Playing at Work
Larry Roznai has been a denizen of Skokie since 1987. Back then, he bought a home in Skokie while still working in what he refers to, with not just a little sense of humor, as “the real world.” In a former life, Roznai worked for 20 years in the HVAC industry, working on temperature controls. Then, the need for change became apparent. “At one point, I found myself in need of a new career,” says Roznai, “and these guys found themselves in need of a president and chief operating officer.” Fortunately for all involved, the two were able to mutually benefit.
At the time Roznai took the position, however, Mayfair Games had operated out of a facility near Midway Airport. Something would have to change. “I was destroying cars on a regular basis driving from here to there,” he relates. “Moving my household was not an option, so moving up here was the only other option.”
An initial attempt to move operations up to Skokie in 2000 fell through, but, by 2001, Mayfair Games found a new home on St. Louis Avenue. “The area we’re in here in Skokie has everything that I need as far as power, as far as truck routes,” says Roznai. “The trucks are always hanging around here, so pick-ups and deliveries are very simple. Plus, the fact that it’s four-and-a-half or five blocks from my house is not a bad thing, either,” he adds with a chuckle. “I’ve only done it a few times, but I can, indeed, walk to work if I so choose.”
Since the move to Skokie, the company has increased its sales by nearly five times its previous amount. In a facility that began with 16,000 square feet, Mayfair Games has expanded to 20,000 square feet of combined warehouse and corporate office space where games are designed and assembled. “We make good, old-fashioned paper and cardboard board games. Nothing for the computer, nothing electronic and it still sells,” Roznai comments. “People are staying home more. They need things to do. Might as well play a game.”
The company has done well enough to have representation on every continent except South America, even though all of its board games are in English.
“It’s a nice place to be,” says Roznai. “I’d like to see more businesses come into Skokie because they really don’t make it difficult to operate here.”
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