A new hangout spot has recently opened in Downtown Wadsworth, the Grizzly Arcade. The Grizzly Arcade was created by the owner, Joe Sebe, with the hopes of creating a new place to hang out and entertain the Wadsworth community.
“There wasn’t really anything here for the kids to do in Downtown – so I figured the kids need a little entertainment too,” said Joe Sebe, the owner and main operator of the arcade. “That’s why we went for this route.”
With the efforts to spread a community for the youth, the building has come together. Including more than 30 different machines, Sebe hopes to improve from here.
“We still have this ice cream shop we are working on opening, and we’ll have a restaurant in the back,” Sebe said. “When everything’s up and running, it’s just having a place to hang out with, you know, family. It’s entertaining for everybody.”
In the future of the business, Sebe is working on adding an ice cream shop and restaurant to the building within the next few months. The arcade will be open to hosting different types of parties, and overall just has hopes for the place to grow. Sebe wants to make a place where kids and adults can just be comfortable and have fun.
Though they have just recently opened, they have a schedule running already. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays, they are open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4-8 p.m., Fridays from 4-8:30 p.m., Saturdays open from 11-9 p.m., and Sundays 11-7 p.m. Anyone can come in and play games and redeem tickets on these days.
The arcade uses a rechargeable card system, with an initial one-dollar purchase price that can be re-loaded with more money at any time. Tickets redeemed can be used to retrieve different items, including potentially food or drinks, once the ice cream and restaurant open.
Though the entertainment spot has just recently opened, they have already begun hiring employees and gaining customers weekly.
Sebe and his employees are working on a St. Patrick’s Day activity at the moment, which will be one of the first large events held at the arcade since opening.
Wadsworth High School student Winter Hall has been to the arcade a few times since opening, and she thinks that the arcade is great.
“I would say it’s definitely still in the making, but they have some really good games and good claw machine prizes,” Hall said.
Grizzly Arcade has a few claw machines right now, though they hope to expand, with prizes inside including many different stuffed animals, blankets, pillows, and toys.
There are many multiplayer games, so visitors can play not only solo but with friends as well.
In the future of the business, Sebe wishes to create a community for the people of Wadsworth, a place where the youth can just have fun, and where families can bond and form new memories together.