Atomicade Family Fun Center among six new businesses in Arco

ARCO – Nearly a decade after moving back to her hometown, Lisa Lawson hopes to rekindle the sense of community connection she remembers from her childhood.

The 63-year-old woman opened Atomicade Family Fun Center with her sons, Freedom Smith and Anthony Walsh, in February inside the old bowling alley at 132 Sunset Drive in Arco. It offers a variety of arcade games, pool and air hockey tables, dart boards and a snack bar offering Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches, hot dogs and other items.

Locals frequent the business throughout the week, but now that summer is here, Lawson is hoping to attract out-of-towners on their way to Craters of the Moon or other recreational sites.

“Statistically, we have 380,000 cars pass my location in the summer months,” Lawson tells EastIdahoNews.com.

Lawson grew up in Arco and has fond memories of visiting similar venues as a kid. It was, as she describes it, a “self-sustaining,” tight-knit community that had a lot to offer.

“We had everything we needed right here in this valley,” Lawson says.

Lawson moved away after high school. When she returned in 2016, the shops she patronized as a kid were long gone. Arco, she says, was a far cry from the town she grew up with.

“We have nothing now,” Lawson remembers thinking at the time.

That led her to open the family fun center.

The idea behind it was to give people a place to gather and talk to their neighbors again, as well as breathe new life into the community.

“We had something very special back when I grew up here. It was very tight. Little towns like this rely on one another economically and socially,” says Lawson. “We wanted to offer people an opportunity and an alternative to traveling across the desert for entertainment.”

Lawson’s efforts seemed to have sparked a wave of new businesses in Arco. In the last several months, at least five other businesses have opened.

Among them is a used car dealership, a boutique store, a coffee shop, a Mexican restaurant and a souvenir shop slated to open in August.

Kyle Nightengale and his wife, Rachel, opened Trailhead Coffee and Creamery at 257 West Grand Avenue in February. It’s a pre-existing business they bought from the previous owner.

On a daily basis, Kyle says 50% of those who visit the shop are new customers from out of town.

Kyle says their interest in opening a coffee shop was tied primarily to their family’s background in coffee. They have several family members who run coffee shops in other states or who roast their own coffee beans.

When the building was listed for sale, they jumped on it.

When asked about the opening of several new business in such a short time, and what, if anything, is triggering it, Kyle didn’t have much to say.

“This deal just kind of opened up for us. It was more of just a timing thing. It wasn’t anything else that was happening or that we saw something coming up that made us go, ‘We need to get a business going.’ It was just that the shop was for sale and we were interested,” Kyle says.

We reached out to several other business owners who were unavailable for comment.

Lawson feels the sudden surge of new businesses could be tied to growth in the community and a desire to provide something new for locals.

“Part of it … could be recognition of a slight influx of people. There hasn’t been many. Some have come and immediately gone,” Lawson says. “It also could be people understanding how much traffic travels through Arco and they just want to profit from it.”

Deputy City Clerk Josie Smith didn’t have specific data about growth in the city. The latest census data shows Arco has grown 9.07% in the last five years. Since 2020, the population has increased from 882 to 962.

Smith doesn’t know for sure why new businesses are popping up, but she says business growth has been a major focus for the city council in recent years.

“The city council is focused on trying to grow business in Arco, especially along Grand Avenue and Front Street where we have a lot of historic buildings,” Smith says. “They’re trying to make things as easy as possible for people to have a business or own a home here.”

Regardless of the reason, Lawson is pleased to see some life coming back into town.

She hopes to see her business attract new customers, but she also doesn’t want to see too much growth.

“I feel really good about this little community. I would love to see it not grow to a city because we don’t want that,” Lawson says, laughing. “But to have an opportunity to offer what it is they want to offer.”