Sky Zone CEO David Hoffman Talks Summer Economy

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
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**Tim** (0:07)
Dave Hoffman would certainly say that's the solution. He's the CEO of the indoor trampoline park, Sky Zone. Hundreds of locations around the US, and they are growing and building more. He joins us from Dallas. Dave, good to have you on the program. You've got a great background, it includes Dunkin, McDonald's and more. You have a history in franchise business as well.
For those who haven't been to a Sky Zone, describe the experience and who it's for.

**Dave Hoffman** (0:31)
Yeah, and look, we are the leader in active and social play. And like you said, we've got actually nearly 300 locations. We're focused on, and I don't know if people know this, but we're focused on kids six to 14
In a particular park, if you can kind of imagine this, just think they're 40,000 square foot boxes, so quite large. We'll have 20 to 25 attractions in that indoor park. And like you said, Tim, while we're known for trampolines, we've got everything in there now from dodgeball courts, which are amazing, ninja courses, multi-story mega slides, basketball and soccer courts, zip lines, you name it. We've got a lot going on in there. And really our thesis here, what we're trying to do is we're all about active and social play. We feel both of those are important. Social in today's environment, especially in a post-COVID world and everything that's going on with technology. We want to be the place where kids can come, build confidence, burn off energy with their friends. And so everything we're doing is about the power of play.

**Nora** (1:34)
Well, Dave, I can imagine that this must be one of the biggest seasons for you all, being that it's summer vacation season for all the students, all the kids. What's it been like for you all as of late?

**Dave Hoffman** (1:46)
Yeah, I think, you know, as an operator for 30 plus years, as you mentioned up front, I think you're always looking for attention in the marketplace and how you can solve that tension for the consumer. And so, look, nothing new. Just would you guys continue to report on here?
The tension for our offering would be, you know, the consumer's wallet is under pressure. Yes, some prices have come down, but the family wallet is certainly under pressure. And so how do you make it easier for the families to use you and give the, you know, their son or daughter child the summer that they deserved? And so that's the tension that we've been trying to solve. We think we came up with something that works for us and it's gonna be an ongoing strategy for us. But this summer, we call it the, you know, summer of Sky Zone. It's anchored by our seasonal pass.
And when I talk about the seasonal pass, it's, you know, that's one type of price point that we have. And to your previous guest, we want to be the leaders in affordability and accessibility. And again, that's, if you draw that line in the sand, which we have, then there's other things that you can go down. But this summer pass, essentially, it started in April, but you can still buy it now. And if, just think, if you buy it now, you pay one month, you get a second month free until the end of August. And so we think that's very compelling for the family wallet. It's selling about 80% over last year. I think that speaks to the tension, again, that's in the marketplace. And then the offer and how well this offer has been received. But it's not the only thing that we try to do there. We've got, obviously, our monthly memberships. If you're jumping two times or more, and just think that's a dollar a day, which we think is a great investment in your child for a dollar a day. The annual passed. And then we pulse in things like this weekend. I'm really excited. We're doing a clever, cute little play on our 250th birthday. It's red, white, and bounce. We've got a price point dedicated to 17.76. So it's $17.76, which for a two-hour jump ticket, a one-time jump ticket, that's probably one of the best price points in the industry. And we're giving away a bunch of chachkis and food and things like that at the same time. And as you move through July, we've always got these things where if you don't want to be a member, and you just want to come one time, World Jump Day is coming up July 20th. Who knew?
Just like National Donut Day back in the day. But World Jump Day is something we're going to do a takeover of. And so we're always on our calendar, we're always trying to pulse in things. So people will try us. I think when they try us, they like us, they love us, and they come back.