Fun in the kids indoor multi-level playground. Photo / Abby Dance
The creator of a new family entertainment zone in Taupō says he built it as a legacy for the town and to put smiles on people's faces.
Over the years, The Landing Lake Taupō's Jamie Keehan has built commercial and industrial buildings and produced land developments, including Chestnut Grove lifestyle blocks, The Moorings apartments, and Paulines Way residential sections, but says this time he wanted to hold onto what he built.
"I like creating things but I wanted to challenge myself to build something to hold onto and run," Jamie says.
The Landing Lake Taupō is owned by Big Ball Holdings of which Jamie is a director. The centre offers a huge array of fun activities, and he says he has always had a mischievous side to his character "and as I got older it did not diminish".
"I can think like a kid, but push the limits and give them something different."
Born and raised in Taupō, the 46-year-old went to Mt View School then to Taupō-Nui-a-Tia College. He started out landscaping then travelled overseas and has no formal qualifications.
Researching other entertainment centres in the North Island led to some valuable conclusions about the type of business model.
"I realised we needed to hold the ownership of all the different entities to make sure they work together and don't compete with each other."
A pre-pandemic business plan was conceived and Jamie says there was already a degree of financial risk. The self-confessed "control freak" says retaining the ownership allows him to manage the operation and minimise the financial risk.
"I can be in control of the standards, the rules, I have the ability to chop and change, and play off each business to the best advantage."
The restaurant, conference centre and mini-golf are still under construction. Open for this holidays at the Dropzone is a trampoline park, kids' birthday party zone, kids' indoor multi-level playground, kids' Ninja course, tenpin bowling alley, arcade games, virtual reality escape rooms and simulator racing, icecream parlour, and a cafe. There is also a full laundry service for the nearby motorhome park.
He says the idea is the whole family can come along and, depending on the ages and stages of the group, they can eat at the Dropzone, the cafe or have a drink and meal at the restaurant.
"For large groups, or where there are older children, the parents can do their own thing and the kids can do their own thing."
Jamie did online research into different types of activities and eateries and then ordered the parts and accessories from overseas.
"I'm a horrible sleeper. So there were many 3am searches for things that are weird and wonderful."
His research found that 5-year-old birthday parties are themed around a unicorn, dragon or dinosaur, and ordered giant-sized props for the party rooms. The ten-pin bowling lanes were imported from the United States, and the trampoline park came from China.
At present, there are more than 50 employees, 35 more will start when the restaurant, conference centre and mini-golf are up and running, and there will be more than 100 staff when fully operational in March next year.
Jamie took on new employees earlier this year, while the Dropzone was just a shell, including managers Emma Brennan and Kylie McCullough, Suga Mummas store manager Brooke Moore, DropZone head chef David Bowers and apprentice chef Jake Houghton, 19. To start with they were all assembling trampolines.
"I found the perfect person to run Suga Mummas, Brooke Moore (18). I'm trying to bring in people with talent and build them to run things. I want to grow people as business people. Day to day she's the boss."
Manager Emma Brennan couldn't believe it when Jamie told her and Kylie that an 18-year-old was going to manage the dessert bar.
"Then I met her [Brooke] and she is our treasure. I can't believe she is only 18."
Jamie says their apprentice chef was "pulled off the couch" to assemble trampolines.
"We saw a great personality and a good work ethic."
Now five months into a three-year chef's apprenticeship, Jake left Tauhara College after Year 12, was unemployed and was waiting for something to come to him when Jamie got in touch.
"I was sitting at home, lazy as, not doing much with my life," Jake says.
Jake says he is shy, but found everyone was helpful, and says they were good at teaching him about trampoline assembly.
"I met the head chef, and Jamie thought maybe I should ask David about a job."
Jamie says he doesn't have the skill set to take over the day-to-day running of The Landing Lake Taupō, and has managers Emma Brennan and Kylie McCullough "to run the show".
"I am a bit unregulated. I am a bit loose, turning up in rugby shorts and a T-shirt."
He is also committed to running his other business Hard as Rocks stone veneer supply and install.
Emma and Kylie were both "Covided" out of their previous jobs. Emma worked for New Zealand multi-national Chipmunks Playland and Cafe, and set up new franchises and helped new franchisees get up to speed with all aspects of the business.
"Covid hit. I was pregnant, and I couldn't travel for work," she says.
Kylie says she feels like she is part of the Funnell family, after working for their aviation-related businesses for more than 20 years.
They both say they are amped for this summer and can't wait until the carpark fills up.
The pandemic could have ended The Landing Lake Taupō, but construction began in September 2020 and is due to finish in March next year.
Jamie says the timing was not ideal but demand for an entertainment centre in Taupō will always be there. A few people thought he was crazy, and some business people encouraged him to delay or to build in stages.
"To stall an 18-month project would send the end date further into the future. Stages would not work because the entities all compliment each other."
Others told him that bowling alleys were closing down around New Zealand. He was also told that a venture of this scale was unproven in a town this small and there wouldn't be enough local support in the off-season.
"We had to have confidence and determination that when we open the doors we would be able to meet the needs of the community."
He says no one could have prepared them for opening day in July, with huge queues and lines out the door.
Jamie says he has to maintain a dynamic approach and there is an opportunity to provide entertainment to tourists bound for Mt Ruapehu who are put off by bad weather. This includes putting together packages when buses turn up.
"They want to bowl and bounce and we put together a package for them. We make it work."
Their pricing is geared towards repeat customers and Jamie says n terms of comparable pricing, The Landing Lake Taupō is one of the cheapest venues in New Zealand.
"We know we have to reward the locals and we want people to come back."
The corporate market is another business angle, with Taupō hosting 270 conferences each year. Jamie says research from Amplify showed there weren't enough activities available and a conference manager will offer team-building packages featuring escape rooms, virtual reality, bowling, and eating and drinking.
"We're going to work in with others who provide conference accommodation."
Jaime's two teenage children, Joey and Kayla, and their friends provide blunt and honest feedback.
"The arcade games were not working so we got a fulltime technician to keep it going. Feedback from the kids is a good measuring stick."
As for the future, Jamie says he sees himself as the guy making the strategic plan.
"I'll be the guy sitting at the bar, taking the feedback. And they might not even know I own it."
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