Inside an unassuming storefront off Midlothian Turnpike, pinball is having a renaissance.
Why it matters: What began as a nostalgic passion for baby boomers and Gen Xers is now attracting 20- and 30-year-olds at a time when people are seeking connection after years of isolation.
State of play: The Richmond Pinball Collective started in 2017 when Clark and Laura Fraley had the idea to pool privately owned machines into a shared location.
- It’s grown into a 2,400-square-foot space with 40+ free-to-play machines (no quarters required) — the largest collection in the Richmond area, per pinballmap.com.
- Members have loaned most of them.
- Though it briefly shut down during the pandemic, the collective has had the greatest boom in membership since then, board member Chris Terrell tells Axios.
What they’re saying: “Everybody that’s been shut up for so long in their houses wants to start doing things,” says Terrell, who grew up playing Pac-Man and Asteroids…