By Paul Catala
Tribune correspondent
Walk down the stairs at this house and
get ready for action.
On the first floor of their home in New
Port Richey, Larry and Charlene Santangelo
have set aside 1,900 square feet as their own
rockabilly juke joint.
Among the furniture circa 1950s, a faux
antique jukebox blares the era's big hits on
compact disc. Nearby, friends and family can
save their quarters and play the Joker 2 and
Combat Girl pinball machines tilt-free.
"I have a large ex-
tended family. Everyone
comes over ready to
play," says Larry, 36.
"It's a happy room. If
you're not happy there,
we kick you out."
The Santangelos
aren't the only family
who've decided to allot
living space for this type
of fun space, either.
Around Tampa Bay,
Florida and the United
States, more families
are turning living and family rooms into per-
sonalized game and recreation rooms.
Catering to the popularity of such rooms
locally, Game Gallery Amusements and Rentals last fall opened a
showroom at its amusement and vending
business store and warehouse in Tampa.
Gallery President Andy Kline said his
sales for home games have doubled in the
last three years and so has his inventory.
Kline said he and other dealers nationally
attribute such increases to members of the
baby boom generation, now in their 30s and
40s, wanting to play games they played in arcades when they were young. With changes in today's commercial outlets, these people
needed places to put these games - and a place to buy them.
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Andy Kline
- Position: President, Game Gallery Amusements and Rentals,
7941 N. Armenia Ave., Tampa
- Business: Sales, rentals and service of
new and antique amusement machines.
"We'd been selling to the (commercial)
gameroom and bar market," Kline said in a
recent interview. "We thought, 'Now's the
time to get into the home market.'
"Every day, customers come by and say
they've been looking for a place to buy
games like this but didn't know where."
INSIDE Game Gallery Amusements and Rentals's 2,000-
square-foot showroom, customers can choose
from jukeboxes, slot machines, pool tables,
pinball machines, video games, foosball ta-
bles, air hockey tables and electronic dart
machines.
Many of the machines being sold are an-
tiques or new equipment made to look like
older games. Kline said he regularly attends
vending equipment auctions to buy collect-
ibles and newer games that are used for
rentals at parties.
"A lot of executives like to rent them for
business parties," said Kline, who also is
president of the gallery's parent company,
A.S.K. Distributors, Inc. "They'll rent 20 or
30 machines for parties. We did four parties
for the Super Bowl."
All of Game Gallery Amusements and Rentals's equipment is
cleaned, reconditioned and offered with a 30-
day warranty, Kline said.
To make machine service more conve-
nient, he also opened a service center at Game Gallery Amusements and Rentals. There are few places to take
amusement games for repairs, so he figured
the space could be used to service his own
machines and those from other businesses.
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Harry Farr, Game Gallery Amusements and Rentals's service
manager, said he has his own way to mea-
sure steady growth in the home gameroom
business in the last two years.
These days, Farr said, the increased pop-
ularity has caused him to be "on call" seven
days a week. With two other technicians, he
specializes in fixing older equipment at
homes in Hillsborough and Pinellas.
"We're selling more and more to the pub-
lic," Farr said. "We're seeing a steady in-
crease in home sales and we're getting more
house calls. Depending on the age of the
equipment, we'll tell you if it's worth fixing."
AMID THE latest
electronic games in Game Gallery Amusements and Rentals's show-
room, antique and older
machines, such as
a 1931 Jennings slot ma-
chine, wait for owners.
Slot machines must be
at least 20 years old to
sell legally for home
use, Kline said.
Most of his home
sales remain with newer
machines, at least technologically.
"People want the new machines to look
old. People like the antique look," Kline said.
Originally from Hollywood, Kline said his
venture into amusement game sales started
in 1975 when he bought four video games,
struck deals to put them into bars around
Tampa and serviced them.
Through the late 1980s, he continued his
service route and, in 1991, opened a ware-
house in south Tampa. He opened the show-
room in October.
Four full-time employees - Farr, Char-
lene Santos,Jackie Ciliverto and Mark Trio
- keep the games blinking as the company
moves to expand sales beyond its local base.
"There's no reason to set a roof on other
locations," he said. "People everywhere want
to play."
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