Dennis Riese, a resident of Valrico and the founder of Phantom Arcades, builds premium, fully custom arcades for homes, businesses and events. Built with high-end components, stunning artwork and thousands of games, each machine delivers an unforgettable experience.
Since 2015, Riese has built 51 custom cabinets for celebrity owners, including The Undertaker and Michelle McCool, Rhea Ripley and Buddy Matthews, AJ Styles, Lil Yachty, Nick Carter, Joey Fatone and JWoww. Every machine is hand-built locally and designed around its owner, and his build videos have more than 10 million views online.
“Phantom Arcades really started by accident,” Riese said. “I built my first arcade as a hobby for myself. One day, I had some friends over, and one of them liked it so much that he asked if he could buy it from me. I sold it to him and figured I’d just build myself another one. A few weeks later, another friend saw the new arcade and wanted to buy that one. So, I sold it to him too and built another. That was when I started thinking that maybe I had something here.”
By 2022, Phantom Arcades had grown to the point where Riese had a decision to make.
“I decided to take a chance on the business, leave New York City Transit after 14 years, sell our home on Long Island, and move my family to Florida,” he said. “That was when I committed to Phantom Arcades full time. Looking back, it’s pretty incredible to think that the entire business started because a friend came over to my house and wanted to buy something I had built as a hobby.”
What Riese enjoys most about building arcades is that no two projects are exactly the same.
“I get to take a customer’s ideas, whether it’s their favorite games, sports teams, movies, music or something personal to them, and turn those ideas into an arcade that is completely unique to them,” he said. “I also love what happens after the arcade leaves my shop. These machines become something families and friends gather around. Knowing that something I built can become part of the memories a family makes together is probably the most rewarding part of what I do.”
Riese’s biggest goal for Phantom Arcades is to continue growing the business to the point where he can start hiring employees and building a team around it.
“Right now, Phantom Arcades is essentially a one-person operation,” he said. “I’m very proud of that, but I also know that if I want the company to continue growing, eventually I can’t do everything myself. I’d love to reach the point where I can hire people, teach them how I build these machines and create jobs here in our local community.”
Recently, Phantom Arcades was featured on The Price Is Right, where one of Riese’s custom arcades was a prize on the show.
If you’d like to learn more about Phantom Arcades or have a custom machine made, you can visit Riese’s website at https://phantomarcades.com/ or call 813-419-7979.
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