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#Post#: 5649--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business
By: David M. Katz Date: May 12, 2018, 6:48 am
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Perhaps Huck would open a shoe store. ;D :D :D
#Post#: 5890--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business/Pump Up the Jump
By: Jack Date: May 24, 2018, 3:06 pm
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First of all, do you have any idea how hard it is to come up
with an original name for a business?
Anyway, I am getting some specifics now. There was (and still
is?) enough interest in the Continental post that I thought I'd
share a bit more.
We have a total of 55,000 sq. feet, which is about the size of a
football field (including endzones - 57,600 sq ft). I don't
know a lot about Babies R Us, so I will mention that our
location was a combination Toys/Babies, but they were really
just one building, separated by an extra wide aisle.
We are planning to serve food and put in party rooms. We are
discussing whether to franchise the food or just do it
ourselves, since we already have plenty of restaurant
experience.
We are currently considering up to 4 'mini-businesses' (so to
speak) housed in one place - a trampoline jump house, bounce
houses for younger kids, and possibly even wet bounce houses
(which would end up costing the most money, since we'll have to
add changing rooms and drainage), along with the food service,
and we will also have bounce house rental - either moving it
from Party Palace or doing it from both places. Older kids
require heavier bounce houses, so whether to have those for
teens is also a question.
#Post#: 5903--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business/Pump Up the Jump
By: David M. Katz Date: May 24, 2018, 11:01 pm
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Would teens frequent a bounce place? I know they would have fun
but is there a stigma that it is a "kiddie" activity?
#Post#: 5912--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business/Pump Up the Jump
By: Jack Date: May 25, 2018, 3:24 am
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[quote author=David M. Katz link=topic=515.msg5903#msg5903
date=1527220890]
Would teens frequent a bounce place? I know they would have fun
but is there a stigma that it is a "kiddie" activity?
[/quote]
That's a good question. I know teens would do a trampoline
place, which is why we're giving more consideration to it. The
problem I have right now is, most of the older teens I know are
pretty nerdy and/or geeky. It's something I need to discuss
with some of the jock kids I know, like Jeremy, Jerry Costas,
Cole Cavanaugh, and Ashley Loomis.
#Post#: 5917--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business/Pump Up the Jump
By: Zyngaru Date: May 25, 2018, 9:44 am
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Names.
Krazy Emporium
Krazy and Wyld
Just a couple ideas that came to mind.
"Mom, Dad, My friends and I are going to Krazies for a couple
hours. Okay?"
#Post#: 5927--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business/Pump Up the Jump
By: Jack Date: May 25, 2018, 3:44 pm
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"Mom, Dad, can we go to Krazys?"
"Let me guess, you want to drive your mother and me there?"
#Post#: 6110--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business/Pump Up the Jump
By: Jack Date: May 31, 2018, 3:40 am
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Tuesday, Huck did an inventory at one of my other businesses,
which is engaged in selling used store furniture and stuff,
which includes some cooking supplies.
I think we've decided to avoid the franchise route. I can't
think of a lot that a bounce house franchise would bring us
that's worth what they're asking in fees. Because we do bounce
house rentals at the Party Palace, I already have most of the
contacts and information I need. Because I've been in business
so long in other areas, I probably have at least 95% of the
contacts I'm going to need.
What we ended up doing is sitting down and deciding what kind of
food would go well at a place like this, then what we would need
to prepare it. We do have several of those things already
available to us, so we're planning to go with a menu something
like: hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, nachos, french fries, corn
dogs, pizza rolls, Frito pies, cookies, ice cream, Soda, a
couple of soft drinks (probably lemonade and fruit punch), and
maybe a couple of other things like popcorn. We're also looking
at the idea of making our own cakes, or of carrying frozen ones,
or if we should just by them from the grocery store as we need
them or require people to supply their own for parties. The
problem is, making our own requires a lot of added stuff, and
I'm not sure how long it would take to justify itself.
The point is, we've pretty well decided what we're going to be.
We're going to have a trampoline area, a bounce house area, and
an arcade, besides the party rooms and an area to eat. We
decided it was just going to be too expensive to set things up
for the water houses, since we had no idea if that would
generate a significant increase in custom. We're going to be
breaking the bounce house area down further (and probably the
trampoline area as well). Steve will be taking Gryphon and some
of his friends, and Gwyn and some of hers, to visit a few, to
get an idea of how they have things set up, then he'll finalize
a couple of choices for us. Hopefully we'll be able to contract
a contractor before Father's Day.
#Post#: 6115--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business/Pump Up the Jump
By: Adric Date: May 31, 2018, 7:59 am
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[quote author=Jack link=topic=515.msg6110#msg6110
date=1527756042]
I think we've decided to avoid the franchise route. I can't
think of a lot that a bounce house franchise would bring us
that's worth what they're asking in fees.[/quote]
This seems like a wise move. I have heard operating a franchise
described as "buying a job." While you do technically own
something and have a personal interest in the success of the
business, you are still not much more than the manager of
someone else's business. Not very much room for innovation or
imagination. And, as you say, the fees are expensive.
#Post#: 6303--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business/Pump Up the Jump
By: Jack Date: June 9, 2018, 4:21 am
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Right now, we're kind of in a holding pattern on this. Because
of that, Huck is mostly working for Magicat's right now, which
is great, what with the rush opening of the Imaginarium.
What's going on right now is pretty much all construction. Ryan
Hunter* has a several teams out there: one is re-wiring the
place, one is doing plumbing for the food prep area, upgrading
the current bathrooms, and putting in a new set; and one is
doing the basic construction we're adding (some new walls and
dividers, but nothing major). Once that's done, we'll bring in
the kitchen equipment, put down the floors, then handle the
painting. All that will be left then is getting the bounce
houses and trampolines in place.
The construction seems like a lot, but they tell me it won't
take too long. Because they're working inside a building with a
good roof, they don't even have to worry about storm delays.
They're promising I can start set up by 23 July and probably
earlier. We are buying a couple of new pieces for the kitchen.
The same guys doing the wiring will be putting in the freezer
and fridge (since we're basically building from the ground up,
we decided to splurge and go with small walk-ins. We'll
schedule delivery on the rest of the new kitchen equipment for
30 July, just to cover our bases, and plan to open Labor Day
weekend.
Ryan Hunter is an old friend of Steve's, who appeared in several
stories, including my top read MMSA story - Ryan and Derek:
Playing the Wrong Games
HTML http://www.malespank.net/viewStory.php?id=18893
#Post#: 6545--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business/Pump Up the Jump
By: Jack Date: June 21, 2018, 5:03 am
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The restaurant area is finished, except installing racks, prep
surfaces, and tables for the customers. The party rooms are
going quick, since it's mostly just putting up walls. Huck and
I, and a couple of other people, are kicking around ideas on how
to decorate the party rooms. In the meantime, the main work is
going on that we're having to redo some of the electrical...
we're having to install new electrical outlets, which means
running power to them (for inflating the bounce houses), which
means breaking up some concrete to get them laid properly. They
explained to me what they were having to do, and it's actually
kind of interesting, but I think I'll skip the explanation, and
just say that they've finished that portion, and we're getting
the divider walls put into place now.
At this point, the main things left to do are the new bathrooms
(we decided that we needed a lot more rest room space, because
we're asking people to come in and hang out, not just shop and
leave). We're remodeling the set that is already there, and
adding two more sets. We're redoing the offices a bit, but
they're mostly okay for our purposes, so it won't need any
construction, and we're putting in a space for the rental office
(we're going to be renting bounce houses and tents through this
store, in conjunction with the Party Palace).
While Texas summers are usually pretty dry, because the roof is
in fine shape, they don't have to worry much about bad weather,
so they're aiming at being finished with construction by about
24 or 25 July. The main question is going to come down to the
new plumbing the extra bathroom will require, and getting the
plumbing and electricity inspected and approved.
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