming thumbs up from the Lansdale community and its clientele. “It's a bigger space, and in addition to a new Game Junkie retail store, we will be teaming up with our friends at Retroware to offer an arcade in the same 3,200 square foot space.”
Classic Game Junkie buys, sells, trades, and repairs all retro and new video game systems and consoles. Retroware Games is a video game publisher and developer, merchandise distributor, and proprietor of arcade machines, according to its Facebook business page.
“Lansdale looks like a fantastic Main Street area: A very up-and-coming spot with the borough pushing hard to make it a great place for its residents and businesses,” said Stanchek. “The borough is very excited about the idea, as there seems to be a massive lack of entertainment options in Lansdale in general.”
Stanchek said his business has been going strong in Glenside for 13 years with amazing success.
“We have an absolutely massive following, a huge selection of product and a good reputation for what we are doing. And we like to do it big with a major emphasis on quality and a boutique approach,” he said. “We also have a great relationship with Retroware and several other large social media personalities who give us tremendous exposure online.”
Classic Game Junkie, he said, has the ability to bring in lots of big gaming social media influencers in his area of focus.
“Our Glenside location has been featured in a few movies, YouTube videos, and a documentary that featured on Amazon Prime a few years ago,” he said.
According to Classic Game Junkie’s website, Stanchek Jr. began an online business of selling and restoring games and consoles out of his shed. Then, he moved on to full repair services, before the increase in foot traffic in his backyard necessitated a 1,500-square-foot retail store.
If it deals with strictly video games and game culture, then Classic Game Junkie is the expert. The business does everything from console repairs (overheating and the dreaded Red Rings of Death), and accessories repairs, to fixing cracked cell phone, tablet, PC and Mac screens and custom console designs and modifications. Their website states they deal in “everything from Pong to PS4.” This includes retro games (Atari, NES, Genesis, TurboGrafx), modern classics (PS2, Xbox, Wii, DS, PS3, Xbox 360, WiiU) and new games (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, 3DC, Switch). The company was named Best of Philly in 2013 for Video Game Repair by Philadelphia Magazine, and currently holds a 4.8/5 on Google Reviews.
On top of offering repair services, consoles, and games, Classic Game Junkie will also deal in HDMI replacements, charging ports and micro-soldering repairs. There is a plan to do Pokemon and Magic card sales as well, but no events yet.
“It’s very important when dealing with so much vintage merchandise to have a good knowledge of repairs and restoration,” he said. “I’m a small business guy who really tries to go out of his way for the customers. I have a big passion for gaming, retro gaming and the like since I was a kid.”
Classic Game Junkie will takeover the entire frontage of 311 W. Main St., Stanchek said, and eyes a mid-November opening, possibly before Black Friday. Its storefront will sell everything from the original NES and Sega Genesis to the newest hardware and software.
“Our buildout is not complicated, so we should be OK to get running quickly,” Stanchek said. “One side will be Game Junkie, and the other side will be the Retroware arcade.”
The tentative arcade plan – (Sorry, Stanchek is not dropping any game names right now, but did hint at head-to-head fighting games, dancing machines, unique music games, and lots of 1980s classic machines) – is to not charge for individual plays or accept coins or cash in the machines.
“We will be doing more of a general admission payment plan where you pay a flat fee for the day and play as many things as you like,” Stanchek said.
He believed Retroware and Classic Game Junkie’s plan will not be applicable to Lansdale’s laws.
A venue with arcade cabinets and a place to congregate and hangout has not been in seen in Lansdale. A reason for that may be the law on the books in Lansdale Borough when it comes to amusement devices, specifically coin-operated ones.
Lansdale Borough Council members are investigating a potential update to parts of the antiquated “Chapter 133: Amusement Devices,” which went into effect back in 1972, per the Borough Code. Per the code, a coin-operated amusement device is defined as “Any amusement machine or device operated by means of the insertion of a coin, token or similar object for the purpose of amusement or skill and for the playing of which a fee is charged.”
The legislative intent of the law on amusement devices was to protect the health and safety of the community regarding such devices:
It is noted by the Borough Council of Lansdale that often the use of amusement machine devices or entertainment devices involves the congregation of a great number of individuals, including but not limited to the youth of the Lansdale Borough community and that by the very nature of the machines, there are significant moneys involved and because of the moneys involved and the congregation of adults and other individuals, said use requires certain police power of the community to be invoked so that there is no fraud, crime, violence or other public disturbance involved with the use of such machines and that the operators and licensees of said machines, in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, should be licensed and, therefore, for the reasons set forth above and those by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it is incumbent upon the Borough of Lansdale to license the use of said machines.
Lansdale Borough code currently authorizes an annual license fee for each coin-operated amusement device operator. The code also states that all devices must be in plain view of anyone frequenting any place where such devices are used.
The most interesting aspect of Chapter 133 involves space requirements for coin-operated devices. Per the law, in the case of an establishment where there are six or more machines in place, there must be at least three feet of open space on each side of the machine. If two machines are adjacent to one another, then there must be six feet of space between machines, per the code. Furthermore, there must be four feet of space for the customer directly in front of each machine. If two machines are opposite one another, then there must be at least eight feet of open space.
Violators of the code must either pay up to a $1,000 fine or be sentenced to 10 days in borough jail or 30 days in county prison, according to the code.
In the past two decades or so, a few video game-based businesses have come and gone in Lansdale. (Remember Play N Trade anyone? Reclining Dragon?) But Stanchek believed times have changed, especially with the advent of the Internet and retro gaming coming back around. It may be a risk to open such a business in Lansdale, but Stanchek sees nothing but opportunities for everyone.
“There are numerous companies showing up these days who are publishing physical releases, and even new releases for older consoles,” Stanchek said. “They are still making games for these old machines, with more companies getting into it year.”
Stanchek said he looks to help his neighboring businesses – like Well Crafted Beer underneath him – by boosting foot traffic.
“We hope to be able to bring them a lot of extra business,” he said. “The town needs entertainment options. The upcoming escape room (at the former CBD store location) seems like a great addition as well. Hopefully, everything goes according to plan. It’s going to be huge; it’s going to be fun. Everybody is absolutely pumped up. We’ve had a fantastic response.”
Classic Game Junkie will tentatively be open Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
See also:
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Lansdale’s ‘The Archive’ is Keeping Physical Media Alive
Grocery Outlet Named Lansdale Business Of The Month For September
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Upcycling Nonprofit to Host Grand Opening in Lansdale Saturday Afternoon
