Hi, We’re Retro Electric Arcade

Retro Electric Arcade is located in Lowell in West Michigan — we’re an admission-based arcade, unique collectibles shop, and a retro experience. We’re a living museum of the analog days, walk through our door and you’ll find yourself back in a time that was just a little more rad. We have over 40+ vintage arcade games and pinball machines, foosball, console and handheld gaming, board games, and more.

The Arcade: How it works.

We’re an admission-based arcade, and all of our games are set to free-play. What’s that mean? It means you’re going to have a LOT more fun here than you’ve had at a traditional arcade. Here at Retro Electric Arcade, you pay a flat admission fee and then you’re free to play as much as you can within the time frame you’ve chosen.

That’s right — all you can play. No quarters, no tokens, no swipe cards that are empty within a matter of minutes, no machines eating your money. Whether you want to play for an hour or you want to play all day, once you get your wristband on there’s no worry about having to ration the fun.

Master the Game

Speaking of not needing to ration out your tokens or swipe cards — that’s one great perk of coming to an admission based arcade. In a traditional arcade, one game of pinball can cost anywhere from $1 or more. So if you’re new to the game of pinball or you’ve never a played a particular game before, you could end up draining all three balls within seconds. Bye, bye, money.

Not here. At Retro Electric you can just hit the start button again, and take your time to really learn a game. This is perfect if you’re really dead set on getting past the first level on any of our classic arcade games, or if you’re introducing your kids to the glory days of gaming.

Retro and New Collectibles, gifts and more

We’re more than an arcade. The front of Retro Electric Arcade is a unique collectibles shop — Outsiders Collectibles Co. — and we have vintage collectibles and new pop culture gifts. Stuff you haven’t seen since your childhood, stuff that’s instantly going to transport you to a time when everything was just a little bit … cooler.

Remember that feeling of getting a new cassette tape or CD — popping it in and sitting to listen to the music, with that little booklet with the lyrics printing in the world’s tiniest font? We have that for you. Tapes, CDs, Records. When’s the last time you held a physical copy of your favorite band’s favorite album?

And we’ve got a great selection of retro pop culture toys — from Star Wars to Masters of the Universe and Ninja Turtles. We have cool newer collector’s issues too. Ever seen an action figure of The Great Cornholio? Yeah, didn’t think so. Come on in.

More than an arcade, it’s an experience

It’s not just a big room full of games. We like to think of this place as a living museum, where you can play some of the exhibits. Throughout the whole space, we have tons of cool old stuff from back in the day.

There’s a lot to look at, and a lot to do. Pinball and arcade games, for sure. But you can also hang out in Mom’s Basement, a spot in the back decked out with vintage furniture and retro gaming consoles. Or sit in our handhelds area and play one of our original Game Boys at the table made of VHS tapes. Check out our original payphone and see if you can spot the movie references in our vintage newspaper dispenser. We also have a board game library with both vintage and new games and two big tables for you to spread out with snacks and drinks.

Not the place with the mouse and the pizza

Seems like when a lot of people hear the word “arcade,” their minds go to that one place with the pizza and the ticket games. That place is super fun, but we like to give you guys a heads up that we aren’t like that place. We don’t do tickets or prizes, and our games are games of skill. All ages are welcome, but we always think ages 8 and up will have the most fun here.

Remember, admission is required for everyone in the arcade area — since everything is set to free play and all of our spaces are designated for game play, everyone needs that ticket to get in regardless of age or intent to play.

Locally Owned, family operated

We’re truly a mom and pop arcade. We’re owned and staffed by a husband and wife team. We take a lot of pride in this place, and we work hard to make this a welcoming environment for everyone AND keep our games in great shape.

Carl (the husband) is here the most, and also the guy who buys for the store and keeps our old games in working condition. He has a passion for restoring late 70s-early 80s pinball machines, and rescuing stuff from the analog days (especially VHS tapes and old TVs). Nicole (the wife) is here most often on the weekends and special events. She works hard behind the scenes (hi), and if you’re looking to book a party, she’s the one you’ll talk to.

We hope you’ll stop in and see us sometime!