After huge success across London and Bristol, retro arcade bar Four Quarters co-owner Francois Kitching is heading up North to bring both Geordie natives and toon tourists their new favourite hotspot. He’ll also be realising a lifelong dream in coming home.
Described as the UK’s original and best arcade bar, Four Quarters are continuing their expansion from venues in Peckham, Bristol, Hackney Wick and Elephant Park.
The concept was born from Fran and fellow co-founder Marc Jones’ love for both games and a great night out. Originally launched as a side project, the company’s first bar in Peckham proved a huge success and soon, they were expanding the concept from its original site in Peckham to Bristol, numerous other boroughs of London and now, the North East.
The hugely popular retro gaming venue has confirmed a new Dean Street location, with plans to move into the basement and lower ground floor of the former restaurant, Gershwin’s.
Four Quarters – named after the fact that 1.50 gets you four American quarters to feed into their machines – boasts a varied collection of vintage arcade games from the 1970s to the mid-2000s. Visitors can enjoy themselves on the lovingly restored machines, from throwback favourites such as Pac-Man to the more modern likes of Time Crisis 2. There are also comfy booths with various old school consoles, from the Megadrive, N64, to the beloved PS2. After working up an appetite, guests can enjoy a range of pizza, classic and themed cocktails, and local craft beer.
While Marc comes from a background in hospitality and entertainment, Fran’s career began in construction and project management, giving the founding pair a strong foundation of skills and expertise that has led to the franchise’s ongoing success. But where it all starts is a love of classic video games and a great pub.
“Without the love of the games, it would never have existed. But I think also without the love of a good night out, it would never have existed either,” Fran said.
It was Fran’s fond memories of growing up in Whitley Bay in the early 90s, playing games in the arcades of Spanish City, that inspired the idea of Four Quarters. He rediscovered his love for arcade games after a trip to Japan where old arcade game were back in fashion.
“I loved arcade games but when I got a bit older it all sort of went away for a while,” Fran continued. “It just so happened that I was travelling in Japan and I came across video game cafes and arcades and I was just like, ‘wow, I really still love this stuff’ and maybe there’s something that can be done back at home.
“Fast forward a few years from there and I’m living in London, working in project management, sick of what I’m doing and trying to work out how I might make this project a reality.”
Meanwhile, similar ideas were brewing in Marc’s mind as he drew inspiration from Barcades which were popping up across the United States. The company’s five founders eventually met online through social media and forum platforms, coming together to turn the concept into a reality.
Fran has wanted to bring the concept to his hometown since the company’s beginnings. After their initial efforts to open a site in Newcastle was quashed by the pandemic, the team said it is excited to finally bring the novel concept to Dean Street, an address that holds a particularly special place in Fran’s heart as one of his old stomping grounds in the 1990s.
“I love Newcastle, I miss Newcastle and for me it has always been important to end up back there. I wanted to have a bar at home,” Fran said. “It’ll make me immensely proud and especially on such a site as Dean Street. I come from a rave background so back in the early 90s we used to go down to generator records which would have been just around the corner. That street has been important to me for as long as I’ve lived.”
Fellow-co founder Marc Jones, added: “The goal was always not to be just a ‘London brand’. We want Four Quarters to be a key part of the nightlife scene that thrives across the country, including cities other than London”.
Thanks to the skills and expertise of arcade game expert and founding team member, Tom Humphrey, the company began to expand its collection of machines which are all lovingly repaired and restored by Tom and his team. Four Quarters now owns over one hundred arcade machines from the past four decades which all require ongoing maintenance.
“Some of the old machines are from the early 80s and they break; they break constantly,” said Marc. “It takes a lot of maintenance to make sure that we’re fixing them and making them as good an experience as we possibly can and something we really care about.”
The bar will be located in a historic site with a well-known backstory. Best remembered as Gershwin’s Restaurant, the site was left abandoned for a decade. It comes as no surprise, then, that getting the site whipped back into shape hasn’t been easy.
The opening has been a long and involved process, according to Fran. One that required working closely with all the city’s stakeholders – including the council, heritage and environment organisations and the police – to ensure the long-vacant building was fit for purpose.
“This particular site has taken a long time from finding it and developing the concept to actually delivering it. There were many challenges, but it is an amazing historic site with a really interesting backstory.
“It’s a slightly notorious ex-den of iniquity, to some extent,” Fran explained. “But it’s going to be an exciting space to bring back to life after having been empty for ten years. Now we’ve got the space opened up and we’re going to fill it to the brim with arcade machines.”
Despite originating in the South, Four Quarters is committed to being more than just a “London brand” and aims to become an integral part of Newcastle’s thriving nightlife. The new bar is expected to create upwards of 12 new jobs for the region, with roles including management positions, bar supervisors and kitchen staff soon to be advertised.
“People who come to work for us are going to be proud of the fact that they work for us,” Fran said.
“They’re going to see it as a place that is inherently different to everywhere else. As well as the games, there’ll be a broad selection of craft beers, there’ll be a good cocktail offer, and there’ll be a good standard of product coming over the bar, and hopefully a great experience for everyone who comes walks through that door.”
“We also want to find employees who want to be part of the journey and we’ll be undertaking a recruitment drive in due course.”
Four Quarters plans to open its doors in late November and visitors will be able to feed their quarters into retro machines 7 days a week. This latest addition to Newcastle’s renowned night life has a lot to live up to, but Four Quarters is expected to top the city’s leader board in no time.
fourquarters.bar
