For David Young, work seems more like a day at the arcade than a nine-to-five job.

The entrepreneur started up his own gaming company, BMI Gaming of Boca Raton, where he sells pinball machines, video arcade games, snack machines, slot machines, and other equipment to homeowners and companies across the country.

It all started with a passion for arcade gaming, said Young.

“I used to play avidly. My father used to take me down to Atlantic City,” said 44-year-old Young, a former owner of a large international semi-conductor brokerage company.

But it wasn’t until the Boca Raton resident found a local “mom and pop” gaming repair shop that he bought his first pinball machine, called Funhouse, for his home and turned selling the machines into a thriving business.

“I was searching around for the next big idea and stumbled upon the business,” said Young, who ended up having 15 machines in his home and then had to buy a warehouse to store them all.

Since that first pinball machine, Young’s company, BMI Gaming, has become one of the largest retailers and distributors of new and refurbished arcade games, pinball machines and air hockey tables. About 200 games are currently on display in his company’s showroom and more than 500 products are available online at his Web site, www.bmigaming.com.

His best-selling products are pinball machines and video arcade machines, but a variety of other entertainment pieces such as billiards tables, snack machines and slot machines, are also popular sellers.

Young’s clients range from young families, professional athletes and business professionals to organizations such as nightclubs and youth centers.

“When you go to an arcade, you see everyone there from a 4-year-old child to a 70-year-old grandfather,” Young said. “It’s a family-based entertainment.”

“Pinball machines are an investment these days,” he said. “A lot of people can buy a game and turn around and sell it years down the road.”

Gary Stern, president of Melrose Park, Illinois-based Stern Pinball Inc., said he has done business with Young in the past and described him as a dynamic, young businessman.

“He does a good job of standing behind his product,” said Stern, referring to Young’s arcade gaming equipment.

Stern said Young is known among the “pinball community” as a leader among his trade.

“He is one of the best and the biggest in the secondary market, and that’s important to us,” Stern said.
Young, who comes from a long line of entrepreneurs, said he enjoys what he does every day.

“Everyone in my family is an entrepreneur. We all own our own businesses. It just runs in the family,” he said. “It’s an extremely fun business and a rapidly growing industry. It’s like a vacation every day.”

Nicol Jenkins can be reached at njenkins@bocanews.com or 561- 893- 6619.