Woody’s World Arcade closes, assets to be auctioned off

By | October 24, 2016

Norton Auctions of Coldwater, Michigan, is coordinating the sale

GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ohio — Woody’s World Arcade is saying goodbye after 35 Years. Woody’s World opened its doors in May 1981. Namco’s Pac Man game was in nearly every tavern, arcade and storefront in the U.S. and video games were on the verge of exploding.

Changing times in both the arcade business and in the town itself have caused the family to make the decision to close the current operation. A liquidation auction is being held Thursday, October 27, and the arcade be selling everything to the bare walls.

“It was my family’s third arcade, having operated the resort’s first Penny Arcade in the 1930s,” said Don “Woody” Woodward, operator of the iconic arcade. “We built the building new to replace the Casino Arcade, which burned to the ground in 1979. This one was built of precast concrete; no more fires,” continued Woodward.

The family’s original 1930s era Penny Arcade was destroyed by an electrical fire in the mid-fifties; the devastating 1979 fire was set by a serial arsonist.

The arcade operation kept up with the times and moved into a prize redemption arcade after the fall of the video game market in 1985.

“We had four Ms. Pac Man games in 1983 and 30 other video games. When games moved from arcades to living rooms in the mid-’80s, we knew we had to change. My family had always operated Skeeball and other prize games since the 1940s. After the Chuck E. Cheese effect brought the prize counter to the forefront, the industry moved in that direction.”

The Woodward family, including Woody’s two sisters Donna Colby and Martha Fenlason, closed the neighboring Erieview Park ten years ago. “After the park closed, the natural flow of teens and kids ceased to Woody’s World from the park, and it’s been downhill since,” explained Woodward.

“We do have plans for the building and the adjoining property, and it will be something not already in the resort. Suffice it to say we are moving along with Geneva-on-the-Lake as a destination.”

The auction is open to the public at the 5483 Lake Road East location and will start promptly at 10:30 a.m. Inspection and registration begins at 9 a.m. Over 65 games, two Waterforms, Inc., waterslides from Wild Water Works Waterslide, various nostalgia items, mini-golf props, merchandise and fixtures are included in the auction. Norton Auctions of Coldwater, Michigan, is coordinating the sale. The website, NortonAuctioneers.com, contains a full listing of items for sale.