Glam arcade bar set to open this fall in the Exchange District

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This article was published 11/10/2024 (341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A sprawling Exchange District nightclub once defined by sweaty, wall-to-wall dance parties will soon reopen as a glam arcade bar filled with retro-futuristic luxury.

Select Start has taken over the former home of Union Sound Hall on the second floor of 112 Market Ave., and past club goers will be hard-pressed to recognize the 8,000 square-foot space.

The venue’s owners, along with Fireside Design Build, have transformed the bare-bones warehouse into a high-end gaming lounge with vibes as far as the eye can see.

Mel McManus is one-third of Select Start’s ownership group. Despite being new players in the hospitality scene, he and his partners are intent on levelling up the city’s nightlife.

“Winnipeg needs something like this,” he says.

McManus encountered his first arcade bar — an establishment where alcohol is served alongside video games and pinball machines — while travelling in the United States.

Bringing something similar to Winnipeg was an easy sell within his group of friends-turned-business partners, who also grew up playing first-gen game consoles and frequenting Winnipeg’s Magic Land Amusement Parlour.

“The thing I loved most about the concept of a retro arcade bar is the ability to bring people together,” McManus says.

“And you don’t really need to be a real gamer, it’s (a place) where people can sit around and have a good time playing and interacting with each other.”

The trio started scouring the Exchange District for a location big enough to accommodate their grand vision and tapped Fireside to bring it to life.

Vintage Nintendo game manuals and an appreciation for Japanese culture served as the initial inspiration for the space. The design has since bloomed into an intercontinental, interdimensional experience.

At the second-floor landing, patrons will be met with an unassuming faux entrance painted floor-to-ceiling in black. Head through a disorienting mirrored tunnel and you’ll find yourself stepping into what feels like a scene from a sci-fi movie.

The centrepiece of the main room is a circular bar with a kinetic installation of chrome balls floating above. The floor is carpeted to muffle the sound of dozens of pinging video games in a Tron-esque grid design.

“Shimmer screens” made of hanging silver chains separate intimate seating areas.

To the right, classic arcade titles — such as Street Fighter, Pac-Man and The Simpsons — and modern five-player games are arranged in a circle surrounded by lounge seating to facilitate socializing.

“We really wanted to make the gameplay social. We were focusing on it as a bar that has games,” Fireside co-founder Jaclyn Wiebe says.

To the left of the entrance, a bank of Mario Kart racers leads into a room reminiscent of a Japanese izakaya — the bathroom hallway is also made to look like a Tokyo alleyway with neon signs, timber cladding and paper lanterns.

Many of the spaces can be cordoned off to rent for private parties.

“It’s a choose-your-own adventure game,” Fireside designer Tyler Davies says of the overall philosophy.

Vaporwave — an esthetic that blends futuristic technology with tacky ‘80s nostalgia — was the driving inspiration for the bar’s colour palette and decor.

“There’s a lot of retro motifs, a lot of bright pinks, teals, but also a lot of Greco-Roman and tropical things, which is where you get the statues and palm trees,” Davies says, pointing to a stone statue mingling in a corner with a Boston fern.

After more than five years in the making, Select Start is set to open later this fall. The bar will include specialty cocktails and a full-service kitchen offering Asian fusion fare.

Owner McManus is excited to add a new twist to Winnipeg’s burgeoning arcade bar options.

“Rec Room is fun, but it’s a completely different animal,” he says of the Cineplex-owned facility on Sterling Lyon Parkway. “We were looking for a place that you want to spend your entire night in a sophisticated environment.”

Follow Select Start on Instagram (@selectstartwpg) for updates.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

X: @evawasney