By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: July 07, 2012
Stories about businesses closing are becoming an old song in this town. It’s time again for the depressing deja vu, all over again.
Unable to sustain the business in this tough economy, the indoor playground Tumblewoods will be closing down by the end of July.
Considering the basic economic principles of supply and demand, an indoor seemed like an idea whose time had come.
April Rommel saw a town brimming with kids. And she saw there was no indoor playground for the tiny tots.
After planning it for almost five years, she finally mustered enough money and courage to start Tumblewoods, an indoor playground on Government Road in the business park. Barely an year later, she is ready to close it down.
Rommel said she didn’t get as much support as she expected.
Rommel said she didn’t start her business on a whim. An informal survey in Squamish suggested people would use an indoor playground.
The $5 charge for an all-day-entry to the playground seemed reasonable too.
As is clear now, she seemed to have misread the spending power of Squamish residents.
Self-flagellation is common among business owners when business doesn’t do as well as expected. As she spoke to vent her anger, her ire had another target: herself.
“Why did I spend so much time and effort on small details,” she said.
“Look at this,” she said, pointing to the light-blue colour of tiles in her kitchen.
“I spent so much time choosing these. Why did I do this?” she cried out.
It was one of clock, the sun shone brightly outside, and her indoor playground wore a deserted look.
The business didn’t find the expected audience from the start, and in the last few months, the losses multiplied.
In the beginning, she had priced the entry at $7, but slashed the price by $2 in the hopes that it would bring more people.
It didn’t have the desired effect.
With rent and overhead cost, it would take at least $500 of business every day for Tumblewood to survive.
That rarely happened.
Still, she says she doesn’t feel like she has failed.
“I tried the best I could, and gave the community what they had asked for.”
“I started as an optimist, but I’m just jaded now.”
Trevor Mills says
If you do not want a tough economy, stop thinking about putting up houses everywhere and get some industry back into this town. The Nexen lands is a great example. The bill to the city could be paid off by bringing in a port operator and good jobs would be generated.
Nate Dolha says
I think you’d be hard pressed to find a port operator to take this on. Our current facility is under capacity, and the amount of dredging needed to keep a turning basin open would be cost prohibitive. Containers are a non starter, with less then ideal road and rail links to support that type of business. The current plan for the SODC should be seen through, and bear in mind this was always looked at as a 20 year project.
Brad says
I can only speak for my kids in saying Tumblewoods was beautifully designed, but may unfortunately not have been what the kids were expecting. Most indoor playparks are quite large and have huge variety of things to do. Tumblewoods couldn’t go there probably thanks to our offensively high commercial real estate costs.
I thought it wad a sure thing til I saw it and then got wind of the buildings overhead costs. In a town of 17000 and with little to recommend it to Whistler/Vancouver traffic against the likes of Bounce!, it became an object lesson in the peculiarities and extreme difficulty of the Squamish business environment.
Dash Hazard says
Once the movie theatre shuts down, that will be the final signal to potential investors of Squamish to stay away. If you have no entertainment for the local population, people wont stay. Squamish will decrease in population. Property values will drop.
The rental pool is already growing because there is no jobs here thus no reason to be here. Tourism concept model does not work unless there is industry for the local population to make a living. In Squamish’s case, tourism is becoming its casting call.
adam hulm says
Squamish is the fastest growing urban town in BC and doesn’t always need a movie theatre to attract new people. With netflix and other options for PPV TV it’s no surprise less people visit a movie theatre these days. Supply and demand in Vancouver will force more people to Squamish for many years to come. That won’t change and as long as we have a great highway people will commute.
Craig says
I agree. Movie theatre’s are a old experience that cost too much compared to what else is available. A family of 4 could spend over $50 to go to the movies or they can stay home and watch a movie on their 50″ screen TV for $5 bucks. It’s about value. People want value for their dollar.
I also think the location of Tumblewoods may have been an issue as well. It’s a long way from the residential areas and with today’s faced paced, busy lifestyle, every minute matters.
Anonymous2 says
Movie theaters are dead.
As for Tumblewood – just coz you build it doesn’t mean they will come. How many kids in the target age range actually live in Squamish? How many of their families have an income to support this ‘luxury’? Don’t forget to factor in the cost of daycare and recreation they already have to shell out for. Are there any kids left? Okay, now add the cost of gas (and time) to drive their child to/from the facility? Any left now?
Not too many I’m guessing. Now, apply the 80/20 rule. If you think you’ll capture more than 20% of the potential market, you’re dreaming. I’m guessing the final head count is a far cry from the 100+ she would need A DAY to stay in business.
I think this is clearly a case of a bit too much focus on the kitchen tiles and not enough focus on the local demographics. Don’t blame this one on the economy.
Having said that… it’s a cool looking place (judging by the pictures). Why not spin it off into children’s bedroom design business.
adam hulm says
I doubt there is money abound to redesign kids bedrooms either. What amazes me is during the whole process of opening that a mentor or somebody close didn’t say what a bad idea it was to make it so “fancy”. Full credit for having a dream and picturing a business you can be proud of, but I think it was doomed from the start and Squamish is not to blame. It’s too specific for a town that is so outdoor focussed. Like much of downtown, just because your friends like the idea, it doesn’t mean it’s a profitable one. I moved to Squamish to open a business and it’s been amazing. I also did a lot of homework throughout the lower mainland and the math made sense to start here. If it didn’t I wouldn’t have moved here regardless of the emotional pull.
Craig says
Sorry to see of another defeated entrepreneur. I agree with some of the comments here especially about housing. Macro economics indicate a downturn in real estate which will lower prices and hopefully slow down the housing development. We do need more industry whether it be industrial or knowledge based businesses to create jobs.
Why not ask the landlord to lower the rent?
Brad says
In the case of the theatre, the landlord is actually asking for *more* rent and the for lease sign was an attempt to fish for it. I’ve been doing informal surveys as I go about town (we deal with a lot of business clients) and to a man every one has seen a rent increase, esp. on triple net. Granted, highway frontage, but still — same tiny market the rest of us deal with. Rents here are anywhere from $12 per sq ft per annum + triple net to $25 for a prime highway space. Some businesses I know are paying upwards of $60k a year in lease costs alone, before they even switch on their lights. That’s a lot of overhead to clear before you even pay a staff member, let alone yourself. In other, even slightly larger communities, rents are often as little as half that or less.
In the case of Tumblewoods, I believe the building was actually owned, funny enough, by the Rommels through one of their companies. The rents charged are a reflection of real estate and development costs which are obscenely high for what Squamish is. So probably no flexibility there.
I’m not sure how to solve the situation, or if it can be. I think a lot of us are starting to ask why we put in so much effort and suffer so much stress to be here when life could be so much easier if we’d just move someplace else.
Anonymous2 says
Would HATE to see Squamish industrialized. If it’s not a hick town now – it’ll sure become one fast. Creative ventures abound – it’s up to DoS to get it’s act together and figure out how to attract them here. Problem is they all seem to sit around waiting for it to magically happen.