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It’s the start of a new decade, and a chance to make this the best year yet for your family entertainment center! People need stress relief now more than ever, and that means skating rinks, arcades, indoor playgrounds, laser tag, and other FECs have the opportunity to provide customers with the fun and memorable experiences they crave. Make this year the start of your very own Roaring 20s with these tips to generate more foot traffic at your FEC. 

4 Ways to Generate More Foot Traffic For Your FEC

Give Them Something to Talk About

No matter how classic and beloved your attractions are, you occasionally need to change things up to generate interest and excitement from the community and keep people coming back. Novelty is an important factor in people’s spending decisions these days, so think about how you can set your FEC apart from competitors. A new attraction can generate not only buzz, but also revenue. 

• Add new arcade games or reposition existing games to grab customer attention.
• Incorporate VR (virtual reality) into your offerings. VR is projected to grow into a $2.3 billion industry this year. 
• Bring in a new attraction like laser tag, laser mazes, ropes courses, climbing walls, etc. 

Tap Into Experiential Marketing

Experiential marketing (also known as live marketing or event marketing) is an incredible way to connect with potential customers. Instead of waiting for customers to come to you, you go to them! For example, if you want to increase awareness of your business with local kids and parents, partner with a local elementary school to put on a skate day at the school! Bring skates and skate mates to the school gymnasium if they have a wood court or other hard surface floor appropriate for skating. 

Provide Entertainment for Everyone. 

One demographic that is often left out of family entertainment is parents of young children. Parents of toddlers can have a hard time finding entertainment options that the whole family can enjoy, so adding specific spaces or sessions catering to small children is a great way to hook new customers and create loyalty for years to come. Host a toddler-specific skating session once a week, or if you have room, you can even create a smaller practice area for little skaters—like a kiddie pool version of the big skating rink. You should also put the word out about your kid-friendly features like skate mate rentals.   

Another often overlooked group is families with special needs children, especially kids on the autism spectrum. Consider having a “sensory friendly” session once or twice a month and put the word out to schools and parent groups in the area. You can make these sessions more accessible for those with sensory sensitivities by lowering the volume of music and announcements, or keeping things quiet altogether; by keeping lights dimmed slightly; and by reducing strong smells, for instance, by keeping the popcorn machine off temporarily. 

Get With the Times.

It’s 2020, and the future is now! Many skating rinks and other FECs have a reputation for being “old school.” While the retro vibes are great for 80s night, you need to be engaging with your customers via the technology and apps that are part of their everyday lives. Manage your social media and online presence, pay attention to your online reputation (what people are saying about your facility, customer service, etc. on rating sites like Yelp, Google, and TripAdvisor) and integrate technology into the experience of your FEC when possible. There are lots of great ways to use technology to your advantage, from email and text subscriptions that let you send offers directly to your customers, to geotagging your location on Instagram or Snapchat.

Cheers to another incredible year in family entertainment!

Valentine’s Day is only a month away! It’s time to start marketing Valentine’s Day events at your skating rink or family entertainment center, but do you know how to capitalize on this heartfelt holiday? Read on to see some Valentine’s Day promotional ideas for skating rinks and FECs.

Valentine’s Day Promo Ideas

Spread the love (and the profits) by running your Valentine’s Day promos on more than just February 14th. Consider running a promotion for a week or two prior to Valentine’s Day.

Buy One Get One 

Buy one admission, get one half off (or free) is a popular promotion with customers, and it’s easy to put a romantic spin on the deal. Encouraging skaters to bring someone with them will expose new people to your business, and maybe even become a tradition for some happy couples. This deal will get them in the door, and you may even be able to make up the half-off admissions with concession sales. 

A Sweet Deal

Speaking of concessions, Valentine’s Day provides a perfect opportunity to attract customers to your snack bar. Offer a special Valentine’s Day dessert for free with the purchase of two meals, or once a minimum purchase amount is reached.
Another way to spread some Valentine’s Day vibes is to put a special spin on an existing menu item. Take a cue from brands like Starbucks and their super-Instagrammable drinks like the Unicorn Frappuccino—create a photogenic menu item that your customers will want to buy for the photo op as well as the taste. For example:

• Churros served with strawberry sauce and powdered sugar
• Heart-shaped pizzas, or pizzas decorated with pepperoni hearts
• Red slushies with two straws or a novelty heart straw
• Pink milkshakes, cotton candy, etc. 

Date Night Package

Capture the attention of those looking for a unique, fun, and affordable date idea by offering a special date night package. Bundle skating admission, meals at concessions, and arcade tokens together at a discount for an easy, all-in-one date. 

Slow Dance Skate

Advertise a “slow dance only” skate session and play love songs. There’s nothing like skating while holding hands with your Valentine! Make it even more engaging for customers by letting them request “their song,” or let your social media followers submit ideas ahead of time for the playlist. You can even turn it into a contest by choosing one of the song submissions and rewarding them with a date night package or free Valentine’s Day dessert.

Valentine’s Day Party

Of course, you can never go wrong with a blow-out Valentine’s Day party at the skating rink! Queue up the power ballads, deck your rink out in pink, white, and red decorations, and consider even creating a photo booth with props, or setting up a table where customers can buy small gift items like single roses, heart balloons, etc. that can be purchased at wholesale prices and marked up to retail for those last-minute gift shoppers and impulse buys. 

The Scout skates are now in stock and ready to ship.  This is a great beginner’s quad skate that comes in four great looking colors. It is available in sizes 12J-6.  The colors are licorice (black), mint (green), berry blast (pink), and grape (purple).  The boots are canvas which gives it a fun look.  The wheels are 54mm and designed for indoor rink use.

Our new catalogs are back from the printer and ready to help you sell more skates.  The catalogs have pics, details, and suggested prices for all of the popular items we carry.  Think of them as an extra salesman for your rink. Ask for a pack of free catalogs with your next order.  Or download a copy from our website.  Consider putting a link to the catalog on your website or facebook page.

We do need to let you know about one change to the price list and catalog.  The Sure-Grip LoRide plates are in stock now and they look great.  But the pricing in the price list and catalog has been changed by Sure-Grip.

 

It’s hard to believe that the year is over, let alone that we’re closing out a whole decade! But here we are, and 2020 is upon us. If you haven’t started planning your skating rink events for the year, it’s past time to get started. Check out these event planning tips to ensure this is the best year yet for your skating rink or family entertainment center! At Southeastern Skate Supply, we have everything you need to execute awesome events, from rink equipment to skating rink business guidance. 

Skating Rink Event Planning Tips

Look at the big picture.

Planning out your events for the rest of the year might seem daunting, but it can be really helpful to at least get an overview of the year in mind. You can always change event details if needed, but knowing approximately what and when your events will be will help you plan accordingly and ensure that you’re not scrambling to come up with ideas and execute them at the last minute. 

For example, go ahead and block out your major holiday events, closures, etc. Do you already know you’re going to have a big Valentine’s Day event, or that you’ll be closed on Easter? Schedule those on your calendar, and consider using an event planning template to help you stay organized. You don’t have to have all of the answer now; you can fill them in as you go. 

Bring partners on board as soon as you can.

If you know you’re going to be working with other organizations on your events, reach out to them as soon as possible to decide on basic items like dates and times. For instance, reach out to local schools now to book end of the year parties or school fundraisers. If there’s a particular charity you want to work with in 2020, go ahead and let them know that you’d like to plan an event together. (This is when it will be helpful to already have your major holiday events planned out!)

Nail down the details. 

You don’t have to have every detail of every event for the whole year planned out in January, but you can probably go ahead and fill in some of the basic information for events on your calendar. (For instance, school break skates end at 11 pm.)

Try to have the next quarter’s events planned out well beforehand, so you can take a beat to decide how you need to prepare for and market your skating rink events. 

Get the news out. 

Once you have the next few months of events planned, you can divert your energy to marketing those events. Paying for social ads might be effective for your skate center, but don’t neglect old-school options too! Submit your events to the local city, county, and/or Chamber of Commerce calendars; let the local news and radio stations know what you’ve got going on and invite the to do a remote event from your location; create Facebook event pages and encourage people to RSVP and share for more reach. 

Don’t forget to stock up on novelties before big events, and keep your rink equipment updated to ensure an optimal customer experience. 

Whatever you have planned for 2020, we wish you all the best. Thank you to our customers for another fantastic year!

With the end of one year and the beginning of the next approaching, we tend to reflect and review our year. We think about what we could improve on, what we did well, what we enjoyed, what we hated and what we want to try next year. While thinking about this in a personal way is crucial, considering these things when it comes to your business and roller rink are crucial as well. We are nearing the end of a decade and about to begin 2020 fresh. Don’t you want your roller rink to start 2020 fresh as well? Well, we are here to give you the cheat sheet on what to focus on for freshening up any roller rink.

Here are some of our key items to focus on when freshening up your roller rink for 2020:

• Snack Bar. Take your inventory and sales to review from 2019. See what sold and what didn’t. From there, you can possibly simplify the menu. which in turn will cut buying costs. You could also remove what isn’t selling and roll in something new. Try putting a snack bar request form on a clipboard next to the register. Customer feedback is always appreciated and if someone sees something they requested being added to the snack bar, they will become a loyal customer.
• Pro Shop. Again, you will want to take your inventory and sales from 2019 to see what sold and what did not. Make sure you have a variety of sizes and styles. You do not want to lose a customer because you did not have their skate in stock and someone else did. Check out our website or 2020 catalog for everything new.
• Music. Review your playlists, CD’s and track lists from DJs. You want to make sure you have music that is appropriate but also popular among the general public. Also, for theme or throwback nights, make sure to take time to curate a collection of classics from that time or theme. Music does a lot for the atmosphere especially in a place where people are constantly moving.
• Review your hours of operation. See if you are dead for the first or last hour and determine if it is worth adjusting your hours. You want to make sure you are making money for every hour you are open.
• Review the 2020 calendar and plan out any and all parties or theme nights you want to have. This way you can make sure to budget, prepare and get the most advertising yielding the largest turnout possible. Think outside of the box with some parties and theme nights. For example, a Galentine’s Day party a few days before or after Valentine’s. This gives wives, mothers, students and just women in general an excuse for a girl’s night out to your establishment when they may not have before.

We hope that these tips and tricks to refreshing and renewing your rink for 2020 help make next year your rink’s best year yet.

Thank you for another wonderful year and we look forward to working with you next year whether it be for the first time of 500th. Happy Holidays from our family to yours.

Our new pricelists are scheduled to be delivered today (Dec 3).  We will be stuffing envelopes and getting those out as quickly as we can.  The catalogs are at the printer and shouldn’t be much longer.  If you’d like to download a catalog, the pdf electronic version is online at www.seskate.com (click on skates then on catalog).  You can share that via your website or email and you can also print out a copy to show to customers.

The Sure-Grip LoRide plates are now in stock.  These are designed specifically for skaters that are using smaller wheels and that want their skates to be as low as possible to the ground.  The trucks are adjustable with different hanger sizes, so we can adjust the plates to be as low as possible to the ground.  The lowest setting will handle wheels from 32mm-37mm, the medium will handle wheels 32mm-47mm, and the highest setting will take wheels 32mm-57mm.  When you buy the plates they come with all three hanger settings in the box.  You pick which riser to use based on how low you want to go.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year—for event rentals! As a skating rink owner, you no doubt know the importance of booking private, public, and semi-private events, from corporate holiday parties to church groups and everything in between. So, how do you plan to make your holiday event rentals a success this year? Read on for some tips from the skating business pros.

How to Host the Best Holiday Parties

Offer multiple package options. 

Some clients just want to throw a casual get-together on a budget, and without having to do much prep or legwork themselves; others want to create an incredible custom experience for their guests. Both are important components of your business, so make sure your party/event package options have levels to accomodate both. Basic, mid-tier, and high end packages are a good place to start (you don’t want too many package options either, as that just confuses people), with a la carte add-ons like decorations, arcade cards or tokens, additional guests or food, etc. 

Deck the halls. 

If you’re planning to rent your skating rink or family entertainment center out for holiday events, give people a reason to want to celebrate with you! Decorations can go a long way to making your venue feel like a special treat to attendees. They don’t have to be fancy, either; a classic Christmas tree and some string lights in the lobby, garland and lights around the DJ booth, and employees wearing Santa hats will put the HO HO HO in your holiday parties!

Do something unique. 

Does your rink have any unique features, amenities, or attractions? Be sure to hype those up in your party and event marketing. Remember that people love sharing their experiences on social media these days, so take full advantage of the free publicity. You should have signs around your facility telling customers where to find and tag you online and letting them know your hashtags. 

You can even take the social media savvy to the next level by creating a photo op or “Instagram wall,” i.e. a backdrop where people can take selfies and group photos. (Make sure to include your hashtag and Instagram handle.) This could be a mural, a seasonal photo booth setup with fake snow and trees, a “gingerbread house” made out of cardboard, a crafty modern backdrop, or even just a shiny photo backdrop from Amazon. Recruit your most creative employees to execute the idea and have fun with it!

Make sure your music is jingle bell rockin’. 

A good mix of holiday music and classic skate jams that make people want to get up and skate are key to having a good holiday party. Too many (or not the right) holiday songs can be a little much, but you want to keep things festive and seasonal. Consider bringing in guest DJs to change things up, or get everyone in the spirit with Christmas carol karaoke! 

Once you’re booked up with awesome holiday events, make sure you’re stocked up as well! We’ve got the rink equipment and novelties you need at Southeastern Skate Supply. 

All you have to do is turn on the radio or walk into a big box store and you’ll get it—the holidays are almost here. Thanksgiving is just weeks away and with it comes the official start of the holiday season. But before you plan your Turkey Day menu or your Black Friday shopping extravaganza, don’t forget to take care of one important thing: Making an employee appreciation plan! 

Your employees are the eyes, ears, hands, and voices of your business on the front lines with customers everyday. Their behavior reflects on your business and helps to build your reputation, so it’s important to hire wisely and empower your employees to do their very best. A big part of creating a strong and effective work environment is employee appreciation, and the holidays are the perfect time to let them know just how thankful you are for their hard work and dedication. 

Why is employee appreciation important? 

It’s easy to think that employee appreciation is optional or less important than other parts of running your business, but don’t underestimate the importance of recognizing employees for their performance. It turns out that there are a lot of actual business benefits to employee appreciation and recognition! 

• Employees who feel recognized are more likely to feel that their workplace is fun and fulfilling. 
• Happier employees equal less turnover for your business, which saves time and money on recruiting, hiring, and training. 
• Employees who feel appreciated get along better with their coworkers, leading to better teamwork and smoother operations. 

3 Ways to Show Employee Appreciation

If you’re looking for employee appreciation ideas for 2019, check out some of our ideas below. 

• Be loud and proud. When it comes to highlighting your team for their hard work, don’t just keep it behind closed doors. Consider posting a photo and message in your facility or on social media. In fact, highlighting your team members on social media is a great way to say thanks while also showing your customers the human face of your business. 
• Give them what they (really) want. Let’s be honest, company-branded clothing and swag might be nice, but they’re also part of your marketing. If you really want to thank your employees, try to come up with gifts that fit their interests, or at least give them some choice. Visa or American Express gift cards are always appreciated, as are gift cards to retailers like Target, Amazon, etc. that allow the recipient to buy whatever they want. 
• Style your staff. If your employees are avid skaters (which they probably are if they work at a skating rink) you can even order every employee their own pair of roller skates. Let them know how much you’ll pay towards a new pair of skates and let them explore our catalog. You can place your wholesale skate orders with us here at Southeastern Skate Supply, and not only will your employees look great, but they’ll also be a rolling advertisement to customers who may want to buy their own skates instead of renting.

One of the more popular things at our tradeshow each year is the closeout section discounts.  We’ve made a flyer with the closeout items that are leftover from the show and that is now available.  This is only for existing customers, but if you qualify and you don’t have a copy yet, please ask for one with your next order.  Or if you would like us to email you a copy just send us over proof that you’re allowed to see prices by including your account number and a recent invoice number.

The Explorer XT is a new line of inline skates from Pacer.  The adult Explorer comes in men or women versions.  Both have power straps, Gold 7 rated bearings, and 76mm wheels from their new wheel company Kemistry.  The men’s version comes in sizes 6-12, the ladies version in sizes 6-10.

The juvenile version is very similar to the adult except the bearings are Bronze 3 rated and the wheels are a little smaller.  The juvenile skates are adjustable with two versions (boys or girls) and each version comes in three different adjustable sizes.  If you buy just one pair of each version you can stock an inline skate in two colors that will fit almost any younger skater that comes in.
small – fits sies 10J, 11J, 12J, 13J
medium – fits sizes 13J, 1, 2, 3
large – fits sizes 3, 4, 5, 6

Tour has three new hockey skates that are in stock now and ready to ship.
#60TA – Code 9.one – Composite reinforced boots, Bronze 3 bearings, Kemistry wheels.

#70TA – Code 5.one – Heat moldable  boots with carbonite construction, Silver 5 bearings.

#80TA – Code 3.one – Zykin construction boots, Gold 7 bearings, Grippium wheels.

For more details on the Explorer or Tour skates, please see our www.seskate.com/blog page for pics and details.  This is the time of the year when new skates are coming out fairly quickly.  Visit the blog page frequently, sign up for our email newsletter, or follow us on facebook or twitter (www.twitter.com/seskate).

We keep a list of skating rinks on our website at www.seskate.com/rinks.  There is no charge to be listed, even if you’re not a customer, we just want to try to help drive traffic to the different local rinks.  But we need your help to make sure the list stays up to date.  If you could please take a minute to visit that page and make sure your rink is properly listed we’d appreciate it.  Also check out the other rinks in your area.  Let us know if one is missing, or let us know if we’ve got one listed that has been closed.  Thanks for your support in keeping this page as up-to-date as possible.

Several new Tour hockey skates are now in stock and ready to ship.  Here are the details:

 

#60TA – Code 9.One – Composite reinforced boots with deluxe comfort padding.  Tri Coil XT 2 frames.  Bevo Bronze 3 speed rated bearings.  Kemistry Niton wheels (size 5-6 with 76mm wheels, size 7-12 with 80mm wheels).  Black with blue and yellow highlights.

#70TA – Code 5.One – Molded carbonite construction boots with memory foam.  Heat moldable.  Tri Coil XT 2 frames.  Bevo Silver 5 speed rated bearings.  Kemistry Magnum wheels (sz 5-6 with 76mm wheels, size 7-12 with 80mm wheels).  Black with blue and yellow highlights.

#80TA – Code 3.One – The boots have Zykin construction, Accu Aire ventilation, and Sharmin soft interiors.  Tri Coil XT 2 frames.  Bevo Gold 7 speed rated bearings.  Kemistry Grippium wheels (sz 7-13 with 80mm wheels).  Black with yellow and blue highlights.