By Ilene Davis

By James Samons

Business Today

Every year countless people play pool in area bars, drop $5 in a jukebox downtown or take their swings in the virtual batting cage in West Park Mall â€" and Lemons Coin Machines is behind it all and more.

Truman Lemons, owner and president of Lemons Coin Machines, said his company carries everything from dart boards and pool tables to pinball machines and arcade games. In some cases, Lemons sells the games to bar owners and other operators; in other instances, they install the games on a lease basis.

“Things you might normally see at the restaurants and bars mostly come from here,†said Lemons. “But we also repair the machines and do specialty set-ups.â€

Lemons Coin Machines, located in Cape Girardeau, has been in business since 1965 and has weathered big changes to the gaming machine industry. Lemons said one of the first hurdles was initial popularity of pinball.

“Years ago about all there was around were pool tables and ball bowlers,†said Lemons. “Ball bowlers were very popular games and similar to bowling, but they became too clumsy and grew unpopular when the flashy pinball machines came about.â€

However, in the 1980s the video game scene exploded â€" with help from games like “Pac-Man†and “Donkey Kong†â€" and Lemons said now staying current means staying on your toes.

“When the video games became popular nearly everything that came earlier fell out of favor,†said Lemons. “But we always need to know what’s currently popular so we know what our customers want, and sometimes that’s harder to do than other times.â€

And although some forms of entertainment have changed over the years, some are still the same â€" somewhat. Lemons said sales of cigarette machines have “gone down quite a bit lately,†and that jukeboxes, while still popular, are more high-tech than ever. Now one can download almost any artist or song into a jukebox, instead of having a limited number of songs to choose from.

Video games have also become more advanced in recent years, with interactive games catching fire. Interactive games, like the batting cage and boxing arcade game located outside Old Navy in West Park Mall, give the player a chance to be in the game (much like the Nintendo Wii).

“I think people love these interactive games and they work quite well,†said Lemons. “The player competes in the game on a different level than before, and multi-player competition is more exciting.â€

But even with all of technological advances and changes, Lemons cites at least one thing that hasn’t changed in the business.

“Pool has always been a standard,†said Lemons. “It doesn’t seem like it will ever go out of style.â€