Stella’s Pinball Arcade & Lounge in downtown Greeley aims to capitalize on arcade bar movement
Stella’s is a bar beneath the Moxi Theater in Downtown Greeley stuffed with pinball machines, classic video games, air hockey and skee ball. Courtesy photo.
By Dan England
Ely Corliss did a lot for live music lovers in Greeley. It was time to do something for his kids.
This, more than anything else, explains why he opened a bar beneath the Moxi Theater stuffed with pinball machines, classic video games, air hockey and skee ball. Now he’s got his place for live music and a place for families, if you don’t mind a little alcohol around kids. He even named Stella’s after the youngest of his two young daughters.
“I’ve tried to build businesses the community will enjoy,” he said, “but this one my kids will enjoy. It’s fulfilling to put on concerts, but my kids don’t enjoy concerts.”
The place does serve alcoholic drinks but also has an ICEE machine, and Corliss hopes to establish the place as a killer burger joint. There’s neon art everywhere, with spares in a room for changing things up, including one that says “You Light Up My Life.” It’s the first thing Corliss turns on when he walks in. There are arcade buttons to turn on lights and a drinking fountain that he hopes will eventually serve Kool Aid. He even has arcade tokens, though the machines take quarters as well.
Still, it’s not Chuck E Cheese. Corliss is following a trend of arcade bars, combining good drinks with good food and fun. His business model is one of several in northern Colorado. There’s another arcade in Greeley, simply called At The Arcade, as well.
Ely Corliss found inspiration in the arcade bar business after touring a few of them in Nashville. Courtesy photo.
Corliss found inspiration in the arcade bar business after touring a few of them in Nashville. He liked how a few of them were decorated with neon. Corliss likes neon anyway: In another business of his, Luna’s Tacos, a pink neon sign that says “Till Death Do Us Taco” dominates the back wall.
“Going through Nashville encouraged me to think of this place as an art installation,” Corliss said of Stella’s.
He lets Mile High Arcade of Denver pick his machines for him in another common arrangement, where the company loans him the machines and splits the revenue. Corliss, however, specifically requested a class Ninja Turtles video game.
Corliss’ favorite pinball machine is Godzilla — yes, it plays the song by Blue Oyster Cult — and Jurassic Park. He has a classic Rolling Stones machine that takes just one quarter, just like the good ole’ days.
Corliss also has a lounge where he hopes live acts can play, though he expects those shows to be more muted than the ones he welcomes to the Moxi.
Corliss admits the place isn’t just for his kids. It’s for him too. He has fun here, and he hopes to keep adding touches like more neon and video game button switches, and he still needs to figure out the drinking fountain so it serves Kool Aid. When he turns out the lights, one neon sign tends to go out just a touch later than the others. It reads “Do What You Love.”