My Biz: Iowa City couple find, repair, lease pinball machines (2024)

IOWA CITY — With a bachelor’s degree in art history, Annie Fitzgerald was trained in restoring art pieces for museums and galleries.

The work needed patience and attention to detail as she conserved paintings and other works of art.

Fast-forward nearly a decade, and Fitzgerald, now 32, uses those same qualities to restore pinball machines.

“I take a fine arts approach to a machine that somebody is probably going to slam around,” she joked.

Fitzgerald and her husband, Brendan Fitzgerald, 31, of Iowa City, are the founders of FitzCo, a business dedicated to finding, repairing and leasing pinball machines to businesses in Eastern Iowa.

Iowa City ‘townies’

Annie, a research specialist working remotely for the University of Vermont, and Brendan, a systems administrator for GreenState Credit Union, are from Wilmington, Del.They moved to Iowa City in 2018 so Annie could obtain her master's degree in library and information science at the University of Iowa.

After she got the degree, the couple decided to stay in Iowa City because of its “welcoming perspective.”

“I think it was when we realized that we couldn't go anywhere (in Iowa City) without running into a friend,” Brendan said. “We're dedicated townies at this point.”

The couple was introduced to the local pinball community in 2022. The two would travel to different bars and restaurants to play, and as their appreciation for the game grew, they traveled across Iowa to compete in pinball tournaments.

"It was nice to join a community where there is this shared language among people,“ Annie said. ”It's so nice to have this thing that you can connect with people over in terms of, you know, ‘What's your favorite machine?’ or ‘What's the first machine you played?’ “

The two got the idea for their FitzCo business after offering to sell a pinball machine for a local business.

“The deal didn't work, but that sparked our interest in buying a pinball machine,” Brendan said. “We’d already set the money aside to make this deal happen, so we figured, ‘Well, that one didn't work, let's find another.’ ”

The business

The Fitzgeralds started FitzCo in June 2023. Since then, they have been searching for old and new pinball machines to place in local businesses. Brendan said they often use online marketplaces like Facebook to find the machines, traveling as far as Cincinnati to retrieve them.

To date, they’ve bought nine machines and placed seven at five businesses, Annie said. Four of the businesses — Greenhouse, FilmScene, Vine Iowa City and Axiom — are in Iowa City, and the other — Quinton's Bar & Deli — is in Coralville.

Brendan said machines from the ’80s and ’90s can cost around $4,000, with newer machines costing up to $10,000. To cover costs, FitzCo splits the quarters the machines take in with the businesses where the machines are placed.

A game of pinball these days generally takes two quarters, or three games for $1.

The Fitzgeralds own newer pinball machines, like Jaws, which came out earlier this year, as well as classic games like Seawitch and Silverball Mania, both produced in 1980.

Tracking down older machines is always an adventure.

“For Seawitch, we had to haul it out of a guy's basem*nt in Chicago, and when we opened it up, there was dog food inside it because it had just been sitting there for 30 years,” Annie said.

The machine needed extensive repairs. Brendan, who has experience working on cars, took on the challenge.

“It's kind of like working on an old car — plenty of room, and parts are widely available,” he said. “Some of these machines' wiring diagram is more complicated than, say, a Honda Civic.”

Once the machines are up and running, FitzCo then decides what machines would work best in specific locations. For instance, the couple's Jaws machine — based on the blockbuster movie franchise — is in FilmScene.

That “matchmaking” is the most exciting part of the business, Brendan said.

“Modern pinball machines are loud and flashy, and The Green House's owner wanted something a bit more classy, and we thought Seawitch would be great there,” Brendan said. “It’s an older machine and fits the aesthetic.”

Tournaments

Since FitzCo's inception, Annie has been hosting monthly internationally ranked pinball tournaments at SpareMe Bowl & Arcade in Iowa City.

“Every tournament I’ve hosted, I've had somebody say to me, 'I've never played in a pinball tournament before,' and that's always the thing I'm looking for,” Annie said. “I hope this is an inviting and welcoming experience for people new to the field.”

Now a year into their business, the Fitzgeralds look to continue growing FitzCo by finding more machines, collaborating with a brewery in the Cedar Rapids area, and hosting more monthly pinball tournaments.

“You can play games on the phone, computer, and pretty much anywhere,” Brendan said. “Pinball is just such a tactile experience that you need to be in a social environment where one person is playing a machine, and three others are standing by watching or enjoying a beer.”

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