Today we’d like to introduce you to Whitney Carlson.
Hi Whitney, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My Father-in-law has always been a big collector of toys and lunchboxes, so over the course of forty years he had amassed a huge collection of pop culture memorabilia. My husband and I were always used to being around so many different kids of toys and collectibles because of my father-in-law, but we had gotten into collecting arcade and pinball machines. Eventually you become people’s “friend of a friend” where when someone from the area was looking to sell or just get rid of an old game or toy collection, people just started getting in touch with us.
After many years of collecting, we had accrued about 150 pieces that we repaired and got into working condition. Around 2017, we owned a landscaping business and the games were just a hobby for us. It was in that year that we were approached by Stern Pinball, who is one of the manufacturers of modern pinball machines. They heard that we were into the pinball scene in Oregon and they were looking for people to become distributers of their games in the state. We decided to make the leap as entrepreneurs and switch from our landscaping business to being in the gaming world.
We had originally planned just to have of our personal collection as part of the showroom when people would come to purchase pinball machines, but we quickly realized that it just made for a really fun arcade experience. And since my father-in-law had so many different toys and lunchboxes that he collected over the years, we thought it would look really cool to put those items on the walls behind the games to add to the vibe of Next Level. In our first years of Next Level, we still had a gravel parking lot, no heating or A/C in the building, and we didn’t even have a sign outside on the road. A few local people knew we existed and would tell their friends. Then those friends would tell more friends, and we saw that people felt how special of a place we were building with this cool combo of games plus nostalgia and toys on the walls.
We’ve taken our original model and we just keep expanding out the building, the games, and the experience. We are coming up on our 10 year anniversary and we’ve had six different expansions in that time. We’ve grown the collection to over 750 games that customers can play, we have about 50,000 toys and collectibles on the walls, we’re one of the biggest arcades in the world and we were recently named “America’s Best Arcade”. At the end of the day, we’re just a mom-and-pop shop, but we have such a dedicated staff and the absolute best customers that we are excited to keep expanding Next Level to be this unique gem for families and visitors to Oregon!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There are always little bumps in the road for any small business!
The obvious struggle was opening just a couple years before COVID. It was just ourselves and a couple of employees at that time, but there was probably a solid six months where we needed to be closed. It’s never a fun time as a business owner to watch income go down to zero, but in hindsight, it actually gave us some time to continue our build out of Next Level.
It almost feels like the pre-Covid era was our “soft launch” where we heard how much customers enjoyed the experience, and then the Covid era allowed us the time to finish the upgrades to our building. Of course we were nervous investing into things not knowing when we could re-open, but we were confident that we had a special business that taking the time during Covid to smooth out the customer experience was very helpful.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
As of 2026, we are one of the largest arcades in the world and we were voted “Best Arcade in America”. The games are the interactive part of the museum with about 750 total playable pieces. 650 of those games are on free play and included with your admission and about 100 pieces are things like a Virtual Reality Machine, a photo booth, or claw machine prize winning games. Beyond the games, there are about 50,000 toys, collectibles, and autographed mementos on display in the museum. It’s $23 for an all-day wristband that allows in-an-out access for the entire day.
I think what makes the place so unique is the combination of games and collectibles that make up the pop-culture museum really appeals to kids and adults of all ages. There are so few places that say they are all-ages and truly appeal to people from different generations. Everyone had a childhood and we want to make sure that everyone’s childhood and era that they grew up is represented in the museum. It’s such a cool experience to hear our customers get to talk about the games and toys that gave them joy growing up and sharing that with their friends and family on their visit.
We also have a party room that people can rent, and we even rent out the entire facility on days that we’re typically closed to the public. Birthday parties are definitely the most common event we see here, but since we appeal to so many different kinds of age groups, we have also been rented out for corporate events, family reunions, weddings, bachelor parties, celebrations of life, holiday parties and even someone renting us out to pop the question!
Pricing:
- $23 per person for an all day wristband
- $17 for children between the ages of 3-5 years old
- Children under 3 are free with a paid adult
- Party room rental is $150 for a 2 hour rental + $23 admission per person
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nextlevelpinballmuseum.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nextlevelpinballmuseum
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nextlevelpinballmuseum
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/next-level-pinball-museum-hillsboro
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@nextlevelpinballmuseum
