Fundraiser to be held for 11-year-old entrepreneur following break-in

NOVI — An 11-year-old entrepreneur is working to rebuild his business after his mobile gaming bus was broken into at a Wixom storage facility in early June.

In order to replace items stolen from his video game library, Jaylen Staley will host a fundraiser 6-8 p.m. Aug. 19 at AccelerateKID in Novi.

Jaylen Staley, of Wixom, co-owner of Level Up Wit Jay, opened his business with the help of his mother and grandmother on March 26, but they were robbed of many of the games his company offered when his bus was broken into.

“You guys got to see this. It’s a ton, and I mean a ton. They stole everything in here,” exclaimed Jaylen as he showed the Novi Note where stuff had been stolen. “They even cut the wires.”

Jaylen and his mother, Brittani Staley, said the thief broke into the bus from underneath, destroyed the seats and stole a lot of the wiring for the video games, and the air conditioning unit, along with numerous video games. Jaylen said that they were lucky because they do not keep the game systems on the bus. According to the Staleys, the thief caused $3,000 worth of damage and took approximately $6,000 worth of video games.   

“All the games that were from my childhood (for her Nintendo 64) — gone,” said Brittani. “They stole all of the 64 games. They stole all of the (PlayStation 5), (PlayStation 4) games and all the games that were from my childhood.”

She said the Nintendo 64 games are the hardest to replace, as they are not sold anymore.  She said she has not been able to come across any of her games, but she would be able to identify them, as she carves her initials into her video games. She said the thief took 500 Nintendo 64 games and around 35 PlayStation 5 games. She said the games that were taken were on the bus because they were the games that were most commonly played. However, she said she believes that the thief had to have been scouting the bus, as the games were not kept in plain sight.   

The bus was given to Jaylen as a birthday present in December. Jaylen said he came up with the idea after attending a mobile gaming birthday party. Brittani said she was shocked when he asked her to forgo a birthday party for him last December and to instead give him a gaming bus.

“When your child says that he doesn’t want to have an 11–year-old birthday and he wants a bus instead, that in itself is just crazy to me,” she said. “First, I was thinking, ‘What does he want a bus for?’ and then I am thinking, ‘My wallet is going to hurt.’ You want a bus and you want to put games on it and you want to rent it out for money, and all I’m thinking is dollar signs. How much is this going to cost to buy a bus?”

She said it took her two months to find a bus. She said she went online and bid in numerous police and city auctions. She said that on her last try, she was able to win the bus, which was a smaller school bus in traditional yellow paint that came from New Jersey.  She said she then was able to partner with MotorCity Restyling, which redid the exterior of the bus, and Custom Mobile Conversions,  which helped customize the inside of the bus.

Brittani said that she never expected to do something like this. She said that she always liked just having a nine-to-five job.

“When my son has an idea and he wants to do something, I want to support him the best way that I can, and this was his dream,” she said. “So, me and my mom came together and we made it happen.”

The business, including the cost of the bus, its modifications, TVs, systems and games, cost around $25,000, Brittany said. The startup costs were funded by Brittany and her mother, Kozay Bates, of Warren.

“It’s worth it to see him take this on,” Brittani said.

She said that Jaylen participates in every bus run. The women used all of their savings to purchase the bus and create the business for Jaylen. So when the bus was broken into, the women didn’t have enough funds to replenish all that was lost. Brittani said that the insurance money was helpful, but it did not cover all of the costs.

Through Level Up Wit Jay, the Staleys offer people the chance to rent the bus and use multiple gaming systems to play a vast variety of video games, as well as karaoke. The bus offers guests a park-and-play experience, as the bus is not in motion during an event. As it is not being driven during the events, Brittani said those over 21 can have a capped adult beverage during their gaming experience.

Brittani said the business has been thriving since it opened, and they have been booked well in advance for everything from birthday parties to family reunions and company picnics. The rental includes the use of the bus and all of its gaming/karaoke equipment for two to four hours. Prices start at $400 and include three systems of the renter’s choice and all the games the company offers for those systems.

The bus offers three TV screens to play PlayStation 1 through PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, NES, XBOX 360, XBOX, Sega, Sega Mini or Atari. Jaylen said they plan to add XBOX One soon. Brittani said that the company is offering a fall back-to-school special of one hour of free game time with each rental. She said that the bus can hold approximately 12 people at a time.

“Everyone says that our prices are quite fair in that it is a bus and not a trailer. A trailer doesn’t require gas, but a bus does,” said Brittani. “So, we do really, really well. We are booked every single weekend.”

AcceleratedKID, a youth entrepreneur and technology education organization, is partnering with the Staleys for the fundraiser, which will be held at their property located at 24404 Catherine Industrial Drive No. 316.  The event costs $25 per person and will include food and refreshments, coding, robotics and video games. The Level Up Wit Jay gaming bus will be on-site so that individuals can experience all that the company has to offer. To register for the event, go to tinyurl.com/levelupwitJayregistrationform.