A recently retired Army officer is going from an orderly world of military precision to the disorderly world of children’s birthday parties.
Donald R. Harrington opened a Pump It Up franchise, which is basically a 11,000-square-foot room filled with inflatable bounce houses that are often found on front lawns or at outdoor festivals.
Pump It Up brings the inflatables indoors at a central location where parents can host a children’s birthday party. Children can bounce around in six different inflatables, including slides, obstacle courses and jousting arenas.
“It’s basically bringing [outdoor] inflatable rides indoors,” Mr. Harrington said. “It’s private, clean. It’s a fun environment.”
Pump It Up, which opened in Lanham this month, largely caters to birthday parties but also hosts corporate team-building events.
Mr. Harrington, 39, said he was looking to open a franchise as he prepared to retire from the Army last year. He attended a grand opening for a Pump It Up franchise in Elkridge, Md., and liked it.
“I instantly said, ’This is it. This is what I want to do.’ ”
Mr. Harrington said he used his military background to stay on track while navigating the confusing world of permits, finance and construction. His training also helps to keep the children in line.
“They’ll do push-ups if they get in trouble,” he joked.
Pump It Up, based in Pleasanton, Calif., has 150 locations across the country. Mr. Harrington’s franchise, at 4230 Forbes Blvd. in Lanham, is the second in the Washington area. Pump It Up has sites in Manassas as well as Millersville and Owings Mills, Md., and plans to open a location in Leesburg, Va.
Pump It Up can host children 2 and older or taller than 34 inches. A two-hour birthday party costs $285 for 25 guests.
Ace tries to fix up D.C.
Ace Hardware is continuing a nationwide expansion with plans for five more stores in the Washington area.
The Oak Brook, Ill., company has 16 stores in the area, including three in the District.
Tom Knox, corporate manager for business development at Ace, said it is not clear whether the planned stores will be in the suburbs or in the city.
Urban areas have been a source of growth for the company. As people moved from the cities to the suburbs during the past century, home improvement and hardware stores followed. Home Depot and other big-box stores sprouted on sprawling suburban lots.
As people start to move back into downtown areas this decade, they need places to buy nails and paint. Big-box retailers often can’t find enough space for downtown stores, leaving room for smaller hardware stores such as Ace.
“Urban is a real opportunity for us,” Mr. Knox said. “Urban is an area people have forgotten about for a while. … There’s a huge opportunity there and we’re trying to look at all the metropolitan areas.”
Mr. Knox said sales per square foot are greater in urban stores than suburban locations. He attributed that to the population density of downtown locations and limited competition because it’s difficult to find available space in cities.
Retail & Hospitality appears Mondays. Contact Jen Haberkorn at jhaberkorn@ washingtontimes.com or 202/636-4836.
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