Shipley Energy Helps Decades Lancaster Level Up with 20% Energy Savings

At Decades Lancaster, nostalgia meets modern entertainment. In this Business Spotlight, we sit down with Chris Trendler, co-owner of this one-of-a-kind venue, to discover how 45 retro arcade games, six bowling lanes, craft cocktails, and elevated American fare come together under one roof and how managing the energy demands of such a unique operation requires the right partner.

From powering dozens of vintage arcade cabinets to keeping the kitchen running and the lanes lit, Decades’ energy needs are anything but typical. Through the Lancaster Chamber’s BizCorp program, Shipley Energy stepped in to help Decades reduce costs by 20% in their first year—proving that even the most power-hungry businesses can find smart, sustainable energy solutions.

Watch the full video and read the transcript below to see how energy efficiency and community come together at Decades Lancaster.

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Interview Transcript

Chris Trendler: I’m Chris Trendler and I’m one of the owners of Decades Lancaster. We are many things to different people, so I like to see us as a restaurant with entertainment options.

We do have 45 retro arcade games, all coin-operated. People with children love to bring in their kids and kind of show off the games that they grew up on and usually win in those games, which is fun. But we also have six bowling lanes, which is string pin. And there’s lots of different things to do while you’re here at Decades.

We have a range of beverage offerings. We have 24 taps of micro-brew as well as some domestics. We have a craft cocktail program.

And then on the food side of things, we have food offerings to match those premium beverage offerings. American Casual Fair: we do it. We sell a ton of wings, burgers, things like that. So we try to keep it light and fun, but also offer good and serious food and beverage.

We’re not a typical restaurant with bowling as a high voltage thing. With 45 retro arcade games, we’re pulling a lot of power. So our electrical and natural gas are both provided by Shipley Energy.

Our energy usage is insane.  Using Shipley Energy has been a huge benefit to us and offering all the things that we offer without costing ourselves a ton of money as well.

Tom Wallace: My name is Tom Wallace. I am the Director of Business Development at the Lancaster Chamber. Our BizCorp program is a cost savings value add. And with this program, we have partnerships with local businesses that provide services for our business community.

But through these partnerships, we have the ability to offer discounted services when it comes to the bottom line spend for our members and for the business community as a whole. So it’s a great opportunity for organizations to hopefully save some money on their monthly bills.

Chris Trendler: Another chamber member mentioned to us, they were like, “We just saved a bunch of money. You should really take a look at that.”

So I reached out to Shipley Energy and the rest is history. And we’ve saved over our first year with Shipley, we’ve saved about 20% on our energy expenses, which is huge.

Some people might see us as an arcade or bowling alley. Some people see us as a restaurant or date night spot. I think that’s what makes it really special for me is knowing that the community sees us in different ways, but all embrace what we do and use it as a community space.

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