RED BANK, NJ – YESTERcades announced on Facebook Live today that it will open its fourth location in Metuchen, NJ. The owners and staff waited for an audience to attend live from their Red Bank Facebook page and explained to the public the newest addition to their existing locations. A series of comments to their live stream suggested other NJ towns as worthy locations.
YESTERcades is a retro arcade that becomes a time capsule when you enter, specifically for those who remember their childhood in the mid-to-late 1970s through 1980’s. This is more than just an arcade as they try to incorporate all types of gaming from arcades, pinball machines, air hockey, billiards, the latest gaming consoles, and vintage gaming consoles with vintage televisions. It is the universe of gaming all in one place. What is even more interesting is how the owners developed a viable business model and how they made it through the pandemic. For more information, refer to the Business Spotlight which was written before the announcement.
The location will be the former Manasquan Bank site, adjacent to the public park that was donated by the bank in connection with the bank’s request to tear down and rebuild a bank at the corner of Main and New Streets with a drive-thru. YESTERcades owners and staff told the public they were approached by Metuchen and the opportunity to open a fourth location there. They said they are currently working on development of the space and expect to open sometime January/February 2024. At the same time of the announcement, they said they would create a new Facebook page dedicated to the Metuchen location. Their actual website still had a page under development with “???” and a coming soon but no mention of Metuchen. The owners and staff encouraged their audience to reach out to them as they were looking to source any and all gaming equipment for this new location.
Separately and contemporaneously, Metuchen “Brainy” Borough officials and the Metuchen Downtown Alliance announced this news via their own Facebook pages congratulating Metuchen Downtown Alliance (MDA) Director Dawn Mackey for her efforts to make this happen. Ms. Mackey is actually a politician who is serving as Westfield Councilwoman, and previous to her appointment in October 2022 as Metuchen MDA Director, she was on the board of Westfield’s equivalent business district organization. YESTERcades has a thriving location in Westfield so it is no coincidence that Westfield Councilwoman Mackey made the introductions and connection given her full time job as Metuchen MDA Director.
YESTERcade’s latest addition will be located at the former Manasquan bank building at 442 Main Street, Metuchen which was listed for sale on March 14, 2023 according to Loopnet.com. The former bank building without the former parking lot was sold on May 10, 2023 to Suburban Development LLC. Suburban has extensive commercial and residential projects in Metuchen and a few that extend beyond Metuchen. Sale information is not yet available, but Xome.com estimates the fair value of the property to be $2.4 million to $3.3 million (unadjusted for the parking lot).
In connection with this effort, the Borough initiated changes to a long-standing ordinance with respect to coin-operated arcades and gambling in August 2023 and the Council approved these changes in September 2023 citing changes were needed to the ordinance to allow new types of businesses to open in the town. However, no disclosure was given of a specific establishment when the Borough presented the amendment to the ordinance. These changes also include removal of the regulations concerning minors that set forth parameters on time that minors can be in such establishments and also removed the provision that stated that minors must be accompanied by adults. There was no public comment to the amended ordinance. The Metuchen council members unanimously approved the necessary amendments.
YESTERcades will have a warm welcome in Metuchen this winter.
By H. Basal, Special to The Central Observer