How To
How To: GAMING
Get in on the Game Use games to create an interactive experience in your bar.
C
ustomer retention is the name of the game, and for some establishments— well, they’re taking that sentiment literally. Ways to hook customers and get them to stay a little longer, spend a little larger, and come back with a few more friends, may look different for every crowd. But for bar patrons whose goal is likely nothing more than to eat, drink, and be merry, your answer may
Pro Tip Want to bring in more millennials? Games may be your best bet as more and more of this generation is getting in on games.
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Bar Business Magazine
lie in providing a means of good old friendly competition.
And what better way to provide one than with interactive and social games?
What’s Old is New Again Old-school games like shuffleboard, darts, billiards, and even retro arcade games are suddenly “new” again and are being tapped by a growing number of innovative operators to incorporate in their bars (and not just the dives). These vintage games aren’t meant to attract an “old-school” crowd. In fact, it’s quite the opposite—more and more millennials are getting in on these retro games and others as well. And these games may be your best bet for bringing in those millennials, as a 2016 article in Forbes titled “Millennials Gone Mild” admits an unsettling reality for bar and nightlife owners everywhere: young Americans aren’t drinking like they used to. Younger generations, and really all bar patrons, are now looking for an experience when they go out to drink.
AHoles Take, for instance, the AHoles game, invented in 2017 by Mike Rivard, whose idea for the game came from throwing cornhole bags against a wall in his office one night. But this wasn’t just any wall, it was one made from Western Red Cedar, a material that provides the basis for the gardening products under his company, Gronomics. Though Gronomics planted its roots in 2008 as a company of innovative gardening products and accessories, the line quickly expanded to include outdoor furniture, games, and even chicken coops by 2013. Just shy of a year in launching AHoles, the game is already taking off with 800-1000 bars carrying it throughout the country as well as a few outsiders in New Zealand and Germany. Not bad for a game that
July 2018 barbizmag.com
Photo: Shutterstock/ Artem Oleshko.
By Andria Park
