616 AMUSEMENTS
A BIT MORE ABOUT
AND HOW IT ALL STARTED!
ABOUT US
We are Grant and Drew, brothers; born, raised, and educated (thanks Calvin University!) in the 616.
It is our pleasure to bring fun, laughter, and nostalgia to West Michigan!
THE EARLY DAYS
In 2004 I (Grant) bought a broken Super Mario game thinking it would be an easy fix and a fun addition to the family rec room. WRONG. I had no idea what I was doing. I left for college and the game sat.
Drew was determined to get it working and spent countless hours viewing online arcade repair forums. After many many hours Drew fixed it, sold it, and made a small profit.
Realizing he enjoyed the project and his profit was more than he made mowing lawns in the neighborhood, Drew stared looking for more broken games. Using the money he made from the first game, he bought two broken games, fixed them, and flipped them. Two games turned into four, four turned into eight, etc.
Drew had a hitch put on the family minivan and the roadtrips began. Many weekends would consist of driving somewhere in Michigan or the midwest to buy a game or a trailer full of games. The basement filled up fast as did the garage (check out the photo - sorry mom and dad :). The hobby continued as Drew entered college with the entire family helping out on some of the bigger loads of games. We scoured Craigslist and jumped on any deals we could find, no matter what time of day or night, or the length of the drive.
STARTING A BUSINESS
The flipping of games continued at a fast pace as a side hustle post college. In 2016 Drew got a call from a bar asking if they could longterm lease 20 games. Knowing this would be a big project, we joined forces and started an official business.
Along with game placement, we thought people might enjoy having our games at their events. We put our a few ads, advertising event rentals and the response was overwhelming! We started booking events like crazy while still placing games at bars, restaurants, and family fun centers.
We continued to experience growth for the next 2 years. After months of late nights and a few all nighters we realized we were running on fumes trying to balance our business and other jobs. In the fall of 2018 we decided to take the jump and dive in full time to 616 Amusements. We quit our other jobs and haven't looked back!
Thanks West Michigan for trusting us to deliver fun!
