Abiding by the mandated COVID-19 regulations, Barnetti’s maxes out at 50 customers and requires last-call at 11 p.m. With 17 active cases of COVID-19 and over 400 resolved ones in Chatham-Kent at the time of publication, the arcade is a type of business that some might be surprised to see budding during a pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many people in Chatham-Kent have been longing for something to fill the void of community activity since the closure of the Wheels Inn, a hotel, arcade, and waterpark all-in-one. Serving as Chatham\u2019s hub for four decades, the Inn shut-down in 2010 following the economic crash two years prior. Now, Barnetti\u2019s strives to offer a place where anyone can go to spend time with friends and have fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The community of Chatham-Kent was hit hard with the loss, and since then has been no stranger to businesses rising and falling quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A decade after the end of the Wheels Inn, Barnetti\u2019s has emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
College student Aaren Laprise, 19, has gone without a job since the beginning of the pandemic. In an effort to make some extra money and obtain much-needed social interaction, she applied to Barnetti\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI took a leave off of my previous job last July, and when the pandemic hit again, I couldn\u2019t go back. After a while things got lonely, and I thought the arcade would be a fun place to be.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Laprise is a jill of all trades, occupying positions of server, cashier, and game cleaner. She notes that job tasks during a pandemic are much different than the duties of her previous job. \u201cNow we have a customer log at the front to track who comes in, and we have about eight sanitation spots within the building. It\u2019s our responsibility to make sure every single game is wiped down after it\u2019s used.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Laprise says she’s looking forward to seeing what Barnetti\u2019s develops into but thinks that the business still has improvements to make. \u201cIt\u2019s a really cool place, but I wish it was more kid-friendly. Our customers are mainly adults right now. He [the owner] says he will change-out some of the games in a while, so I\u2019m excited for that, too.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to give people a reason to stay in Chatham. Every little bit helps, and if we can keep people entertained long enough around here they\u2019re going to stay around here.\u201d<\/p>– Zach Trinetti<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Zach Trinetti playing an arcade game in Barnetti’s. [Photo courtesy of Barnetii’s Arcade]<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n Zach Trinetti, owner of Barnetti\u2019s, says that he\u2019d been pondering opening an arcade for a long time. He collected vintage games as a hobby with his father, and eventually decided to take the leap and pursue his dream. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt got to the point where, I was like, Chatham needs this. So I got a nice spot, cleaned it up, and it\u2019s been a success since it started.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trinetti gained business experience from his father\u2019s family-owned auto sale company. Despite the economic challenges of the pandemic, he says it didn\u2019t deter him from opening the arcade. \u201cReally I just believe in the economy. To be honest with you COVID-19 wasn\u2019t a thought for me. Sometimes we get stressed out, and it is more work, but it\u2019s completely manageable.\u201d Trinetti says he ensures that the business is fully compliant with the mandated health and safety regulations in Chatham-Kent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remembering the Wheels Inn fondly, Trinetti hopes to capture the same admiration that people held for it. He also hopes to bring the community together in a time of isolation, and contribute to helping Chatham\u2019s economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to give people a reason to stay in Chatham. Every little bit helps, and if we can keep people entertained long enough around here they\u2019re going to stay around here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chatham-Kent introduces its first arcade since the Wheels Inn. Click here to find out how Barnetti’s Arcade plans to impact Chatham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"An inside look into Barnetti's arcade. [Photo courtesy of Barnetti's Arcade]","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[16,13,14,17],"class_list":["post-369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-arcade","tag-covid-19","tag-pandemic","tag-pivot","even"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/pivot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/pivot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/pivot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/pivot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/pivot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/pivot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":928,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/pivot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions\/928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/pivot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/pivot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/pivot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/pivot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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