MUKWONAGO, Wis. — One Mukwonago man's passion has become his profession, but it all happened by accident.
James Srnec got one arcade game, and then another, and another, and another, and another until his house was full of them. Then he decided to open his own business. That's exactly what he did. Srnec opened Vintage Vault Arcade in Mukwonago in January 2023.
Since then, business has been so good he is already looking to expand.
"To be honest, I wish I would have done it sooner because I would be bigger than I am now," Srnec said.
There are 110 games inside the arcade with another 30-40 in storage. But this was all a bit of an accident.
Srnec didn't grow up as the biggest arcade game fan. He dabbled a bit, but he was playing more Halo than Pacman.
It wasn't until he was older and bought his first arcade game that things began to change.
“All my friends started playing the game, and when I saw them playing the game, I said wait a minute. We were there for three and a half hours. We need more of these, so before you know it I had 22 in my house.”
Those 22 games grew little by little. Before being a business owner, Srnec was a DJ that would open for popular electronic artists like Steve Aoki and Tiesto at The Rave in Milwaukee. While DJing, he would save his money to buy more arcade games. It took about six years but eventually, Srnec's collection grew to about 150, and he opened his own store.
Inside Vintage Vault Arcade there are classic games like Pacman, Donkey Kong, NBA Jam, and Galaga. Srnec said those are some of the most popular games because that's what people are familiar with. However, for the "2 percent" as Srnec calls them, there are plenty of options. The "2 percent" are the true arcade aficionados. For them, Srnec has games like Contra Evolution, Joust, Gauntlet Legends, Lunar Lander, Tapper, and more.
None of these games take quarters. Srnec charges $20 per person and customers can play from dusk til dawn. They can even leave and come back later with snacks.
“I found out that through doing the coin-op stuff you don’t make as much money, there’s a lot more headaches with the coins getting jammed up, and you have to count all the coins which that can be a pain," he said.
Vintage Vault Arcade is open Friday to Sunday from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
