James Srnec

About James Srnec

Q: Please tell us a little bit about your family.

Lynne and Jeff are my parents, and they are great supporters of my Arcade, along with my brother and sister David and Katy. I have a brother-in-law named Kevin, and a sister-in-law named Bevan. Bevan and my brother David have two kids together named Jordan and Brooklyn. I have three dogs, two cats, and a leopard gecko. I live with my wife Schuyler, her mother Stephanie, and Schuyler’s daughter Layla.

Q: Please tell us about your current, past, or future career. What do you love most about what you do?

I was in a band in my teen years, and I toured the East Coast, which taught me a lot of life lessons. I was a successful DJ afterwards, and I used a lot of the profits from that career to reinvest in what I am doing today. In the future, I hopefully will be continuing the expansion of the Arcade for many years to come. I love to be able to give back some of those memories that the older folk remember but also to let the kids experience what they used to love as well. Seeing people leave with a smile on their face is what means most to me.

Q: What advice would you give to people?

Never give up, you will experience failure before success, and you never really know how close you are to that success unless you keep trying.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I see myself running the nicest retro arcade in Wisconsin that is only owned by one person in the next 10 years.

Q: What have you done to make Mukwonago a better place?

What I have done to make Mukwonago a better place is sacrificing a lot of my personal life in order to bring something so unique to the area. Giving the local residents something to do while benefiting the community as a whole really means a lot to me.

James Srnec & Our Community

Q: What are a couple of your favorite restaurants in our community? And what is your favorite thing to order from those restaurants?

Some of my favorite restaurants in the area are Lulabell’s Dockside, Fork in the Road, Sol de Mexico, Pina Mexican eats Badger Burger, Northwoods BBQ, Bee Well Cafe and Blue Bay. It’s hard to pick as I know I’m leaving a few out! When it comes to picking a favorite dish, I can honestly say I do not have any as I really do like everything I have had at those establishments.

Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in our community?

That’s an easy one, Ray Gooden. He was the one that helped me establish the Arcade’s current location, and hopefully any future locations. He is honestly such a down-to-earth, caring, hard-working individual, and I’m very blessed to have crossed paths with him. He also cares about Mukwonago as a whole because this is his neck of the woods as he calls it, and he sees what my business is offering for the community. He’s been one of my biggest supporters since day one, and I can only hope to see just a shred of success that that man has achieved.

Q: What current or former local business makes you the most nostalgic about our community?

Lulabell’s Dockside, as the owner John is a really great guy, and he is an example of how hard work pays off. He always has a smile on his face and that is great for the community. Also I must mention Gus’s as it has that retro car hop feel which has a great nostalgia vibe to it! And Gus is a great guy too.

Q: If you could choose anyone that is alive today and not a relative; with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? And where locally would y’all meet for this lunch?

If I could have lunch with anyone, that would be Rodney Mullen. He’s considered the godfather of skateboarding, and he has an incredibly good head on his shoulders that I would love to pick. I would take him to Fork in the Road.

Q: What is your favorite thing to do in Mukwonago?

My favorite thing to do in Mukwonago is to improve my business and fixing up the games.

For Fun

Q: What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?

My favorite show is Seinfeld, I watch that show every night. Other than that, I find crime shows like First 48 interesting. I do not really watch tv other than those shows, so anything from my childhood I watch over and over.

Q: (Even for friends or family), what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?

I was in the dental field before becoming the owner of the arcade I created from scratch.

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?

I do not like to travel much as I am always sacrificing my personal life to excel the business as fast as possible.

Q: What is your go to band/artist when you can’t decide what to listen to?

Louis Cole

Q: If you had a time machine, what historical event would you want to see?

How the pyramids were built, I would like to know!

Q: Do you have any nicknames? What are they and why were they given to you?

JSLAY, which was my DJ name as well. It was given to me by my friend Matt when he saw my dj once.

Q: What are you passionate about?

I am passionate about bringing older retro video games and pinballs back to their former glory after 40+ years of use. The restoration and reconditioning of games is a huge passion of mine.

Q: Who would you like to give a shout-out to that contributed to your success?

I would like to give a shout out to both of my landlords Marty and Kay, for believing in my business. Also, a shout out to Ray Gooden and all of the lovely people over at Anderson Commercial Group.

Q: Favorite month? favorite holiday? and best single day on the calendar?

My favorite time of the year would be any time after New Year’s Day, because that’s when the Arcade gets really busy, and people seem to really enjoy the hard work I have put in over the year.

Q: If you won $10,000,000 what is the first thing you would do?

Donate half to any no kill animal shelter, and half to St Jude’s. I think about others when donating time and or money often.

Q: What is one or two of your favorite smells?

Pizza and fresh cut grass

Q: Finally, what 3 words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?

Peace, Love, Respect