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George Street, Sydney Australia......
The pride of every distributor was their George Street location. But with a decline in business mixed with bad management, there may only be one arcade centre left, after Timezone closed its doors and Galaxy Electronics in financial trouble.
The once "jewel" of Leisure and Allied's crown, Timezone George Street has closed its doors with many of its arcade machines being auctioned today. The undisputed flagship of Timezone, once operated on 2 floors to packed audiences.
Across the road, news is that Galaxy Electronics is in financial trouble with investors in their Warringah, Penrith and Liverpool centres placing the company into voluntary receivership. Litigation action apparently is soon to follow as some of the shareholders are disputing irregular management practices. This follows the recent sale of their Remly Street head office, and liquidation of all spare parts and warehouse equipment.
This leaves A.Hankin's Playtime centre who has been buying the latest machines and seems to be benefiting from the competitor's demise.
What does this mean?
It can be argued with the improved surburban shopping centres, less people are visiting the city. There are less parking problems, less travel time, and surburban attractions such as cinemas & retail shops are high in quality.
However, it can also be argued that arcade operators in George Street have neglected their customers to a point where, as a former operations manager, it is embarrassing to visit the arcades. Poor customer service, lack of new machines or attractions, and poor management has results in customers no longer wanting to visit the arcades in the city.
Gone are the days when an empty cabinet (a machine switched off) would earn $20-30 a week in George Street and where bad management practices could be absorbed in the profits as previously, it was a matter of how much profit was earned (not if profit is earned).
With the closure of Timezone, and troubles with Galaxy, George Street status as one of Australia's centrepieces is becoming a memory.
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