By Ashley Putnam

Published: Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Josh Fox, a junior business major from Brigham City, plays a round of mini golf at Fiesta Fun. Proceeds from the upcoming tournament will go to the Family Support Center to help keep it open and to help victims of child abuse.

Cool de Sac now open to franchise in over 25 states in the Unites States

MIAMI, April 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Cool de Sac, the family entertainment and dining experience with currently two locations in South Florida is furthering its expansion into franchising nationwide.  This unique concept for parents with young children may soon be coming to your hometown.

The influence behind the concept and brand, Cool de Sac, has led business owners and entrepreneurs with a new opportunity to expand family entertainment centers into cities throughout the United States.  Parents enjoy quality dining while the children are able to interact creatively with activities that are not only entertaining but educational as well. Dining and child related industries are two of the fastest growing franchise sectors in the US marketplace.

Cool de Sac allows kids to “play smart” in a variety of creative play stations that include: Arts, Blocks, Salon, Discovery, Games & Computers; and a Play Unit that offers fun physical activities. Cool de Sac also includes a larger area for parents with toddlers so that they too can enjoy the dining experience while keeping a close eye on their tots.

In addition to all of the activity stations at Cool de Sac, is the opportunity to host a child’s birthday party. This multimillion dollar industry is just one of the five revenue streams that a Cool de Sac franchise has to offer.  Cool de Sac provides the perfect venue for parents to celebrate their child’s birthday.

“The unique concept of Cool de Sac is to offer a safe place for parents to enjoy a quality meal and conversation while their children play with different activities within reach,” says CEO of Cool de Sac, Jose Luis Bueno. “As a franchise we are providing the opportunity for entrepreneurs to take this well established brand into their communities.”

Future locations for Cool de Sac in 2011 include FairFax, Virginia and Mexico City, Mexico.

About Cool de Sac:

Cool de Sac, located in South Florida, is a place where kids can play, create and explore while parents relax and dine. The family establishment delivers quality cuisine, while offering a fun, safe, and engaging venue for children. Families enjoy a wide variety of games and activities with play areas for art, building blocks, a dress–up salon, a recreational play unit, a computer area, discovery zone, and a tots play area.

Cool de Sac offers a hassle-free party package where on site party specialists will handle the planning, set up, execution and clean up of your child’s special day. For more information about the family entertainment center or to learn more about the opportunity, please visit www.cool-de-sac.com or call (855) 550-2665 (COOL). For the latest information, you can become a fan of Cool de Sac on Facebook.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jessica Levy Kiibler

Levy Communications

305.592.5389 X 104 O

305.592.9443 F

jessica@levyad.com

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No this is not a joke… Gift cards are DANGEROUS! Why you ask? At the IAAPA FEC Summit earlier this year, Gregg Borman, Senior VP Palace Entertainment, warned the audience about how unused gift cards or gift certificates will soon be seized by our desperate and over reaching state governments. The first state to try this move was New Jersey. Last year their law makers approved the seizure of any unused gift card or travels checks that had went unused for more than two or three years. While a federal court blocked their bid to seize these assets from businesses, it is only a matter of time before they are allowed to take your unused gift card or gift certificate funds. New Jersey is attempting to balance their out of control budget by taking the estimated $80 million in unused gift cards in the state. The fiscal ramifications to the businesses that lose these cash reserves will be catastrophic and the short-sided view by the state government will send shock waves through the already hostile business environment.

WHAT CAN I DO? Borman in a recent meeting with Party Center Software suggests that each facility contact their attorney to find out how to protect their funds from being seized. Borman says his in-house counsel had suggested the first step is to completely remove the word GIFT from the product name. They will most likely be going to a more generic “play card” or “game card” name. The theory behind this move is that if they can show that the monies paid were for the purchase of a “play card” then the fund were fully used and allocated to the play card and most likely will not be subject to the unredeemed gift card laws. On the accounting side you will need to verify and check with your accountant as this may change how you account for those cards and the value on them within your books. You may be requiring to show them no longer as a liability but now as an asset which can change your tax implications.

An additional step is to provide a policy for those play cards and have that policy printed on the back of the card as well as posted on your website and on location. This policy may include details about how the card value can be exchanged for other goods and services and also to put on an expiration date for the card. Under certain state laws, such as California, if you issue physical gift certificates as opposed to gift cards, they may never expire and are consider identical to cash. This makes is difficult to balance your books with years of unredeemed gift certificates. All in all the actual Gift Card is not dangerous but the fact that a state can, by the barrel of a political gun aka threat of prison, seize your hard earned cash right from your bank account makes them a huge liability. So this is just a warning to those of you who still issue gift cards or gift certificates. Get with your attorney and find out how you can start to transition your gift card program to a play card or other system and start protecting the hard earned revenue from the hands of often over reaching government.

FEC managers must quickly deal with conflict
by Mike Bederka

Jim feels slighted because Kate got the promotion over him. Sam balks that Paige works the go-karts all the time. Bill complains his boss singles him out for extra scrutiny.

Conflict among staff members and between an employee and management can happen almost every day at a family entertainment center (FEC). This sort of disruptive work environment begets poor productivity, bad customer service, and perhaps high employee turnover. As a result, a facility’s revenue may take a big hit.

Most issues can be resolved before a huge blowout, so it’s important to point out several common sources of conflict:

A lack of connectedness. The younger generation has played a role in decision making since an early age, explains Lori A. Hoffner, a consultant with Supporting CommUnity Inc., in Littleton, Colorado. “When they get into a workplace, that changes drastically. They’re not involved in decision making, and they feel out of the loop.”

No clear expectations. “People don’t know what they’re supposed to do,” says Laura O’Neal, executive director of The Peninsula Dispute Resolution Center, in Port Angeles, Washington. “There’s not an active policies and procedures manual in place.” All information, from job responsibilities to appearance, must be explicit, Hoffner adds. “We can’t just assume they know what a dress code is and why it’s important.”

Management issues. Disgruntled Generation Y employees commonly believe the boss isn’t fair or plays favorites. “When in reality, the boss is just swamped,” O’Neal says, “or he was promoted without any personnel training and doesn’t have the support needed for tricky issues.” Also, managers should be friendly but not friends with staff. “You can’t always have a social atmosphere in the workplace,” Hoffner says.

The Peacemaker
Serious conflict doesn’t go away on its own. However, managers tend “to not deal with it until it throws itself in your face,” says O’Neal, coauthor of the book “Fun Training Serious Results.”

Or, in an equally dangerous scenario, a supervisor sees two staff members bickering and he escalates the situation by screaming, “You guys quit fighting!” describes Eric Chester, president and CEO of Generation Why Inc., of Lakewood, Colorado.

Instead, managers should be proactive and stick to a calm approach for any clashes. If a supervisor witnessed a heated exchange, he or she needs to take each person aside and ask what happened, Chester says. The problem could be as simple as confusion over shift coverage. “Oftentimes, the conflict will be resolved when someone expresses their thoughts,” he says.

The conversation also should cover the impact of the argument (guests don’t like to see employees fighting, and it may prevent them from coming back), and the desire that the manager doesn’t want to see any more open confrontations.

The supervisor should conclude the talk by giving a warning: If this happens again, I’m going to have to do X. Follow through is critical, Chester says. “You can’t say heads are going to roll and then don’t do anything.”

Other Factors
The setting in any formal mediation can be a subtle but important factor. For disagreements between employees, the manager’s office can add a level of authority that might help with a conflict, says Hoffner, who has lectured at IAAPA Attractions Expo on Generation Y. A neutral site might be better for a disagreement between an employee and her boss. She may feel uncomfortable on his “turf.”

Finally, involving parents in disagreements drew mixed responses from experts. Both Hoffner and O’Neal generally frown on the practice, saying it could create real boundary issues. Their only exceptions would be if the manager believes the staffer has a serious problem or there’s some sort of legal matter.

Chester, on the other hand, believes parents can be “the third leg of the stool” as long as the manager brings them aboard early on. He encourages FECs to host a Parents Day to meet employees’ families. At the event, a manager can clearly lay out expectations and offer his phone number in case the parents ever have a question or concern.

With the lines of communication now open, managers can call home when the employee performs a superior job (a great motivational tool—see more in the sidebar) as well as when a sticky work situation pops up.

Contact Contributing Editor Mike Bederka at mbederka@IAAPA.org.

“Anything we get as far as a water park is a benefit to the residents, especially with the heat we get in the region,” Lane said. “I’ll take my kids there.”

The project’s initial phase is expected to cost between $1.2 million and $1.5 million, said Robert J. Araiza, marketing director for Mulligan Family Fun Centers.
“The market is prime for it,” Araiza said of the decision. “The water park that was supposed to go in Temecula is no longer an option.”
In Temecula, Clearwater Waterpark Development, which built Wild Rivers Waterpark in Irvine, had wanted to build a water park on 20 acres on Diaz Road and west of Interstate 15. The company, however, was unable to secure funding for a project.

Mulligan Center opened in Murrieta in March 1996 and offers a variety of activities, including miniature golf, go-cart racing, laser tag and batting cages.
If it works out, the Murrieta water park could be expanded to include attractions on about half the park, Araiza said, and could include a “lazy river and some more extreme water ride elements,” Araiza said. Such an expansion would take about five years and be accomplished in two more phases, Araiza said.Some of the current attractions would have to be removed to create space for the water features.