Press Start wants the national coin shortage to press stop

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - Many times we toss our coins off to the side or maybe store them in a jar. But now, you may find yourself in a position where you need to search through the cushions to find some spare change.

A Rapid City business can’t afford to be in this desperate situation as they could be taking a hard hit due to the national coin shortage.

Find a penny pick it up. More like find a quarter and then you’ll have good luck.

Using credit and debit cards may work at a grocery store, but when it’s time to do laundry people need some change.

Some banks are already rationing coins by limiting people to only one roll of quarters.

So while people try to figure out how are they going to pay for a next load of laundry, there’s an arcade bar in Rapid City that completely relies on the quarter.

“If we don’t have quarters we can’t operate at all,” Press Start Retro Arcade Bar Owner Marc Linn said.

Linn said due to the coronavirus pandemic, business is down 80 percent compared to last year.

But with the coin shortage, it leaves Linn questioning how much more of a punch to the wallet will his business get.

“What else 2020!...there might become a point where we can’t get quarters anymore and yeah I’m worried about it,” Linn said.

Recently, Linn got a hold of $1,000 worth of quarters from the bank.

But if people start coming in trying to get those quarters for their laundry, that could put the arcade bar out of business.

“I’m afraid that if people start hoarding quarters that could affect us. It hasn’t affect us yet but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to come,” Linn said.

Linn does not want to rely on plastic cards as it takes away from the 80′s nostalgia moment he wants to protect, putting a quarter in the slot.

But if times get tough Linn said he will shut down the change machines and implement a new system in order to grab on to quarters.

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