I think that the great strength of Uwink may turn out to be in franchising. If you flip through the pages of Entrepreneur magazine, you will see ads for ton of restaurant franchises, VERY few of which have anything unique to offer to franchisees. Only a few havea brand name that could really be considered an asset.
While Uwink obviously doesn't yet have the brand name, it has a very unique product, and I think this restaurant should be seen as a kind of lab for developing that product into something marketable. There will be a degree of trial and error involved, but hopefully enough success to be able continue to get funding for the trial and error. As you all know, UWNK has a weak balance sheet, and additional infusions of capital (either debt or equity) will be required, and probably fairly soon.
I also think that Bushnell may be making a mistake in not aligning the brand more closely with his own record as founder of Atari. I think that there is ample opportunity for marketing based on that. Go one ebay and see how much money certain rare Atari games go for. The point is that there is nostalgia for Atari games and more recent stuff, and the people who were 10 then are in their 30's and 40's now, and may be a strong market for it. I think that they may be making a mistake in not pushing the Bushnell name more with this: THAT is the strength of the brand. Atari is in a liquidity crisis. They would probably jump at the idea of some sort of partnership whereby the Atari name could be brought into the restaurant.
So, all in all: I'm very bullish on the concept, and I think Bushnell has a strong record as an innovator. I also think it needs refining (don't think anyone would disagree there) and they may have greater success tapping into the nostalgic elements of it (the futuristic pong that they have is a start. What about displaying vintage video game memorabilia? That would be interesting to people. Adults could take their kids to show them what video games were like back in the day).
Sorry for writing so much. But these are the discussions we should be having: not "OMG!!! The stock is down 9%! What does it mean?!?!?!" The investment will succeed or fail based on the success or failure of the underlying business, not the other way around. Focus on understanding the fundamentals, and the stock will take care of itself. Take care, Zac
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