Shaffer Distributing is a leading supplier of coin-operated arcade games, redemption equipment, virtual reality, digital jukeboxes, and vending machines. We are an authorized distributor representing virtually every ultimate amusement and vending industry equipment manufacturer. We sell equipment, parts, and services to a diverse group of businesses, including fun and vending operators, universities, family entertainment centers, arcades, bowling centers, movie theaters, resorts, water parks, and many other types of entertainment-focused venues throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada.
In addition to equipment sales, we provide financing and leasing services through our network of partnered lenders. We also offer professional business services, including consultation, arcade design, theming and layout, equipment installation, logistics, on-premise training, and post-sales support and maintenance programs.
Founded by Estel “Pop” Shaffer in 1929, Shaffer’s guiding principle has always been to “take care of the customer.” Today, a fourth generation of Shaffer ownership and our highly experienced team of dedicated employees continue the commitment to the same guiding principles that Pop instilled nearly a century ago.
HISTORY
Back in 1929, at the start of the Great Depression, Estel “Pop” Shaffer, a local pharmacist and drug store owner, was approached by an operator to place a Billiard Practice skill shot device (displayed below) on the pharmacy’s counter at a penny a play.
After a few months, Pop noticed that the game was well-liked by his customers and earning a lot of money, so he decided to try his luck operating the arcade game.
Within a couple of weeks, Pop purchased some of his games and was soon earning himself an extra income. The coin machine bug had “bitten” him, and from that point onward, Pop would be forever hooked by the amusement machine business.
Not too long after his initial game purchase, Pop Shaffer sold the drugstore. He went into the amusement machine operating business full-time, establishing the Shaffer Coin Machine Company on First Avenue in Columbus, Ohio, near Shaffer’s current headquarters.
And the rest, as they say, is history!
