Super Mario bothers: 4 years later, business owners still fighting arcade bylaws
Couple with passion for arcade collection says pandemic has made things much worse
For Brad and Maryanne Eyers, opening up a classic arcade in New Westminster has been like trying to beat the 1987 video game Contra: time-consuming, difficult and costing them more than a few quarters.
The Eyers own Capital City Arcade in New Westminster, one of the few places in the Lower Mainland where the main attractions are classic games from the 1970s to 1990s like Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Street Fighter.
It's a project they have been pursuing since 2016 — but with great difficulty, Brad Eyers said, because of what they and others have called "archaic" laws in many Lower Mainland cities that restrict or even ban arcades.
"They were super scared of having an arcade open. For no reason. Just old, 1980s stereotypes," he said.
Watch old CBC footage of the hot new trend in 1982 — arcade video games:
In New Westminster, arcades were only permitted in a few specific locations like malls and movie theatres. The Eyers' goal was a smaller arcade café or gaming bar.
New Westminster finally allowed the Eyers to open just over a year ago, in July 2019, on a restricted temporary business licence with conditions Eyers said hurt their bottom line, like no alcohol sales and limited operating hours.
Then, the coronavirus pandemic left the arcade closed for four months earning no income and, Eyers said, no support from either his landlord in terms of rent relief or from the city in terms of flexibility.
"Right now, it's time for helping small businesses and the last four years hasn't been a really great time for me as a small business trying to fight to stay open," he said.
Eyers said the four-years-and-running fight has cost the couple close to $100,000 in expenses and lost opportunities and could mean game over for the arcade.
Open with restrictions
The temporary permit expired in February, but Eyers said they're allowed to use it while they pursue the bylaw change.
That leaves them with little certainty, he said, because if the change isn't approved he won't have a licence at all. And he says the terms of the licence are costing them.
Under the temporary licence, they have to close at midnight each night, earlier than bars in the city.
They can't sell beer or wine, a deal breaker for most people who inquire about booking the space for private events.
It's frustrating, he said. He feels other businesses are rapidly getting patio exemptions and other breaks during the pandemic but his situation is going nowhere.
The City of New Westminster, in an email received after this article's publication, blamed the pandemic for the latest hold-up and said it's affected all other development-related applications in the city.
A spokesperson said the city's work was expected to have finished before council's summer break.
"Staff are now re-engaging in the review of development applications and council's consideration of Capital City Arcade's application is expected in fall 2020, after the required community consultation and input is gathered over the summer," the spokesperson wrote.
"Staff understand this has been a challenging and lengthy process and the impact of COVID-19 on our entire business community has been incredibly stressful. Staff are committed to continuing to work with this applicant and look forward to bringing the application to council in near future."
'These are the history of games'
Eyers said business was steady before the coronavirus pandemic hit B.C. That helped them survive being closed.
They reopened last weekend with pandemic control measures in place like mandatory masks, disinfection procedures and reduced capacity.
But Eyers said the first weekend was slow. Many players aren't ready to come into an enclosed space with high-touch surfaces built to be cozy, evoking the arcades of old he and Maryanne used to frequent when they were dating in the 1990s.
The machines in the arcade are from their personal collection, which now includes, he estimates, 180 machines. Maryanne bought their first cabinet, Centipede, at an auction around 1994.
"These are the history of games. This is like the black and white movies," he said.
Eyers feels his story speaks to bigger issues of red tape keeping businesses from succeeding.
Depending how the arcade does in the next couple of months, he said, and whether or not the city grants them their bylaw change, they may pull the plug.
"This type of business ownership was never going to be a huge moneymaker … We knew that going in," Eyers said. "We didn't expect to blow our life savings."
