Facility Design for Profitable Birthday Party's
By the Family Entertainment Center
Page 1, 2
Industry data clearly illustrates that a well run family entertainment center can post 30% - 40% of revenues from birthday party's. Larger centers can do as many as 90 - 120 birthday party's
per week... multiply that by an average of $150 per party... and you can
begin to see the potential for this enormous revenue generator.
This kind of volume requires not only the space, and a local market to
support it, but a strategic plan on how to market, and how to manage them
once they come.
Fun Center : Designing for Party's
Whether you are opening a small or large center the same general principles
apply; Get them in, exceed their expectations, get them out and do it
all over again as efficiently as possible. To accomplish this, we need
to start with traffic flow.
The process of completing your business plan should give you a solid
projection of the potential numbers of party's you can attract, and should
thereby give you some clear direction of how many party rooms you should
have. Once there, your next task is to create a floor plan that maximizes
traffic flow.
Floor Plan
Think it through from a full-time
staff members point of view. On the busiest Saturday, when all the
party rooms are booked and walk-in admissions are also full, what
does the facility look like? Are there any flow bottle-necks where
and why? This may be hard to visualize at this point, but by being aware in general to your retail experiences, both from restaurants and other family friendly and leisure establishments you can start to get a sense of flow.
What does the check-in / check-out area look like? Will your
guests be held up in long lines getting into the building? Is there
enough comfortable room inside to accommodate two groups of 20 or more? Will
those going out be serviced as well as those coming in? Considering
the check-in and check-out process, how long will each have to wait?
How many people can get to the concession area and how accommodating
is the line-up process there? What about food service to the party
areas - are your staff having to wind their way through the crowds
for every delivery, or is it smooth? Same questions for your activity
layout, have you created walk ways and
enough space for spectators to stop and enjoy the fun?
How do groups get to their party rooms? Do they have to fend for themselves
or does a staff member assist? Once they are in the party rooms, what
happens next, when? What if an extra adult shows up, is there ample seating?
Do you have a party manager responsible to entertain, encourage and manage
each group? How much time do you give them in the party room, and how
do you help them vacate when that time is up? Do they cross back through
the facility or are there other options, like a back door area? What happens
if groups stay longer than they are supposed to? If groups are kept waiting
for their party area, how can you entertain them or cater to their frustrations?
Now see the above through
the customers eyes, what is the 'experience' like for them? Hopefully
you will be busier than your expectations and by addressing some of
these questions and others on the front-end of your facility
design,
you can create a fluid layout that maximizes your party traffic potential.
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