Stern Electronics, Inc.
Stern Electronics' history dates back to 1946, when Harry E. Williams founded Williams Electronics. Sam Stern was a Philadelphia area distributor and operator who purchased half of Williams Electronics in the early 1950s. He served as president of Williams Electronics for several years. Stern Electronics was formed when the Stern family bought the financially troubled Chicago Coin in 1977.
The first two games made by Stern were Stampede and Rawhide, both originally made by Chicago Coin only had changes made to their branding and logos. After a weak start, Stern Electronics' sales started picking up by the end of 1977. By 1978 they had switched over to fully solid state electronics for their games. Although not as successful as rivals Williams and Bally (Gottlieb had been purchased in 1977 by Columbia Pictures but was still a formidable competitor as well), Stern managed to produce its share of moderately successful pinballs as well. Also, in 1979, Stern acquired jukebox maker Seeburg Corporation, and the company became known as Stern / Seeburg. Coincidentally, Seeburg also owned Williams in the 60s, when Sam Stern was its president.
When arcade video games became popular in 1980, Stern produced Berzerk. No other video game it made was ever as popular as Berzerk, however, and in 1983 Stern became one of many victims of the amusement industry economic shakeout that occurred. In 1985, Stern Electronics left the amusement industry. Personnel from Stern Electronics formed a short-lived venture known as Pinstar, producing conversion kits for old Bally and Stern machines. Gary Stern was the president of Stern Electronics, Inc, Pinstar Inc, and Data East pinball. Chicago Coin's assets were purchased at bankruptcy sales forming the core inventory of Stern Electronics, Inc., however as a separate company, they did not assume any of the debt Chicago Coin had amassed.
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