April 06, 2005
One Pinball Machine Maker
It's fascinating to think the world has gone from 150 pinball machine makers to only one. Stern Pinball has 56 employees with $30 million in annual revenue and comes out with 3-4 new models a year. Each machine is hand buit from 3,500 parts in a 40,000 square foot factory. At $4,000 a piece, the company does about 10,000 units a year with a virtual monopoly. Which isn't saying much because in the early 1990s, the industry prouduced more than 100,000 units.Today, Stern Pinball stands alone. Based in Melrose Park, Ill., about 10 miles west of Chicago, Stern has been the only game in town since its remaining competition folded in 1999, making Gary Stern -- its silver-haired, pinball-tie-wearing Willy Wonka of sorts -- the only person keeping this piece of Americana from extinction. "If we ever quit," he says, "that will be the end of pinball."
