Redondo Fun Factory – The Redondo Fun Factory defies time, logic, and the inexorable advance of high-powered “home entertainment” video games. It’s like walking back to a bygone era – not only because of collection of old political signs that adorn its walls and ceiling – but because many of the arcade and video games and carnival rides are themselves decades old.
“A time portal clearly exists right at Redondo Beach Pier and leads to a place where ancient carousels, a tilt-a-whirl, arcade cabinets from bygone eras, prizes straight from catalogs full of kitschy Americana, and gobs of greasy, fried seafood can all be yours for next to nothing,” writes reviewer James C. on Yelp “…. This is the sort of place you just have to go back to every so often to make sure you hadn’t dreamed it and that it still exists.”
The Fun Factory is run by local entrepreneur Steve Shoemaker, and he’s retained many employees there for a long time. Second manager Elba Ordonez has worked at the factory 19 years. Employee Karen Feld, who oversees several of the carnival games, has been there a mere 13.
“I watch kids grow up and come in with their own kids,” Feld said. “It’s cool. They are this high…then they come back and are this high with their own kid! Wow!”
Yelper Mary C. could have been one of those kids.
“I have pictures of me at the tender age of two spinning on the creepy looking merry-go-round,” Mary C. wrote. “Or the not-so-tender age of 14 being an obnoxious teenager on the tilt-a-whirl. When I was taken here on a date at the fabulous age of 27, I couldn’t have been happier.”
123 International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach. (310) 379-8510. www.redondo.com/rff
