Exploring Life & Business with Shar Mohr of Bad Axe RetroCade

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shar Mohr

Hi Shar , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Myself and my husband are 80s kids who grew up playing retro consoles and classic arcades. We passed that love along to our five children, sharing our old game systems, games, and even started a home arcade collection to recreate the arcade experience to play and have fun together. In early 2023 we got an opportunity to purchase a collection of classic arcade cabinets and the idea for opening a retro arcade started brewing. Our area is pretty rural, with not a whole of family entertainment options, especially during the colder seasons. Almost a year later, and a lot of hours fixing and planning, Bad Axe RetroCade was born. We opened on April 18th, 2024 next to our town’s bowling alley, and it’s been a blast playing games and sharing classic arcades and retro gaming with our community.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
We thought that keeping these old games up and running with so many people playing them would be a struggle, but the games have been working pretty beautifully since opening. There’s always something that needs work, but that is the nature of arcade gaming for anyone in the business. The biggest challenge was summer slump. During the summer months people want to be outside and at the local festivals, so business slows down quite a bit during these times. But the lakeshore tourists really showed up and supported us a lot during this time, which was great for business.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Bad Axe RetroCade is a classic quarter-play retro arcade, and the only arcade of its kind in the thumb of Michigan area. We have over 25 classic arcades, 2 skeeball lanes, and the largest selection of pinball machines in the area. We also have a retro console room with an Atari, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega, and Playstation with dozens games to choose from. It’s only $3 per person to play all the consoles the entire day we’re open. We also offer skeeball leagues, themed days (like Star Wars Day), Little Flippers youth pinball club, and started the first Belles & Chimes women’s pinball league in the area. We also have a partnership with our local skatepark to help support their efforts to bring a safe place for the community to enjoy roller sports of all kinds, and began an Art the Arcade project – an effort to support and promote local artists by filing up for blank wall space with great local art. We’re proud to be a unique and affordable place to have fun and create community.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
My husband and I were pretty typical 80s kids small-town kids growing up. I’m grateful for having grown up in the golden age of gaming. At the risk of making myself sound old, I think I got to grow up in the best years for gaming, music, tv, toys, movies, and other pop culture. I think school was less stressful back then, too.

Pricing:

• Games cost between .25 and .75 to play
• Retro Console Room $3/person
• Retro & kitschy earrings/pins $5 each
• Concessions: varies $1-3

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/badaxeretrocade
• Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552087754816
• TikTok: tiktok.com/@badaxeretrocade