# RePlay Magazine Podcast - Terry Moss

**Source:** Replay Magazine Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-05-22  
**Duration:** 28m 35s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** Buzzsprout-17211053

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## Analysis

Terry Moss, founder of Moss Distributors (established 1961, Moss joined late 1970s), discusses his five-decade career in amusement machine distribution. Following his father and brother's death in a plane crash shortly after joining the family business, Moss took over operations and expanded from Des Moines through Denver, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Kansas City. He discusses navigating major industry shifts (COVID, tariffs, gaming proliferation), the rise of FECs, his philosophy on ethical business practices, a significant buyout by Nelson Peltz's Triangle Industries/Rowe International in 1985, and his current focus on serving new operators entering the FEC market.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Moss Distributors has been in business for 61 years (founded 1961); Terry joined in late 1970s — _Explicitly stated at beginning: 'business has been since 61, and he jumped in in the mid-70s' and later clarified as 'late 70s'_
- [HIGH] Terry's father and brother died in a plane crash in Kansas City, Missouri within six months of him joining the company — _Terry directly states: 'Within six months that I was here I had an unfortunate tragic accident where my father and brother died in a plane crash in Kansas City, Missouri.'_
- [HIGH] Terry worked as a record promoter for Capitol Records in Southern California before joining the family business — _Terry states: 'I worked for um um capital records in hollywood... I was a record promoter and and uh my job was to take a 45 take a 2a to what what you call an underground or a radio station'_
- [HIGH] In 1985, Nelson Peltz bought Triangle Industries which owned Rowe International, and Peltz offered to buy out Moss's operations — _Terry states: 'In 1985, Nelson Peltz bought a company called Triangle Industries, and they owned Rowe International... He said to me, there's not room enough for both of us in Denver... I'm advising you, young man, to come to New York and we'll buy you out.'_
- [HIGH] About a year after the Peltz buyout, Peltz acquired National Can/American Can and Snapple, and told Moss to take back his operations — _Terry states: 'a year later mr pelts bought a national can american can he bought um snapple and says terry uh we don't want to be in your business take it back and have a good day'_
- [HIGH] Moss Distributors was recognized by Arachnid as the largest dart distributor in the world — _Terry states: 'It was their largest dark distributor in the world' (respondent confirms: 'You were their largest dark distributor in the world. Yes.')_
- [HIGH] Moss Distributors currently operates facilities in Denver, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Des Moines, and Kansas City, Missouri — _Terry states: 'We have a gentleman in Denver. We have a facility in Minneapolis, a gentleman in Milwaukee, Des Moines, and, of course, Kansas City, Missouri.'_
- [HIGH] Terry is 80 years old and has been in the amusement business for over 50 years — _Terry states: 'Randy, I'm 80 years old, and I've been doing this for over 50 years.'_
- [HIGH] Moss Distributors does not operate its own machines to avoid competing with customers — _Terry states: 'We don't operate because we don't want to compete with the people that we sell equipment to.'_
- [MEDIUM] FECs (Family Entertainment Centers) now dominate the amusement operator industry over traditional street operations — _Terry states: 'The FECs dominate our industry now. Not that the street operation is important to us, but there seems to be a lot of new people jumping into our industry that have freed up a lot of money to get involved with FECs all over the United States.'_

### Notable Quotes

> "I was thrown in the ocean and told to swim or sink."
> — **Terry Moss**, ~10:30
> _Describes being forced into running the family business after his father and brother's death, encapsulating his emergency entry into the amusement distribution industry_

> "I learned by mistakes, Randy. You learn by your mistakes."
> — **Terry Moss**, ~11:45
> _Core philosophy about how he developed business acumen without formal preparation for taking over the company_

> "It's in my blood. And if I retired, Randy, what would I do? I don't play golf."
> — **Terry Moss**, ~25:00
> _Reveals his deep identification with the business and lack of interest in retirement, explaining his continued engagement_

> "I'm old-fashioned. Call me what you want. I'm very basic, very simple. I read a lot about this industry. I have a desk with everything organized. I'm very organized."
> — **Terry Moss**, ~35:45
> _Self-describes his business approach and personal management style_

> "You must communicate. And in my situation, when I hang the phone up, I want to make sure my customer is satisfied with what we did and what we talked about."
> — **Terry Moss**, ~42:00
> _Articulates his core business philosophy on customer relations and communication_

> "The customers that I've had are not customers. They're friends, like yourself. They're friends. And business is business, but friendship matters."
> — **Terry Moss**, ~45:30
> _Describes his relational approach to business, treating customers as long-term partners_

> "If somebody works harder than you in this business, I have not met them."
> — **Terry Moss**, ~50:00
> _Demonstrates his competitive drive and work ethic as distinguishing factors_

> "There is a requirement. You got to pay your bills. We're not a nonprofit organization."
> — **Terry Moss**, ~48:30
> _Explains his approach to managing new FEC customers, setting clear expectations for financial viability_

> "When you call me, you get an answer back, don't you? Seven days a week."
> — **Terry Moss**, ~60:00
> _Emphasizes his availability and customer service commitment_

> "I have a mobile phone right here. Call me because I get more calls on Saturdays and Sundays because when you own your own business, you care the most."
> — **Terry Moss**, ~43:00
> _Illustrates his hands-on, always-available management style_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Terry Moss | person | Founder/operator of Moss Distributors; amusement machine distributor; 80 years old; over 50 years in the business; based in Des Moines, Iowa |
| Moss Distributors | company | Amusement machine wholesaler/distributor established 1961; operates in Denver, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Des Moines, Kansas City; recognized as world's largest dart distributor by Arachnid; does not operate machines itself |
| Stan Chilton | person | Long-time business associate and friend of Terry Moss; father figure in the industry; father of Randy Chilton; mentioned as professional, gentlemanly, fair, honest; deceased |
| Randy Chilton | person | Podcast interviewer; son of Stan Chilton; has known Terry Moss for ~40 years; runs Replay Magazine Podcast; was a KU football player |
| Nelson Peltz | person | Billionaire businessman; bought Triangle Industries in 1985 (which owned Rowe International); offered to buy out Moss Distributors; later acquired National Can, American Can, and Snapple |
| Triangle Industries | company | Company bought by Nelson Peltz in 1985; owned Rowe International; competed with Moss Distributors |
| Rowe International | company | Amusement machine company owned by Triangle Industries; Nelson Peltz became primary shareholder in 1985; competed with Moss Distributors; manufactured jukeboxes |
| Jerry Gordon | person | Friend of Terry Moss; managed east coast operations when both worked for Rowe International |
| Ira | person | Terry Moss's CFO; traveled to New York with Terry during Peltz negotiation; retired about two years ago (from time of podcast) |
| Capital Records | company | Record label where Terry Moss worked as a record promoter in Southern California before joining family business |
| Goldfinger Amusement | company | Vietnamese amusement product manufacturer; Moss Distributors handles distribution of their monitors |
| Arachnid | company | Dart/amusement equipment manufacturer; recognized Moss Distributors as world's largest dart distributor |
| Touch Dunes | company | Currently owns Rack brand of dart equipment; has good relationship with Moss Distributors |
| Arizona State University | organization | Where Terry Moss attended college and graduate school; where he learned importance of communication in Business 101 |
| Quicksilver Messenger Service | organization | Musical group that Terry Moss met backstage while working at Capitol Records; used as example of record promotion work |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Amusement machine distribution business history, Family business succession and tragedy, Business ethics, communication, and customer relationships, Industry evolution: shift from street operations to FECs
- **Secondary:** Challenges: COVID, tariffs, gaming proliferation, Dart and jukebox business in the Midwest, Nelson Peltz and corporate acquisition experience, Personal work ethic and lifestyle

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Terry Moss is reflective, proud of his accomplishments, and deeply satisfied with his career. Expresses genuine appreciation for business associates and peers. Reflects nostalgia for his father and the industry's past while remaining optimistic about current opportunities. Some self-deprecating humor about being 'beige' or 'boring,' but overall tone is proud and content.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Zero failure rate reported for new FEC customers that Moss Distributors services; attributed to having accounting systems that ensure customers can pay bills (confidence: high) — Terry states: 'We've had no failure because we have a system here that's done by our accounting department that we want to pay our bills... There is a requirement. You got to pay your bills'
- **[business_signal]** Dart business remains strong core revenue driver in Midwest; Moss recognized as world's largest dart distributor by Arachnid; dart leagues contribute significantly to regional business (confidence: high) — Terry states: 'I would say that the Dart business is in the Midwest. I don't know about when you have dart leagues like we do in the Midwest, and we sell a lot of darts' and 'I have a great relationship with Touch Dunes... We carry a lot of darts on hand'
- **[business_signal]** Moss Distributors expanded product offerings beyond traditional coin-operated machines to include monitors (Goldfinger product from Vietnam) and plush items, indicating diversification strategy (confidence: high) — Terry states: 'We're handling the Goldfinger amusement product, which is a product that comes from Vietnam. They're monitors. We're also in the plush business now. We brought a lady on by the name of Paula, who used to be with Coast to Coast'
- **[business_signal]** Moss Distributors maintains policy of not operating machines itself to avoid competing with customers; this is deliberate competitive strategy (confidence: high) — Terry states: 'We don't operate because we don't want to compete with the people that we sell equipment to. Causes another big problem' and confirms 'you're one of the few that don't'
- **[business_signal]** Moss Distributors business characterized as 'better than average' with consistent new operator growth (multiple new customers per week); FEC expansion is a significant growth driver but has 'curtailed in the last six months from what it was after COVID' (confidence: high) — Terry states: 'I would say it's good. It's better than average' and 'between, I'd say we get quite a few a week' new customers, but 'That's curtailed, Randy, in the last six months from what it was after COVID'
- **[market_signal]** Industry has undergone multiple major disruptions including COVID-19 and tariffs; distributors must maintain flexibility and adaptability to survive (confidence: high) — Terry states: 'You can't predict what COVID brought. You can't predict what tariffs brought... We have to remember that this industry has good points and bad points'
- **[market_signal]** FECs (Family Entertainment Centers) now dominate the amusement operator industry over traditional street operations; new operators entering the market frequently seek guidance and equipment (confidence: high) — Terry states: 'The FECs dominate our industry now... there seems to be a lot of new people jumping into our industry that have freed up a lot of money to get involved with FECs all over the United States'
- **[community_signal]** Terry Moss was in Capitol Records record promotion business in Southern California before transitioning to family amusement business; made deliberate career change based on lack of perceived future in music industry (confidence: high) — Terry states: 'I was a record promoter... I found the record business to be very fascinating. It got in my blood... I just didn't see a future in it, okay?'

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## Transcript

So hello, welcome to our second edition of the Replay podcast, where we speak with special people in this industry, people that made a big difference, and we get to hear their stories. And today you have a great one from someone I've known many decades, Terry Moss, Moss Distributorship. I've been doing this since, well, business has been since 61, and he jumped in in the mid-70s, and he has a fascinating story. So welcome, and I hope you enjoy this version of our replay podcast. Here's Terry. And today we're speaking with Terry Moss, Moss Distributors. You know, part of this podcast is talking to people that have really made a difference, and Terry's made a difference. He's been doing it for a long time, highly successful. and uh and terry i i appreciate you uh we have a lot of we have a lot of history here going back uh longer than i could imagine beyond me back to my uh back to my father doesn't it yeah i love stan shelton i was doing business with stan shelton prior to even knowing you randy with all due respect and stan was a uh a professional he was a gentleman he was fair he was honest and i liked Well, and we are always you're always one of my favorite guys, because back in the day you you took care of Chilton Vending. And I'm pretty sure you had your your ex CFO screaming at you for some of the deals you made. But you took care of us and and we certainly appreciate it. So. So anyway, let's do this kind of in reverse. Tell me about Moss Distributing today. What is the – just talk about your business just a little bit. Most people know because everybody knows Terry Moss, but what's Moss distributing today? Well, we are a wholesaler distributor of coin-operated machines. We have a gentleman in Denver. We have a facility in Minneapolis, a gentleman in Milwaukee, Des Moines, and, of course, Kansas City, Missouri. and we function as a wholesaler distributor of selling of coin operated amusement devices throughout the world. I'm very demanding. I make my people travel. We do reports. We communicate. We even work a little bit on Saturday and Sunday, but more important, we cater to the operator. We've expanded our business and that we're handling. We're handling the Goldfinger amusement product, which is a product that comes from Vietnam. They're monitors. We're also in the plush business now. We brought a lady on by the name of Paula, who used to be with Coast to Coast. So we are a, I would call a, we're open to anything. If you want to buy something, we'll sell you monitors, we'll sell you games, and more important, we'll give you parts and service, and we'll give you plush. And we're trying to expand our business. Now, I think what I'm about to say is true, but you've always avoided the temptation to get into operating. Is that correct or not? We don't operate because we don't want to compete with the people that we sell equipment to. It causes another big problem. But most of distribution in the year 2025 operates all over the place, so you're one of the few that don't. Is that a correct statement? I don't know distribution that well. I would say as busy as I am, I wouldn't have time to do it and do it properly. Oh, yeah, that's a really good point. So you've seen this business go through many twists and turns over your decades, and we're going to we're going to rewind the clock here in a minute. But what are some of the biggest I mean, you have it's always impressive when somebody navigates enormous changes in a business and this business has changed half a dozen times since you've jumped into it. What are some of the bigger milestones where you say even good or bad throughout the business? Well, like anything else, Randy, you have to go with the times and anticipate and do planning. You can't predict what COVID brought. You can't predict what tariffs brought. I try to come to work every day with the mind that I'm open to constructive criticism as to how I need to guide my ship. No different going through soft waters or going through high waters or a tornado or an earthquake. We have to remember that this industry has good points and bad points. What we try to do is be optimistic and go with the flow. And obviously, we try to perpetuate our business the way the industry is going and anticipate. Gaming has changed. The proliferation of gaming has changed the business quite a bit. Is that a true statement from a distribution standpoint? The operators change, Randy. The FECs dominate our industry now. Not that the street operation is important to us, but there seems to be a lot of new people jumping into our industry that have freed up a lot of money to get involved with FECs all over the United States. whether it's trampoline parks, water parks, coin-operated chairs, stuff from China, stuff from Japan, boxing machines. It's a variation of every type of novelty there is to sell that's made a splash in our industry. So is that mostly people that own their own businesses and are buying their own equipment, or is there a lot of new operators getting into the business or a combination of the two? Every day we have new operators getting into the business, Randy. Every day? Every day, yes, every day. We've been very fortunate. We have a wonderful website. We have good people here. I'm in sales. We have people in marketing. And we have different people that we meet with every day that have a specific job to do to perpetuate our business, to market ourselves more effectively. So no specifics, but I think what you're saying is business is pretty good right now. I would say it's good. It's better than average. Better than average. Well, I think that has a lot to do with your hard work and commitment to it. So if you don't mind, let's rewind the clock. You know, I've known you for so long that I think I know your background. And I think, I think, Master, you've been in business, I took this off your website, 61 years. Is that right? I'm second generation. I came here in the late 70s, and I haven't left. I think it's an interesting story. Are you comfortable talking about how you got into the business? Because I know there was a family tragedy. Yeah. I had gone to school and graduate school in Arizona, and I was working in California. And my dad asked me to come back to Iowa and learn the business. I spent some time summertime working here at Moss Distributing learning the business But I didn actually have two feet on the ground Within six months that I was here I had an unfortunate tragic accident where my father and brother died in a plane crash in Kansas City, Missouri. So my intentions were to learn the business, but I got thrown into the business. That's like saying you went from the waiting pool to the deep end. Yeah, I was thrown in the ocean and told to swim or sink. And what do you remember? That had to be a fascinating period of your life. What do you remember of those days? Like, what the heck am I doing? I didn't know what I was doing, Randy. I learned by mistakes. I mean, it's sort of like you going out for the KU football team as a freshman. And you were a walk-on. And the coach said, Mr. Chilton, we want you to be wide receiver. And there was a couple of guys playing defensive back that are four-star recruits. And he said, you mean you want me to run and go to the post, catch the ball and run? Well, when you got hit the first time, you said, hmm, there's got to be a better way to play this game. You learn by your mistakes, Randy. Oh, well, I totally understand. So that wasn't necessarily the career path, or that was the career path that just got escalated because of the accident. prompt real quick randy all right so you're uh you're jumping in in the early 70s you hey before that one year is a late late 70s randy late 70s yes because you were in uh aren't you in the record promotion the something something what what i see we only we only know terry from the game business but there was a terry before that so what was that what would you do i worked for um um capital records in hollywood okay i was a record promoter and and uh my job was to take a 45 take a 2a to what what you call an underground or a radio station get promotion so the album would get sold by getting airplay and i worked with various artists that capital had on their way throughout the southern california san diego area interesting interesting job description when I did. I didn't need a master's degree to do that, Randy. You needed, I don't know what you needed. A pair of jeans and a t-shirt to go to work and really had a fun experience meeting the various artists that I worked with. I was treated very well. I just didn't see a future in it, okay? Do you have one story of an artist you hung with or something that sticks to your mind? Yeah, there was a group called Quicksilver Messenger Service. And I met them backstage. And the manager says to me, how many people are out there, Terry? And I said, oh, four or 5,000. How much were tickets? I said, $5. Boy, we made 12,000 bucks today. We're going to go out and celebrate. It was all about money, how much the artist could make. But he also wanted his record promoted so they'd get more airplay, produce more albums and get more revenue. It was all about selling records, Randy. All about promoting and selling records to radio stations. So you didn't particularly miss that when you left it and moved to Des Moines? I found the record business to be very fascinating. It got in my blood because I met various types of artists, from the Beach Boys to Grand Funk Railroad, the Quicksilver Messing Service, to Steve Miller. glenn campbell all those personalities and and most of them were very cordial i dealt with their managers helen ready from canada was very difficult to get along with uh her husband jeff wald wanted more airplay i i it was a fascinating time i got to travel all over california san diego las vegas um and i had fun it wasn't about money it was about having fun well at that age that's the right priority. And then my dad got a hold of me and said, Terry, you need to come home and learn the business. Well, that means I have to leave Southern California. He says, yeah, you're going to move to Des Moines, Iowa. So I moved to Des Moines, Iowa. The rest is history, Randy. I haven't left this desk, which was my father's desk. And I sit here every day and enjoy what I do. I like competition and I enjoy this industry. It's in my blood. Now, if I could rewind the clock and meet your dad, is he like, are you like him? Is he very different? I think we're somewhat alike. He was very competitive, always wanted to win. He taught me the business his way. And then I functioned the way that I need to function in the 70s, 80s, 90s, in the year 2000 or 2025. But I'm fascinated by this industry. I love what I do. I love my travels. I love my peers. I love my competition. I have no ball to pick with my competitors whatsoever. We're all in it to make money and do well. I just want to do better. Yeah. Is it, mind if I ask your age? I know you're... Yes, I'm 49 years of age. Randy, I'm 80 years old, and I've been doing this for over 50 years. My goodness. You're just going to keep doing it. You're just going to keep doing it, aren't you? Because you love it every day. I don't, Randy. I'm a boring person. I'm married. My wife says I'm boring. I leave here at 5 o'clock. I'll go to the gym. I'll come home and have dinner, maybe do some work at home, and I get up the next day and go to work. I'm pretty boring. I'm what you call beige, Randy. I'm pretty simple. I don't care to travel to Europe and go to the Roman Empire. I like to stay. I like to work. I don't mind traveling in the United States. But I like what I do. It's in my blood. And if I retired, Randy, what would I do? I don't play golf. I did play with you once. You were a phenomenal golfer. but I don't play golf because I don't have time. I'm not a tennis player. As long as I can get to the gym and work out, then mentally and physically I feel good about myself. I mean, you still work out every day? No, I work about three or four times a week. Sometimes on Saturday I go to the gym twice a day, to be honest with you. I just like to work out. To me, it's in my blood. I just want to work out. Yeah, well, obviously there's something to it because you look fantastic and good for you. You went through a period of your life where you were like you really took this bodybuilding as a profession, didn't you? At one time at one time I competed but I didn want to do that because I didn want to do I don smoke or drink Randy So to compete you had to take to compete you had to take drugs to compete And I'm not going to do steroids. I'm not Sylvester Stallone. I'm not going into the jungle, Randy, to take on the world. Okay. I won't do drugs. I don't even drink. I'm so, I don't do anything that's against the law. I just want to follow the rules. Working for you. Keep it up. I plan on it, Randy, because even when I take time off to go to Arizona, I leave on a Thursday. And by Saturday, I want to come back home because there's nothing for me to do. How many times can you get Starbucks coffee? How many times can you walk the dog? How many times can you go out for dinner? I just want to get back to my environment and get to my desk so I can touch it and feel it and smell it. I'm a pretty simple guy, Randy. Well, I just love hearing you say that because of my wife, when she watches this, she'll say, well, you're Terry. That's how I would just, she would describe me. I mean, I still enjoy what I do. And a lot of my peers have decided to go on cruises and play bingo and eat food buffets. And that's just not my deal. And I can't play more golf, Terry. So I still work plenty of golf in, so there would not be more golf in my life. And yet, I like the people in this industry. I don't misunderstand. Every day is a challenge. I think the hardest thing in this business is not the customer or the manufacturer. It's the people that I work with. I have a work ethic that I expect them to do what I do. And sometimes that doesn't work that way. In other words, I don't take vacations on Friday afternoon. I'm at my work desk at 5 o'clock on Friday afternoon. If it's even 85 degrees, I'm here at work. It's in my blood. I'm old-fashioned. Call me what you want. I'm very basic, very simple. I read a lot about this industry. I have a desk with everything organized. I'm very organized. If you were to call me and ask me a question about something, I could look it up and find it for you. Well, that I know to be true firsthand. And you had a lot of customers, and you always made the Chilton family feel important. So I'll never forget that. They made me feel important, Randy. I respected your family. I loved your dad. And when Stan spoke, you listened. I certainly did. Did you? I certainly did. And you know something? You learn a lot talking to Stan Chilton, because he was the straw that stirs the coffee. Well, yes, he was. And we certainly miss him. But thank you for the comments about Stan. We don't talk about him often enough. Thank you. So you were at one point. Wait a minute. I'm disconnected here. At one point, you sold to Rowe or fill in the blanks there. I know you did something with Rowe. In 1985, Nelson Peltz bought a company called Triangle Industries, and they owned Rowe International. And at that time, Randy, I had an office in Denver, Colorado, and I was in Minneapolis and in Des Moines. might have been in Omaha. And Mr. Peltz, if you Google him, he went on to be a multi-billionaire. And he said to me, there's not room enough for both of us in Denver. One of our offices has to go. He said, I'm advising you, young man, to come to New York and we'll buy you out. So my CFO and I went to New York. We sat down in this huge conference room. He says, are you ready to make a deal today? And I said, I don't know. I said, by five o'clock, we'll have a deal done. And at 3.30, we had a deal done. Oh, my goodness. And he took over my offices. At that time, I was part of Rowe and they had factory offices. I was in charge of the western part of the United States. And Jerry Gordon, who was a dear friend of mine, was part of the the east coast and that's when row and valley competed on factory-owned offices a year later mr pelts bought a national can american can he bought um snapple and says terry uh we don't want to be in your business take it back and have a good day and god bless you well and i i thanked him and in 1987 or whenever it was i walked across the street He took them and started over again. So you had an office in Denver and Des Moines at that time, or everything was in Denver? Well, I worked for Rowe International. Yeah, okay. They had factory offices in those states. And when he bought Triangle Industries, Rowe was part of the package that he got. So we competed on jukeboxes. So he said, one of us has to go. And he said, you're going to be the one that goes. Sound like quite a character. And he went on to do very well. If you Google Nelson Peltz, he still is a character. I think if you Google him, you'll find him very interesting, what he's purchased through his junk bond buying. That's a pretty good story. So then you got back in it and you found your way back to Des Moines. He had me commuting to New York once a week. When we went to visit him, Randy, in New York, he was never there. So he said to myself, my CFO, just tour the city. So after about nine months of touring the Trump Tower and walking all over New York, we came back and said, why do we go to New York? He's never there. He said, just sit in the conference room and just take care of business. And then he told us that he didn't want to be in this industry anymore. So, okay. Your CFO you're talking about is Ira. Ira, yeah. Ira retired about two years ago. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, Ira used to call us a lot on, you know, 31st day of a 30-day payable. I wonder what he was wanting. Rand, your family paid your bills. Let there be none to misunderstand. Stan Chilton paid his bills. That's pretty funny. Let's see, what else did I want to ask you? So when I think of you, I wrote down a couple of words here and just things that, Because you and I spent time together, and then I went and did other things, and so we kind of reconnected. But I wrote down, Terry Moss is aggressive. You're an aggressive guy. You're a man of very high morals. I think more than anybody I've met in this business, if you say you're going to do something, you can take it to the bank, and that's a huge credit. But to your other point, you're a hardworking guy and you're a family man. Because if I remember right, most of our calls, we ended up talking about the Kansas Jayhawks or what Colt was up to on the hockey field. How would you describe yourself? Well Randy I feel the same way that you do If I going to be in business I want to try to be the best at what I do But what important to me is ethics communications I'm a firm believer. I learned that at Arizona State my first year in college, Business 101. You must communicate. And in my situation, when I hang the phone up, I want to make sure my customer is satisfied with what we did and what we talked about. because I can't read your mind. And if there's an issue, I have a mobile phone right here. Call me because I get more calls on Saturdays and Sundays because when you own your own business, you care the most because you want to make sure you're successful. But you also want to remember one thing. You must take care of your employees. They're the heart and soul of your business. So I want to run a ship that everybody's honest, everybody's sincere, and my customers are happy with what we're doing because it's a tough business. I find myself involved with parts and service. And if a customer calls, he has a problem, I want it taken care of. And it's tedious. You can't please everybody at City Hall, but you try to do the best you can. And I will say this. The customers that I've had are not customers. They're friends, like yourself. They're friends. And business is business, but friendship matters. Relates to business, okay? You must have a rapport and a relationship with your customer or you'll get no business at all. Wise words. Thank you. Thank you for that. So you said, I want to go back to something else you said, that there's a lot of people getting into the business. That's my visibility. I don't really see that. We don't sell to anybody. They're getting into the business to open up family entertainment centers. Is it that simple in some fashion or another, whether it be Tramp Parks or whatever? I don't think it's simple. I think they need guidance, but they want to get in the business. And they'll call and they'll want to know they have an FEC. And I'll just use a poor example. In Houston, Texas, we're opening up an FEC. What can you do for us? Well, I don't know who they are, but we can certainly find out real quick. And they're legitimate people. And we've opened up a lot of new FECs of people that wanted to be part of this industry because they feel it, and it is, a growth industry. Now, that's curtailed, Randy, in the last six months from what it was after COVID. But most of these people are still that we find. We get a lot of new customers, Randy, a lot of new customers. I don't know how many, but between, I'd say we get quite a few a week. I don't have that number, nor do I feel comfortable disclosing it. But we have a lot of interesting new customers, new blood. And we have people that we've never done business before that we're finding that we're able to do business with. Competition is wonderful. I've never, I don't speak bad about my competitors. They're wonderful people. I just want to outwork them. I think if somebody works harder than you in this business, I have not met them. So is there any failure rate on these FECs, higher or lower, or are they generally, you know, year down, year two down the road, they're still going strong? We've had no failure because we have a system here that's done by our accounting department that we want to pay our bills. And if we're not able to pay our bills from our customers, then it's best that they go elsewhere. There is a requirement. You got to pay your bills. We're not a nonprofit organization. So I've had no failures. Not that I'm aware of, knock on wood, no failures. I really mean that. Yeah. Your darn energy level is just contagious. So that's pretty impressive. I can tell you love what you do. Hey, you got an award. Arachnid recognized you recently at the Amusement Expo. Congratulations. Thank you, Randy. I appreciate that. What did that entail? It was their largest dark distributor in the world. You were their largest dark distributor in the world. Yes. Well, that's just dang impressive. We got lucky, Randy. We got lucky. Well, we could do a whole nother 30 minutes just on. We got lucky. But the core, so the core Dart pool table jukebox business is still strong with all the digital jukeboxes and that there's still a core group of operators out there. Yeah, I would say that the Dart business is in the Midwest. I don't know about when you have dart leagues like we do in the Midwest, and we sell a lot of darts. It's part of our history. The jukebox, the pool tables, the darts is a big factor in the Midwest. And I have a great relationship with Touch Dunes that now owns a rack. And we carry a lot of darts on hand. We sell a lot of darts. It's a good business, Randy. It's a wonderful business. I'll be darned. Well, that's more than anybody in the world. That's quite an honor. Well, good. What have I forgotten to ask you? Your story is quite fascinating. You know, I'm a regular guy, Randy. I'm not after publicity. I wanted to do this interview with you because I've known you for so many years. I've known you, what, 40 years, Randy? I think I knew you when you were a Jayhawk. I think you probably did. But I did business with Stan before I knew you. Yeah, that's all true. As long as I'm going to do this, I'm going to try to be professional and respect my industry and respect my peers and respect the people I'm selling to as to what their wants and needs are. And hope I can accomplish that. I don't think I'm any different than people that you know in life, whether it's a professional golfer or a tennis player or someone in your company. You try to rise to the occasion with the intentions of pleasing the copter and making him happy and making him money and tell him why he's going to make money. And that's what I do. That formula seems to be working well for you. I hope so. Well, Terry, I appreciate your time. This has certainly been the highlight of my week, getting to sit down and talk with you. The folks at Replay said they've been chasing you for years. And I said, well, wow, Terry's sitting down with me. So we're all very excited. And we want to talk to folks that have made a difference, have been doing this for a long time, that are kind of legends in the business. And you check every box, my friend. So thank you for taking the time. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. If there's something that you need from me, then you have my mobile number. One thing I do, when you call me, you get an answer back, don't you? Seven days a week. Yeah. Seven days a week. Good Lord, Will, and that's my intention. Thank you, Terry. We'll be in touch. Thanks, Randy. Take care, buddy. Game over.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 913d49aa-d9df-4634-b6f3-a8a09f8f0a0f*