PGMI, Inc. announces that the Company’s 2006
expansion plans are being implemented with the scheduled opening of a new
location in July. The new Marugin Gyota store will open in the Saitama
prefecture just North West of Tokyo. The location will be a blend of direct
purchase and leasehold with a total of 197,458 square feet of land. This
will allow for 476 parking spaces and 560 machines in the new 18,931 square
foot building. This will bring the number of operating locations to 14.
Shinichi Kanemoto, the president of PGMI, said, “We are very pleased that
our expansion plans are on track with the addition of Gyota store in July.
This location will feature 560 machines with the mixture of 300 pachinko
machines and 260 pachislot machines. The location and mix of machines was
based on our extensive demographic analysis. There is a demonstrated
preference for pachinko style machines among older players. Younger players
prefer the new generation of pachislot machines that use medallions instead
of pachinko balls. Unlike the familiar slot machines of Las Vegas casinos,
pachislot machines allow the player to affect the outcome by choosing when
to stop the rotating wheels. This brings in the element of skill that is the
distinguishing characteristic of Japanese gaming.”