ANN ARBOR, MI — Long before Pinball Pete’s was a cultural landmark next to the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, the arcade had humble beginnings in a rival college town.
“I started when I was 8 years old and we were living in East Lansing,” co-owner Ted Arnold said. “We moved to East Lansing in 1964 and my brothers and I used to ride our bikes all over East Lansing and we were addicted to pinball.”
One day he and his older brothers pondered pooling their money to buy a used pinball machine. They bought a Gottlieb “Mayfair” game for $125 and set it up in their parents’ garage…