As parents look to spend time with their kids away from screens, businesses that aim to provide physical activities for families have been popping up across the country.
Slick City is the latest indoor play park slipping into retail spaces, with leases signed nationwide for sites featuring waterless slides and bouncy, air-cushioned basketball and dodgeball courts as these types of venues rise in popularity.
With 34 locations opened in 17 states since 2022, Slick City Action Park reflects the push by family activity providers to tap the demand. It plans to open its next venue around mid-April in the northern San Diego suburb of Oceanside, California, after leasing about 29,000 square feet in a vacated former supermarket space.
Commercial broker Mike Moser, who wasn't involved in Slick City's lease in the San Diego area, has noticed an increase in interest for expansions from family-focused activity providers. Several similar entertainment operators recently approached his firm to scout locations for regional expansions.
“Many like these are in large spaces of 18,000 to 30,000 square feet in size,” said Moser, principal at Retail Insite in Solana Beach, California. “So, they gravitate toward former big-box spaces in terms of their size."
Matt Lambeth, St. Louis-based Slick City's chief development officer, told CoStar News that the chain's plans call for about 40 openings in 2026, and it is on pace for 60 to 70 new locations in 2027.
“The pipeline is extremely strong and supported by over 40 signed leases in various stages of design and construction,” Lambeth said. Another 16 leases are in negotiation, with an additional 60 in earlier phases such as searching for real estate and issuing letters of intent to occupy spaces.
Analysts expect steady growth for kid-focused, family-friendly indoor entertainment centers that also let adults harken back to their younger days. According to data firm Allied Market Research, those indoor centers generated about $4.88 billion in U.S. revenue in 2023. That’s expected to grow at an average annual rate of around 8%, topping $10.6 billion by 2033.
Competition picks up
Slick City is facing stiff competition. Other companies have expanded in recent years, with demand on the rise for activity-oriented venues that provide safe environments and appeal to multiple age groups. Executives for the chains say parents are trying to limit their kids' screen time in an affordable way.
Concepts include KidZania, Bowlero, Dave & Buster’s, Go Kart World, Sky Zone and Urban Air. Those and other recreation and so-called edutainment venues have gone through various stages of expansion as well as closings or slowed growth depending on the state of the economy.
Cinemark, the third-largest U.S. cinema chain, expanded its real estate beyond movies last year when it opened its first Gamescape by Cinemark in Texas. It includes bowling lanes, rock climbing, rope courses and laser tag. Cinemark plans to open more Gamescape locations as it looks for new ways to grow revenue, the company's CEO said on an earnings call in February.
As Slick City seeks to top 150 operating locations over the next two years, primarily through franchising agreements, its strategy often includes occupying space vacated by traditional retailers. For its venue to debut near San Diego at 4241 Oceanside Blvd., the company leased about half of the space vacated by Ralphs, a Kroger-owned regional supermarket chain. The other half was filled by fast-growing discount grocer Aldi.
“There is definitely an impact on the business during a weak economy and job market, but we feel it less than retailers and other businesses,” Lambeth said. “What we also have seen in past recessions is a shift from the expensive theme parks and travel-based discretionary spending to localized entertainment.”
A trip to Slick City typically costs about $35 for two hours of activities, depending on the location, with tickets for kids 3 and younger priced about $19. Prices for a single-day ticket to a national theme park like SeaWorld in the San Diego region start at around $70. A visit to Legoland California Resort in Carlsbad costs about $79, with children under age 2 admitted free. The kid-focused Sesame Place in Chula Vista, operated by SeaWorld parent United Parks, had single-day tickets starting around $48.
“We offer a less expensive alternative for kids to have a great time and get exercise, and parents appreciate that,” Lambeth said.
Experiential concepts expand
Slick City is the newest twist in the trend in the past decade of non-shopping tenants taking space in retail centers, as traditional retailers close stores and downsize their brick-and-mortar formats with the rise of online shopping.
Gym chains that came to be much appreciated by retail landlords have been joined in recent years by dining and gaming “experiential” venues featuring trampolines, pickleball courts, bowling lanes, high-tech golf simulators and auto-racing video arcades.
Among challenges for entertainment venues is that many retail centers and neighboring tenants have restrictions in place that can make it tough to lease space to non-shopping businesses.
“Some are franchise-driven and they tend to have weaker financials and are less bankable,” Moser told CoStar News, though there is still steady demand among landlords for family-oriented entertainment that can draw traffic.
Launched in 2021 by CEO and co-founder Bron Launsby, Slick City Action Park touts itself as the world’s first indoor dry-slide and air court park designed as a climate-controlled, year-round destination for families. Slick City's first location opened in Denver in 2022.
The San Diego-area venue will have 10 waterless slides, including one called Twin Turbo, designed for ages 4 through adult. Dedicated spaces will be designed for children age 5 and under, and a second-level mezzanine will provide spaces for birthday parties and other private events.
Next-generation playground equipment
Visitors pick up speed on fiberglass slides developed with Slick Slide Co., which has filed dozens of patents for Slick City's proprietary slides and mats engineered to be slippery without the need for water.
Play courts for basketball and dodgeball sit atop air-cushioned surfaces that allow players to jump higher and land safer than on traditional hard courts found in other sports venues, the company said.
CoStar data showed leases signed since September by Slick City that included a 48,386-square-foot space in Las Vegas vacated by retailer Big Lots; a 36,700-square-foot space in La Habra, California, that formerly housed Big Lots; a 34,202-square-foot space in St. Peters, Missouri, vacated by JoAnn Fabrics; and a 42,392-square-foot space that formerly housed Floor & Decor in Austin, Texas.
Those sites fit well into Slick City’s business model. Lambeth said the company generally targets locations with a 20-foot minimum clear height, sized between 20,000 and 45,000 square feet, with family-oriented demographics within a 20-minute drive.
“We want to make sure enough of our core customers in our target age and income range live within a reasonable drive time of the site,” Lambeth said.
“Additionally, we evaluate the quality and condition of the shopping center or area, visibility of the site, whether it is in a retail or industrial development,” he said. “Existing retail traffic is not as important of a factor for us, since we are a destination business.”