Galaxy Claw, a new claw machine arcade, celebrated its grand opening on Oct.8 as they brought in crowds to test their skills and win prizes.
Family owners, Jesus Perez and Maria Perez made sure people would remember their grand opening by creating an entertaining day. The opening day included vendors, a DJ, raffles, a goodie bag for the first 200 people who spent $20 and labubu mascots having a meet and greet photo op until 1 p.m.
Darline Salas, a vendor who has been in business for about a year learned about the grand opening through social media and was the one of the first people in line.
“They made it really fun. Especially the service, the people there were so nice,” said Salas. “It was worth the money. Yeah, of course it is when your kids smile then it’s all worth it.”
Before the opening of Galaxy Claw there was a long line of people who awaited to enter. Nearing the countdown, the time struck 11 a.m. confetti was being blown in the air with Jesus, Maria and their daughter cutting the ribbon officiating their brand new store open for business.
The store was bustling with energy with the chattering of people and others waiting for their goodie bag after purchasing at least $20 worth of tokens.
Perez’ family members were helping out during the grand opening from restocking plushies, organizing the lines and giving away fliers.
Carolina Herrera who helped pass out fliers in the plaza mentioned that she was happy with how the opening had turned out.
“My favorite thing is being with my family and seeing the people who are excited to be here,” Herrera said in Spanish.
The attendees described the grand opening as a success. People were satisfied with the prices and service. After people were done with the claw machines they would enjoy the music from the DJ and walk around to browse through about 11 vendors.
Karen Navarro, a customer who had a bag filled with plushies emphasized the importance an arcade can have on Riverside.
“It’s something that I’m happy that got to exist and I got to witness, it’s kind of like Riverside history,” Navarro said. “I like that it’s cheap and it’s affordable.”
After the grand-opening event later in the afternoon less people were in the store, but that didn’t stop the happiness flowing in the air with how the event had turned out.
Maria, the co-owner gave insight on how Galaxy Claw was a bit of a risk but the outcome was triumphant.
“We put all our savings into it and friends and family helping out,” Maria said. “Not a lot of people want to give a lease to new business owners who have no experience in business.”
With turbulent times the Perez family relied on other family members and each other to make their new business successful. Wanting people to leave with a smile on their face. During the opening they would ask customers if they wanted plushies arranged differently, making it easier to win them.
There was also a system that the owners had implemented in Galaxy Claw. Behind the register there were other prizes that were labeled with a specific number. If a customer gained that amount of plushies they could trade it in for a better prize.
The goodie bag that people had received upon purchasing the $20 tokens contained an assortment of Galaxy Claw’s mascot merch. This included a t-shirt with the option of choosing purple or black, a pin, car air freshener and a sticker. The goodie bag was only available on opening day Oct. 8.
“We definitely want everybody to come out a winner. We don’t want to give anybody a bad experience,” said Maria.
Galaxy Claw is an affordable way to have fun with friends if you’re in the area.
Galaxy Claw has token packages ranging from $5 for five tokens all the way up to $100 for 115 tokens. They are open Monday-Sunday 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. excluding Saturday and Sunday which close at 10 p.m. Located 3590 Central Ave #102A, Riverside, Ca 92506. For more information access the Galaxy Claw website.
