GAME ON

C&N Sales is a hometown haven for game lovers of all types.

BY CHRISTINE NESSLER

PHOTOS BY MICHELLE ISEBRAND PHOTOGRAPHY

Ever wondered where all those games come from at your favorite bars and restaurants? The claw machines that kept your kids busy, the Buck Hunter or Golden Tee Golf that entertained you in college, or the pool tables and dart boards that started comradery or competition between friends or strangers?

It’s likely C&N Sales, a coin-operated entertainment company in North Mankato, is behind all of those forms of entertainment you’ve previously and currently appreciated.

Craig Dumdei, Leagues Manager & Chris Phinney, Office and Retail Manager.

“If you walk into any establishment; restaurants, bars (and some convenience stores) and you see something you put a quarter in - it’s probably ours,” said Chris Phinney, Office and Retail Manager of C&N Sales.

What started in 1928 with nickel cigarette machines developed into an employee-owned, three-tiered business covering southern Minnesota and northern Iowa with three locations and 24 staff members.

C&N Sales is the umbrella company for C&N Entertainment, which specializes in coin-operated machines; C&N Leagues, which manages the pool and dart leagues in our area and C&N Games, which houses the Game Room Outlet. Locations of C&N Sales are in North Mankato and Marshall, Minnesota as well as Okoboji, Iowa.

In Minnesota and Iowa, C&N Sales provides coin-operated machines for over 700 establishments. The partnerships are a result of the establishments providing space for the C&N Sales coin-operated machines for a split of the profits. This, of course, includes pool tables and dart boards.

C&N Leagues has also been another solid partnership between C&N Sales and local bars and restaurants. Pool and dart leagues traditionally compete on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Those are the slower nights for bar owners, so having leagues to fill their equipment makes it even more enticing to rent out space for multiple pool tables, dart boards and games.

“We started the leagues and bar owners love it,” Phinney said. “We’re putting people in the seats. They’re buying booze, they’re buying food and they’re putting money in our machines.”

To generate business, bar staff or owners will often approach players at their establishments to encourage them to join leagues. According to Craig Dumdei, C&N Leagues Manager, in the Mankato proper alone there are roughly thirteen pool leagues and fifteen dart leagues accounting for nearly one thousand people.

Anyone is welcome to join a pool or dart league. The leagues range from elite master players all the way down to beginner leagues.

C&N Sales also hosts annual tournaments for both pool and dart leagues. Held at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in Mankato, the dart tournament holds 139 dart boards for an average of 1,200 people while the pool tournament has 89 tables set up for more than 1,500 people. This year the dart tournament is on the weekend of March 24. The pool tournament is on the weekend of April 14. Only league members are allowed in the tournaments because spot darts or handicaps are determined to keep the tournaments fair.

Their retail store, Game Room Outlet, started in an effort to cater to the needs of their pool and dart league players.

“We wanted to make sure they had everything they needed to play the leagues,” Phinney said.

This store that specializes in high-end darts, cues, and other various supplies is a unique service provided by C&N Sales. Along with the product, customers can also appreciate a knowledgeable staff that caters to their pool and dart needs.

“You’d have to go way up to the cities to find anything else like that,” Dumdei said.

You don’t have to play in a league to appreciate the inventory of the Game Room Outlet though. Aside from high-end dart and pool supplies, anyone else just looking to fill their game room will find a vast assortment of entertainment options.

The showroom is filled with pool tables, dartboards, shuffleboards, ping pong tables, air hockey, foosball, bar tables, poker tables, pub tables, barstools and so much more. These are all high-quality items, many of which can be customized to the client’s specifications.

“All the pool tables, bar tables, and barstools can be customized,” Phinney said. “They can all be special ordered to what you want or how it fits into your house.” Phinney always has floor models available for example or purchase.

One of the most unique special orders was a gunmetal pool table.

“It’s very heavy,” laughed Phinney. “You need two guys to carry a leg!”

With the holidays approaching, anyone wanting custom items should plan ahead and allow time for production, but Phinney has been ramping up her in-store inventory in preparation for “We have everything from games to puzzles to things you can hang on your wall,” Phinney said.

According to Phinney, the hottest holiday items are pinball machines, Pac-Man games, shuffleboards and of course, pool tables.

“People are like, ‘oh my gosh, I’ve got to have this Pac-Man machine!’” Phinney said.

Sometimes customers will find used games that are no longer at a bar or restaurant. C&N Sales will take the coin mechanisms out of the games, clean them up and sell them to an individual as a fun addition to their home.

C&N Sales also offers billiard services including cloth recovery, reconditioning, and repair as well as moving pool tables.

“There are moving companies that really don’t want much to do with moving pool tables because a broken piece of slate is very expensive to replace,” Phinney said.

Phinney’s team of service men and movers are the same, so customers can always be assured their purchases will be in the safest of hands.

With the holidays and winter coming, now is a great time to check out C&N Sales. Whether you are looking for an addition to your game room or would like to get involved in a league, C&N Sales has just what you need to keep yourself entertained during the cold Minnesota and Iowa months.