Gilchrist Celebrates 75 years of Good Times and Great Games
A brand new Consumer Jukebox from Rock-Ola joins the party in Toronto
Toronto, ONT (October 6, 2008) — This week marked the 75
th Anniversary of Toronto-based Gilchrist Vending, LTD., also known as Gilchrist Games. Gilchrist celebrated with an all-week open house event through October 4, 2008. Table and game sales were featured, and the latest home Music Center from Rock-Ola, the “Mystic” wall-mount.
In 1932, Reginald Charles Gilchrist first opened the doors of the game and vending business in 1932 as R.C. Gilchrist Vending Ltd. Starting as a small family-run distributor/repair company for jukeboxes and other coin operated games, the company soon branched out and became the first in the region to operate parking meters, cigarette vending machines, food vending machines, dollar bill changers, shoe shine vending machines, permission to operate phonographs, shuffleboards and pool tables in licensed hotels across Ontario as well as the first to distribute the “Space Invader” and “Pac Man” video games, so hugely popular in the 1980’s.
Reginald’s son, Tom Gilchrist, took ownership of the company in 1975, changing the name to T.W. Gilchrist Vending Ltd. As president, Tom practices the sales techniques and lessons learned from his father in every aspect of his business. The friendliness of the staff and their dedication to providing the best service possible is just an example. Keeping current with the demands of the times with quality merchandise is another hallmark of Gilchrist Games.
“For about 25 years, Rock-Ola—and before that, Antique Apparatus—has been the core of our consumer jukebox business,“ said Tom Gilchrist, “and we’ve been very excited to offer the Nostalgic Music Centers to our customers most recently. When I saw the proto-type of the Rock-Ola “Mystic” at BCA last June and learned that production was scheduled just a little in advance of our jubilee, I placed my order and invited John up to debut the model during our Open House.”
“These are great people,” John Schultz, Rock-Ola President expressed warmly, “Their business is one of the most friendly and professional in the industry and we’re delighted that they have been so supportive of our products and eager to debut our newest release, the ‘Mystic’.”
The Rock-Ola “Mystic” is the first digital wall-mounted jukebox for the home. Capable of storing up to 2800 CDs, the new Mystic offers direct MP3-device play and sophisticated home networking capabilities. An excellent addition to the game or family room, the Mystic does double-duty as a digital picture frame when in screen-saver mode. Driven by the same powerful interface as the Nostalgic Music Center series, the Mystic offers a space-saving alternative, and opens up more market for the retailer.