Badlands. Why is it just getting more expensive?

[Anonymous]

You know where your kid can blow off energy in a nature themed place free of charge? The woods. It's raining? Rain boots and jacket. It's cold? Coat, hat, and gloves. It's windy? Go to a nature center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know where your kid can blow off energy in a nature themed place free of charge? The woods. It's raining? Rain boots and jacket. It's cold? Coat, hat, and gloves. It's windy? Go to a nature center.

And sometimes we do that. But since that lasts about a half hour, then it's nice to be able to drive to a playspace and let the kids let of steam for hours.

[Anonymous]

We went last week and thought it was worth the price. We live in McLean and it is too far to go regularly. I liked it better than busybees for toddlers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny that we are talking about how expensive this place is and there is a Certifikid deal now. Hmmmm, maybe the new pricing is not working out?

Bingo. Back when Groupon was still popular, I used to use it as a measure of which restaurant in our area was facing troubled times, and if an _established_ restaurant offered a Groupon, they'd usually be out of business within a year. It's a last-minute cash grab.

For a new restaurant, it can serve as a marketing benefit.. but fro an established place, if they need to steeply discount it means they are have trouble in their business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A friend and I (who both run businesses) looked at the finances of play places in general because we were asked to invest in one. Badlands is owned by the wife of David Blair, who ran for MoCo county exec in the last election and lost to Elrich in the primary by only 77 votes. He is a successful businessman, and I know he has his hands in Badlands since I've seen him there.

Their lease probably isn't too bad since that mall is sort of dying, and they spot there were in was vacant for a while, They did have a lot of expenses on build-out -- my guess would be $500k-1mln but I don't know how much it costs to bring in and assemble all that rock stuff.

They are making money on weekends and do a brisk birthday party buisness. The issue is mid-week. Take a day like today, right now (ok, tomrrow.. they're closed on Mondays). They are open 10am-2pm, but I bet the place is nearly empty. Only kids not in preschool/school yet would go, yet they need a certain minimum of staff there to keep it running. I bet the'yre lucky to bring in $200/day in revenue on a day like that. Summer is better -- they contract with camps and the kids come in during the day, but that's only 2.5 months of the year.

So they make nearly all their money on the weekends, and there's a limit to how many people can be in there at once. I guess they are having revenue issues, so they raise the prices since they can't raise the number of people who can be in there.. so get more money without increasing who is in there, since they have no more space. I bet they didn't count on how very cyclical this business is - -you make nearly all your money for the week during just 2 days with a little revenue boost during the 2.5 months of summer due to summer camps. Also since they have in-house food service and all that crazy rock stuff, they have higher staffing needs than most play places. You need some spotters for the rock stuff, and 1-2 people to run the cafe (and at least one must be a certified food handler).

If I were getting into this business, I'd do it like BounceU in Rockville, which any parent of a MoCo K-2nd grader knows well. They paid < $100k for all the bounce houses, and they are in a warehouse in the industrial district on Gude Drive = cheap rent. They are pretty much only open on weekends, and only when they have birthday parties. Most of the staff is high schoolers. Very low costs, and fairly stable revenue (kids always have birthdays).

As a SAHP, its very pricy for just two hours. So many better things to do which is why they struggle during the day. They need to lower their price. That space is very large. The location is great for Kensington, Chevy Chase, Rockville and not much competition so if they are not doing well at those times, they need to look at what they are doing.

There is a BounceU in Rockville. There was a Pump It Up but it closed. There is an ok pump it up in Silver Spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny that we are talking about how expensive this place is and there is a Certifikid deal now. Hmmmm, maybe the new pricing is not working out?

Now that the weather is getting warmer, I think parents are more likely to play outside than in a playplace. It may not be the pricing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny that we are talking about how expensive this place is and there is a Certifikid deal now. Hmmmm, maybe the new pricing is not working out?

Now that the weather is getting warmer, I think parents are more likely to play outside than in a playplace. It may not be the pricing.

Yeah, all the play places likely struggle during times when the weather is nice. When we get into the dog days of summer things will get better for them because it's just so damn hot out then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny that we are talking about how expensive this place is and there is a Certifikid deal now. Hmmmm, maybe the new pricing is not working out?

Now that the weather is getting warmer, I think parents are more likely to play outside than in a playplace. It may not be the pricing.

Except that this is prime birthday party time of year -- lots of kids born in spring for various reasons..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny that we are talking about how expensive this place is and there is a Certifikid deal now. Hmmmm, maybe the new pricing is not working out?

Now that the weather is getting warmer, I think parents are more likely to play outside than in a playplace. It may not be the pricing.

Yeah, all the play places likely struggle during times when the weather is nice. When we get into the dog days of summer things will get better for them because it's just so damn hot out then.

Yes, winter and summer are peak times for indoor play places. In summer you also get the elementary school crowd and not just the preschoolers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went last week and thought it was worth the price. We live in McLean and it is too far to go regularly. I liked it better than busybees for toddlers.

We have been twice and love it. We have a 4 and 1/2 year old. I usually go with another friend who has a son similar in age. It’s definately worth it for us. It’s not just a play space but offers enrichment activities and variety. The key is to sign up for the class when you go. Last time we went it was an art activity. She did a little talk on Jackson Pollack to the kids about his art and how it’s created. Then the kids all worked together on this big canvas laid on the floor doing “splash art”. It was fantastic and no way would my son be able to do this at home or school.

We then did a fun dance party. Then the same lady dressed up in a lab coat and did an actual science project with dry ice. The kids all loved it and some came up as volunteers. Lastly, on top of this is the big mountain play space and live animal room. Also there is LEGO room although my son doesn’t go there much.

So to us, it’s well worth the price and we can afford it. We love the enrichment activities and the big open space. We live in DC so it’s not close or else we would get a membership and go much more.

[Anonymous]

It is priced high to keep out poor people. It’s awful to charge what they charge. Next time you are there take a look around at the clientele and take note. The place discriminates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny that we are talking about how expensive this place is and there is a Certifikid deal now. Hmmmm, maybe the new pricing is not working out?

Now that the weather is getting warmer, I think parents are more likely to play outside than in a playplace. It may not be the pricing.

Except that this is prime birthday party time of year -- lots of kids born in spring for various reasons..

“Lots of kids born in spring for various reasons.”

Like what reasons??

Lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is priced high to keep out poor people. It’s awful to charge what they charge. Next time you are there take a look around at the clientele and take note. The place discriminates.

Huh? Pricing high is not discriminatory. It's just the way this country works. I'm a (rich) person of color and I've never had issues at Badlands. If you want something cheap, go to a MoCo or DPR facility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know where your kid can blow off energy in a nature themed place free of charge? The woods. It's raining? Rain boots and jacket. It's cold? Coat, hat, and gloves. It's windy? Go to a nature center.

And sometimes we do that. But since that lasts about a half hour, then it's nice to be able to drive to a playspace and let the kids let of steam for hours.

Amen! I grew up in Ireland and this is what we did as kids! Badlands is such a ripoff and so artificial. I can’t believe that people pay to go there when they could have the real thing instead. Sad reflection of our times, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is priced high to keep out poor people. It’s awful to charge what they charge. Next time you are there take a look around at the clientele and take note. The place discriminates.

I'm the PP who thinks they arne't doing well financially, but I don't think they discriminate at all.

There's a cheaper option just steps away in the very same mall -- Chuck E Cheese. No entry fee and the games there are cheap like 20 cents each. My kids prefer that over Badlands.