Conroe Courier October 18, 2023

Willis resident Justin Ellis remembers visiting the arcades in the 80s, being packed in shoulder-to-shoulder with other people. It wasn’t just about playing the arcade games, but enjoying the environment.

“Everyone was having fun playing games,” Ellis said. 

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At 38, the Crossfit Willis owner partnered with local construction business owner Nik Green, 42, to build an arcade out of a nearly 300 square foot shipping container. The idea was to create a space that would bring the community together for a nostalgic experience, he said. 

Right off FM1097, roughly five minutes away from downtown Willis, sits a beige shipping container that’s no bigger than a studio apartment. 

Stepping back in time

At first glance, The 8-0 Retro Arcade is unassuming. However, upon walking in, it’s like stepping into a time machine filled with nearly 20 arcade machines such as Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat and pinball machines. 

It all started when Ellis wanted to buy an arcade machine of NBA Jam. After purchasing it for his gym, he started to notice a lot of people gravitating towards the game. He approached Green, who is a member of Ellis’ gym, about the idea of turning a shipping container into an arcade. 

“We wanted to get the arcade vibe from back in the day,” Ellis said. “Growing up in the 80s, 90s, that’s just what you kind of (did)…after a baseball game, whether it was a pizza place that had arcade games in there…it was just an experience.”

When walking in, people are met with dim lighting, neon signs that read “Back To The 80s,” while classic 80s hits such as Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” plays in the background. The arcade also has an outdoor patio, with several picnic tables and games such as cornhole, axe throwing, Jenga and other board games. 

During its opening in June, Ellis said a lot of people in their 30s visited the arcade who were more familiar with the game titles. The arcade held public events until it switched to private events due to the extreme heat over the summer, he said.

Private event bookings range from $299 to $499, depending on the length of the rental, according to the arcade’s website. 

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“It’s mostly birthday parties,” Ellis said. “We’ll get the occasional company, or group of friends that’ll rent out the location.”

For birthday parties, the ages range from 5 to 10 years-old, Ellis said.

What’s fun to see is that age group enjoying the old school games, because they don’t need to know too much about the game — all they need to do is start hitting buttons, he said. 

“When (people) rent out the place, it’s ‘get after it’ and play for that amount of time,” Ellis said.

Eventually, the two owners want to open the arcade back up to the public and start hosting trivia and movie nights, he said. The owners plan to expand the arcade, depending on how the community receives it. 

Creating a space to make memories

So far, business has picked up since its opening, Ellis said.

The main reason for building the arcade was to create a space for families in the community, he said. 

“I think Willis is a great place, especially to have a family,” Ellis said. “Being able to…staple this into the community for the future was kind of important to us.”

Ellis hopes his 2-year-old son will visit the arcade in the future. Green said wanted to show his five daughters what building a business looks like from the ground up and that they can do whatever they want if they put their mind to it. 

“That was a big part of it, for me,” Green said.

Overall, it took three months to build the arcade out of the shipping container, he said. Green said the motivation to build the arcade was “really community driven.”

“We want people to come here, have a good time and make memories,” he said. 

When asked what their favorite arcade machine was, Ellis said Galaga while Green said pinball machines.

For more information, visit theretroarcades.com.