STRATFORD, P.E.I. — Arcade machines ring out to the left in the bright room.
Behind them is the soft play area for younger kids and infants with a padded floor, slides, tubes and plenty of equipment to climb on and through, along with a small trampoline.
Going up a small set of stairs – after removing your footwear – takes you to the meat and potatoes: a large, American Ninja Warrior-lite, obstacle course; four Olympic trampolines; a trampoline-dodgeball court and over a dozen other trampolines with a couple of basketball nets.
Off the Wallz Trampoline Park in Stratford opened in mid-July and had its grand opening on Saturday, Nov. 9.
Ben Taylor-Melanson and Mike MacLeod were hired on as managers in October 2018 and were responsible for building the equipment and opening the location, said MacLeod
“In Stratford, there’s obviously a growing community and there’s a few things to do around, but not a ton of stuff...so I think it was a good time to open up a business in here, for sure.”
Everything went (mostly) smoothly, he said.
“The boat that carried our equipment over caught on fire, so that was a couple months delay.”
Fire aside, it took just shy of 28 days to get everything ready for opening day on July 17.
Their weekends have almost been booked up ever since.
The pair was given leeway to develop events and operate independently from the owners – Jason Wall and Steve Darrach – who also own the Summerside location.
This allowed them to develop a monthly calendar of events, including $5-off PD days for any weekday that students get off from school, as well as a parent-tot day, said Taylor-Melanson.
“They’re designated for parents to be able to play with their kids on the trampolines in a calm, lower-pace environment.”
JUMPED AT THE CHANCE
The Stratford location employs 15 people, including Taylor-Melanson and MacLeod, and operates every day of the week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The pair operates as co-managers and complements each other well.
Taylor-Melanson, a Holland College graduate with a background in marketing, jumped at the chance to manage Off the Wallz, he said.
“I saw it as a good opportunity to get some real marketing and management experience.”
MacLeod, who graduated from UPEI with a business degree, also worked for the city of Charlottetown and helped build some playgrounds, something that motivated him to jump into the role, he said.
“Ben’s really good with the marketing, so I think we both kind of play off of each other’s strengths. Like, I wouldn’t know half the Facebook ad stuff.”
Taylor-Melanson was quick to add.
“But, if something happens in the park, it’s good to have Mike around.”
Together, they continue to look ahead, said Taylor-Melanson.
“We’ve been brainstorming some new types of events to kind of have more long-term things.”
To keep up to date on those events you can follow Off the Wallz on Facebook @offthewallzstratford or their website www.offthewallz.ca.
