Meet Drew Herron | Toy and Comic Store Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Drew Herron and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Drew, putting aside the decision to work for yourself, what other decisions were critical to your success?
Taking a leap and just going for it. I had the idea of owning an arcade and toy store for a few years as my hobby grew, but more-so as a “down the road a few years” type of idea. An opportunity presented itself to open our first brick and mortar location and my wife encouraged me to go for it. After that, we continued to adapt the business model and products to meet the demand while also keeping true to my passion for vintage toys and games. When we moved to Tucson a few months ago and switched to an online-only shop, I was able to expand our inventory further with vintage and collectable comics which is something I had been wanting to include for a while.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
We’re excited about expanding and continuing to grow in our inventory and the services that we offer. Even though we don’t have the arcade anymore, I still get asked to fix machines from others who either have them in their homes or businesses but don’t know how to do the maintenance. That’s something I haven’t actively advertised yet, but it’s a service I am hoping to soon make widely known to further expand our business model. Again, it’s all about adaptability.

We’re proud of our great reputation online with our shop and love to see the repeat customers and “regulars”. I am always excited when I find vintage comics, toys, and actions figures we all grew up with and then being able to share that with others. There’s definitely a sense of nostalgia with this job that makes it worth-while. Meeting others who are just as passionate as I am about these items brings a sense of connection to those who have similar emotional attachments and memories with these products.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Being new to Arizona, we’re still learning the area ourselves! However, in the short time we’ve been here we have taken full advantage of the local food scene and overall cultural diversity that Tucson has to offer. Saguaro National Park is definitely a must see for the out-of-towners. The sunsets here are insane and the views are awesome no matter where you are in the city and surrounding areas. If you like miniature golf (we LOVE it!), then you have to check out Golf N’ Stuff. American Eat Co. on the southside has a great variety of local food vendors and they even have Mariachi during the weekend. And if you like brunch as much as we do then you need to try Cup Cafe at the Hotel Congress, so good!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
100% my wife. I began my hobby of playing and fixing vintage arcade machines when we were in the process of settling into our first home with our son on the way. She was working and in Grad school at the time and wanted me to have an outlet to use my mechanical skills and creativity in-between work and the everyday grind. My first machine was a beat up arcade cabinet that was listed for free on Craigslist. In the span of a few weeks I was able to overhaul the cabinet with new graphics, mechanics, and an arcade board and turned it into a Pac Man in our basement. And with that project, I was hooked. Between arcades and pinballs, I’ve made/renovated over 30 machines and taught myself to do all the maintenance on everything we’ve owned and operated. Over time, my interest expanded further to vintage toy collection and comic books. Of course there are challenges when you open a new business, especially with something as niche as this, but my wife was always the one pushing me through it and giving me that tough love and constructive criticism that I needed to progress and overcome.

Website: https://zoltarsarcade.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoltars_arcade/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZoltarsArcade/