CHICAGO — Would you ever offer some type of gambling (lottery tickets, slots, video poker, etc.) at your laundry, if given the opportunity? Economic conditions have influenced the way some laundry owners think about gambling, according to American Coin-Op’s most recent Wire survey.Sixty-eight percent of survey respondents said they would offer some type of gambling if given the opportunity. Eighteen percent aren’t sure if they would bring gambling into their laundries, and 14% wouldn’t offer any type of gambling.We might not have received this kind of response if the question was posed before the recession hit. Thirty-six percent of respondents said their decision to bring gambling into the laundry has been influenced by current economic conditions. Sixty percent said the economy plays no factor in their decision, and 4% aren’t sure if the economy has affected their attitude toward gambling.PROS AND CONSA large number of respondents (82%) said they believe gambling would generate revenue at laundries (“significant extra-profit revenue” drew 36% of the response and “modest extra-profit revenue” drew 46%). Four percent said they believe gambling would generate little or no extra-profit revenue, and 14% said they aren’t sure what type of results gambling would generate.Thirty-two percent of respondents said security would be the No. 1 concern if they offered gambling. Other top concerns included “gambling would bring in the wrong type of people” (18%) and “there isn’t enough room for gambling machines, etc.” (16%).WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER GUY?If a competing laundry offered gambling, would you lose some business? Forty-six percent of the respondents said they aren’t sure what would happen in this scenario. Twenty-nine percent said they wouldn’t lose any business to a competitor offering some type of gambling, and 25% said they believe they would lose some business.Regardless of their feelings on the subject of gambling, 93% said they owe it to themselves to check out any government-offered gambling opportunity. Only 7% said they have no interest whatsoever in offering any type of gambling.While the American Coin-Op Wire survey presents a snapshot of readers’ viewpoints at a particular moment, it should not be considered scientific.Subscribers to American Coin-Op’s Wire e-mails — distributed weekly — are invited to participate in an industry survey each month. The survey is conducted online via a partner website. Each survey is developed so it can be completed in 10 minutes or less. Readers are encouraged to participate, as a greater number of responses will help to better define operator opinions and industry trends.Click here and follow the menu instructions to sign up for the free e-mail service.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].