There are many reasons J&J Ventures Gaming has been in business since the Depression of 1929, but two stand out: adaptability and diversification.
The company started as a supplier of jukeboxes and cigarette machines to bars and restaurants in Effingham, Illinois, a town of little more than 12,000 residents along Interstate 70 between St. Louis and Indianapolis. In the mid-1960s the company diversified into food vending, serving factories and companies within 45 minutes of Effingham. In 2008, J&J shed its food vending interests, and the next year invested in video gaming terminals after passage of the Illinois Video Gaming Act of 2009.
According to J&J Ventures Gaming CEO Bob Willenborg, video gaming has proven to be a strong business model for the company, even when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020.
“At that time, we had about 1,600 customers,” Willenborg says. “We were thinking we might get a 10-15% roll off, which is 160 or 240 locations, which would have been devastating. But there were only a handful of companies that didn’t hold on. That’s very surprising, and the numbers have been robust. We continue to grow both organically and through acquisition.”
With recent acquisitions including Tap Room Gaming in December 2019, Awesome Hand Gaming in 2020, and Illinois Gaming Systems in 2021, J&J is growing – and thriving. According to May’s Fifth Third & Fantini Research Distributed Gaming Report for Illinois, J&J brought in $460.5 million over the last 12 months in net terminal income, ranking first in the state for that period with a 30.9% market share.
With placements of a diverse stock of titles in truck stops, convenience stores, taverns and other small businesses, J&J’s video gaming terminals are geared to a different demographic than the gamblers who frequent brick-and-mortar casinos.
“We’re helping thousands of small businesses in Illinois during a challenging time,” Willenborg says. “I think it’s been a win for the state and a win for the businesses and a win for the terminal operators.”
A sister company, J&J Amusements, supplies pool tables, darts, arcade games and jukeboxes to bars and restaurants, and manages dart and pool tournaments. Like J&J Gaming Ventures, the amusement company is run with a similar hands-on approach.
Even as the company expands, its overall philosophy remains the same: get things done by being available to customers.
“Our DNA is in distributive route logistics,” Willenborg says, “whether it was in amusement business or whether it was the food vending business. We were always a logistics block-and-tackle company first and a sales organization second. The fact is that people know we have to keep the games operating 24/7 365, because we do have the largest truck-stop portfolio of all Illinois operators.”
Willenborg admits the market is extremely competitive with more operators vying for Illinois lucrative video gaming market. Add competition from the state lottery, online sports betting, and commercial casino operators, and there are more choices for gamblers in the state.
But there also are more opportunities.
“I kind of look at it like every restaurant or bar is going to have Coke or Pepsi,” Willenborg says. “We want to be there to provide great service, great products and let the bars and restaurants do what they do. We’re not there to run their business. We’re there to make sure that our games, both amusement and gaming, are accretive to their mission and what they want to accomplish.”
