A new commercial real estate listing is providing a true blast from Bethesda's past. AMR Commercial, LLC on Rugby Avenue is marketing a 2000 square foot office space in the Arcade Building, located at 7805 Old Georgetown Road in downtown Bethesda. The photo included in the listing is not current, but shows the Video Invasion arcade in the building's ground floor.
Appropriate for the 1980s, a Dodge Omni zips past the game room's windows. Sadly, there appears to be nothing about Video Invasion on the internet, such as old news stories or personal recollections. All the more reason to be grateful for this listing providing a rare photo of the arcade. There were at least two game parlors in downtown Bethesda during the 80s, as well as a game room at Farrell's on Westbard Avenue.
Photo courtesy AMR Commercial, LLC
Very cool! Have been looking for a picture of the sign for years. Thank you
ReplyDeleteHah I used to go there in middle school. We'd ride our bikes to get there. The swarthy guy who ran it sat in the back and chain-smoked and we'd buy sodas from him and he'd change our dollar bills. The video game selection was really poor. Didn't even have Out Run (had to go to the arcade at Montgomery Mall for that .. lower level below food court, where the movie theater entrance used to be). I think he had an old Pac Man Jr game not even the latest Pac Man. But, there wasn't any other place to go on bike, and it was cheap.
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