10/13/2026
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Vintage Vault Arcade is moving to EXPAND!
3284 Main Street, East Troy, WI — opening in 2027.
When we opened in Mukwonago in January 2023, we were trying to prove the market. Finding a building almost stopped us before we started. Our friend Ray Gooden connected us with Kay and Marty at Kay’s Academy of Dance, a local studio that has served Mukwonago for more than 30 years. They made room for us, and we will always be grateful for that. I watched their business grow alongside ours. We couldn’t have done it without them!
We opened with 90 arcade games and zero pinball. Support was overwhelming, and we outgrew the space in about nine months. We kept adding games — hauling them in and out, paying to restore them, learning pinball the hard way — until we were well over 200 arcade games plus a real pinball lineup. From late 2023 until now, almost everything the business made went back into machines and keeping the doors open. We did that because we knew we wanted to expand. I did not think it would take more than four years to get there.
Hours were part of the problem. A village parking restriction on the shared lot kept us mostly to Friday through Sunday. We later added weekday hours, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and learned those only really worked in summer. We were open a fraction of the week while the calendar kept moving. It was hard to get ahead.
This is year 10 of collecting and year 5 of operating. We had a choice: stay comfortable in a place we already knew worked, or build something that could serve this community for decades. We chose the second one. That decision put us in a high amount of debt. We never did this for the money. We did it for the families who showed up! We are leaning in the fact that the public wants this and will support it, so the debt will be eventually paid.
We looked at 117 buildings. We could have gone farther north, where the population is larger. We decided to stay close to the people who built this with us. After we stopped forcing it, the old pharmacy in East Troy opened up — six weeks later, almost to the day. Ray owns that building and wanted the arcade to stay close to home. He offered to cover the build-out, but we chose to do it ourselves so the rent stays affordable for the long run. That loan will take about three years to pay off. After that, the next seven years get easier, and we can get back to growing or adding other amenities along the way. 
The new spot is about 10 minutes from the current Mukwonago location. What you get for following us there: nearly three times the space, about twice the games, an amazing pinball hall in southeastern Wisconsin, better weekday hours, and real parking — almost 500 spots on the property, 152 in front of the arcade. Everything comes out of storage and into one room!
The downside? This is a real risk. I have spent the last 10 years working for free and paying to go to work, betting that this becomes a stable home for my family. A lot of this business still runs through one person. These places are hard to keep open — most of them do not make it. I cannot believe we got this far. Now we have to make the next part work.
Mukwonago, be proud of what we built here. With your help, this area put together one of the best-known retro arcades it has ever had. We did not want to leave. Correctly zoned buildings for a business like this are few and far between, and this was the one that let us stay close.
I will add that this past Sunday, I had to say goodbye to my beautiful baby boy Bear, our 11 1/2 year old Bernese mountain dog. He passed away in my arms, which adds an immense stress and pain that I wish no one to ever have to go through. He was the best friend a man could ever have. I have been working so hard at this that I didn’t realize he was already living on borrowed time. This move I will dedicate to his honor.
All I am asking is that you come with us! Tell people! Post about it! Spread the word that Vintage Vault Arcade is moving to East Troy in 2027.
Last but not least - Thank you Mukwonago, for four years of support. I hope to see you at the next location. This is a small, family run business and we need every patron that wants to support us to keep coming to the Mukwonago location until we move. I hope that this works out, because in the end this is a community driven arcade. We wouldn’t be here without you all!
Here’s to 2027 — the year VVA finally shows you what we have to offer all in one place! We sincerely appreciate your support!
-James and Schuyler
Vintage Vault Arcade
