Happy 2009 Everyone.
There's a great write-up on PUMP'd in todays Register Pajaronian.
You can read it and check out the cool photos by clicking here
Or you can just read on...
"Sam Covington used a rope and footholds to climb walls, squeezed his body underneath a giant roller and sailed down a large slide.Thanks to Eric Anderson for the fantastic story.
And the 5-year-old laughed, giggled and smiled the whole way.
Sam is lucky. He’s one of the few kids who have gotten the chance to play at Pump’d Inflatable Fun Center, a brand-new business on 555 Main St. in Watsonville that currently offers private parties, but is expected to open to the general public in about two weeks, said Joe Bettencourt, who owns and runs the business with his wife, Lori.
“It’s so bouncy and it has very big slides!” Sam excitedly said when asked what he liked about Pump’d.
Pump’d features four inflatable play structures — an extensive obstacle course, a 17-foot-tall slide and two bounce houses —a colorful toddler corral, private party rooms and arcade games. When the business opens to the general public, it will charge admission of $7 for the first child, $5 for each additional child and free for parents and guardians.
The Bettencourts are starting their business at a time when many businesses are struggling financially, but they also don’t have much competition locally in providing fun to Watsonville-area youngsters. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and a pair of bowling alleys cater to families, but the nearest inflatable fun centers are in Salinas and Monterey. And with 9,000 square feet, Pump’d, Joe Bettencourt said, is the largest of such local businesses.
“We saw a real opportunity here,” said Bettencourt, a Watsonville resident. “There’s really nothing other than a couple peak establishments here for families to get together to throw a party and enjoy themselves.”
Getting the business up and running has been a long process for the Bettencourts. After researching the bounce-house business and briefly trying to get into renting out the increasingly popular inflatable kids’ play structures, they decided to join the increasing niche business of inflatable fun centers. They got the keys in April to their site, located in the building that used to house Chavez Furniture, but have had a few complications that have delayed its opening.
In the meantime, the economy has worsened, and Joe Bettencourt acknowledged that opening the business in the current financial climate has been stressful. He added, however, that he thought the kids entertainment industry might be less affected by the economic downturn than restaurants and retail shops have been.
The last remaining hurdle before Pump’d can go beyond just holding private parties is to fix a faulty rear door that prevented the city from giving its final approval. Bettencourt said he could have had the door fixed and gotten approval by Christmas if the city hadn’t decided on its money-saving holiday shutdown, but he instead had to tell people who knocked on the door that their kids couldn’t come in and try out the facility’s four inflatable fun structures.
“I felt like the Grinch,” Bettencourt said.
Still, Bettencourt said he was grateful that the city did give them approval to open for private parties. Pump’d has held four parties so far, will hold four more parties this weekend and has received more than 100 phone calls from people interested in using the fun center, he said.
On Thursday, contractors were still making a few final touches, and Bettencourt was completing a few final tasks, such as bringing in arcade games and setting up wireless Internet network. The Bettencourts are currently running the entire business, but expect to hire four to eight part-time employees, Joe Bettencourt said.
“I know more about commercial building than I ever thought I would,” he said. “Now I’m just eager to run our business, and we’re almost there.”
Meanwhile, the Bettencourts’ 4-year-old twin daughters, Jillian and Brooke, and friends Sam and 2-year-old David Torres had all the inflatable play structures to themselves. The four jumped in a bounce house, and Jillian, Brooke and Sam tried their hands on the mega obstacle course and jetted down the 17-foot-tall slide many times, their antics entertaining the adults watching them.
“It’s like super fall-y and super sliding,” Sam said of the slide.
Eventually, the youngsters’ energy started to run out, and Brooke came over to her father to be picked up, and as he held her, tiredly told him she wanted to go home.
Joe Bettencourt then gestured to his daughter, her head against his chest and shoulder, smiled, and said, “This is a satisfied customer right here.”
