DES MOINES, Iowa — The owner of a business in Merle Hay Mall is now turning to the community for help to stay open.

Ben Houk opened the White Rabbit Virtual Reality Arcade in Merle Hay Mall four years ago. His goal was to show Central Iowans the full experience of virtual reality.

“We bought all of the goodies so nobody else had to,” said Houk.

The arcade offers a large selection of games and equipment, including haptic suits which uses vibrations to allow players to physically feel the game. According to Houk, it would cost around $4,000 to purchase just one set all of the equipment the arcade provides.

“VR at home is a very isolated, single-player experience, where here you can bring friends and family here to enjoy VR together,” he said.

His most prominent features are the multiplayer arena and the VR escape room.

Houk originally opened the arcade at Jordan Creek Mall in March 2020, but with the pandemic hitting shortly after, he decided to close his doors by the end of the year. His goal was to reopen the arcade in the future when he didn’t have to battle a pandemic.

That goal came to fruition during the summer of 2021.

At the time, Merle Hay Mall announced they would be the next home of the Buccaneers hockey team and will house a hotel. The transformation made the mall a rising entertainment hub. As a result, Houk decided to reopen his business inside the mall.

“Four and a half years later, none of that ever happened. That was the whole reason we came here,” he said.

Houk said having the Buccaneers arena at the mall would have drawn larger and more frequent crowds, which he thinks would have helped his business thrive. However, now he described the mall as a “dead mall” and said he’s losing money.

“When nobody shows up at Merle Hay Mall, we’re buried treasure,” he said.

As a result, Houk made a post on Facebook, telling the community that the lack of foot traffic in the mall will likely lead to the arcade’s closure. He decided to offer discounts through Groupon as a final attempt to drive in customers.

“To, in a way, live and die and have nobody even know that any of this had happened. It just makes me feel really small,” he said.

While the Facebook post helped generate more customers, Houk said he’s not sure how long this momentum will last. If it doesn’t last as long as he hopes, he will likely close the arcade in a month or two.

The CEO of Merle Hay Mall said businesses around the arcade are doing fine. She provided the following statement to WHO 13 News:

We do not have car or people counters at the Mall.  We do, however, collect sales from the vast majority of our tenants.  As it relates to tenants located near White Rabbit VR, both Flix Brewhouse and Bath & Body Works are doing great.  We are working with White Rabbit to understand their challenges and see what we can do to help them improve their performance. 

-Liz Holland, Merle Hay Mall CEO

Houk also said that some people have commented on his Facebook post inquiring about a GoFundMe, and he decided to create one.

His starting goal to regain financial stability is $30,000 but his ultimate goal of $100,000 would allow him to move the arcade outside of the mall. Click here for a link to the GoFundMe.