Kids Play/Party Center- NH? (Manchester, Concord: daycare, how much, home)

[McUnG]

"Where would be a good spot for a mom and pop type of kids play and party center? We've been to VT and are aware of the "need", so to speak, as our friend in Springfield drove over TWO hours to take our kids to a run down dive of a place where I felt like we needed a shower when we left. We were the only people there. I'd love to be in a small town, but obviously we need to have enough population to support the business. Someone suggested Ludlow because of it's winter tourism, but I don't know that I could tolerate living anywhere near a touristy place."

I had posted this above question on a VT thread and got a reply which indicated that VTers have no need for an indoor play/party center because the "hills, ponds, etc" are their playgrounds. I can understand how that's true, with such a beautiful state and so much to do, but what about in the winter? What are your thoughts on this venture if it was in NH? The same? Our business is very successful in Allentown PA, but it's becoming so crowded and busy in PA that we can't wait to get the heck out of here. I just find it hard to believe that no one would be interested in a place for kids to go nuts in a huge 3 level jungle gym, arcade, pizza, etc...

[Valerie C]

Do you mean a Tumble Drum type of business? When we lived in the St Louis area, my kids LOVED going to Tumble Drum... sort of a Chucky Cheese on steroids. 3 (or maybe more) levels of stuff to run and play on. It was tremendously loud and fun, and the kids were always SACKED by the time we were ready to go home.

Here is a link with some pictures: Photos: Tumble Drum For Kiddies - The Saint Louis Friends Meetup Group (Saint Louis, MO) - Meetup.com

Would love to see pictures of your business. Now, locations. While it's nice to want to supply the smaller towns with something like this, I can't help but wonder if it would be feasible. Ideally it should be situated near a mall or other shopping area. Some areas to consider might be the Route 1 area of Seabrook/Portsmouth, along 101 maybe the busy 108/101 area of Exeter/Stratham, further west, Bedford and/or Concord areas...

Keep us informed of where you go with this idea, I'm always interested, for my clients throughout the state if for nothing else (my kids might be getting too old now for that, but of course with the arcade there, maybe not! Especially if there were a couple of Dance Dance Revolution games available...)

[McUnG]

Jungle Fun Photos on almost every page.
I had a dream last night that we went thru with this venture and NO ONE came! That man's comment (regarding VT) just keeps echoing in my head! Another post I read about something else indicated that life in NE was so expensive that most people can't afford anything other than the cost of living.
Are any of those places you mentioned near Littleton? Littleton seems like a nice place to live/commute from. Any input?

[NHtoNC?]

If I were to buy and run a business like that I would put one in Keene (NH town near Vermont border), Concord or Newington (shopping district near Portsmouth). All 3 of these towns/small cities provide plenty of people that would support your business year round. Not just the amount of parents but parents that like to put their children in top priority. I think NH needs more of these types of places. I'm thinking of moving to Keene. I hope you pick that area; I have two toddlers. Tumbling fun places like yours is soooo good for children's muscles to develop well. Good luck to you!!! I would stay away from north of Concord unless you don't mind long winters.

[McUnG]

Thank you NHtoNC? I've been checking the site every day for more replies to my question, so thank you for your interest and input. I've looked into VT and NH for our place, and VT sounds really scary for an outsider. Not to stereotype, but...seems like the VT culture is something from a Tales from the Darkside episode. So we're looking at NH, but it's so hard to consider WHERE without input from people who live there. So thank you very much. Now if I could only find a town to live in that's not crazy expensive...

[DareToDream]

Originally Posted by McUnG

Are any of those places you mentioned near Littleton? Littleton seems like a nice place to live/commute from. Any input?

Hi McUnG - I live in Littleton and I don't believe any of the places already mentioned are all that close to us, but I could be wrong <g>.....We like Littleton, there seems to be quite a few children around, there's a daycare center and a Montessori School here. Would something like this "fly" in this area? I don't know. The area is growing, the population has grown just since we've been here (a little over a year).

I wonder if you could do some kind of informal "survey" to see if parents would be interested in this type of thing and how much they'd be willing/able to pay? Maybe contact the local elementary school, the churches, the daycare center, etc. and see if you could get a "feel" for how well this type of business would do? Maybe see if you could make up a questionnaire type of thing to be sent home to the parents/parishoners, etc.?

There are other towns in relatively close proximity you might also contact for a "survey".

Just trying to throw some idea out for you to consider! Good luck!

[mistalish]

Hi there,
I am certain something like an indoor gym or play area would "fly" in the Portsmouth area. I live in Southern Maine and all of our family is in Massachusetts. I'm searching the Portsmouth area for my 2 year old's birthday party location and can't find anything but Chuckee Cheese and Build-a-Bear... what I really WANT is an indoor playground. We went to a party last year over in Lowell, MA. All of the kid LOVED it. Also - the winters are really long here, and cabin fever is rampant come January or so. Hope this helps...

[McUnG]

Where is the Chuck E Cheese you mentioned? I'd want to stay away from that location- not that it's really the same, but either way... The less competition the better !

[jthibodeau]

Chuck E is located in the K-mart plaza off South Willow st. in Manchester adjacent to
NH rt .293 and just across the street from the Mall of NH.

[McUnG]

I've gotten some negative feedback about this business venture, so if anyone has some positive feedback, I'd appreciate it. Do kids really play outside all winter long? Isn't it freezing?