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You’ve made a COVID-19 safety plan for your skating rink and you’re working hard to impress your guests in this “new normal.” You may have even deep cleaned your skating rink during the shutdown, or completed some upgrades or remodeling projects. But are you missing some important cleaning opportunities? These are some of the (un)usual suspects that are easy to overlook, but can definitely benefit from additional attention in your cleaning routine. 

Commonly Overlooked Areas When Cleaning and Refreshing Your Rink

Restrooms

Restrooms are an easy area to overlook, but the cleanliness and design of your bathrooms can actually make a big difference in how customers perceive your business. Ask yourself: 

• Could our bathrooms use an upgrade? 
• Are our paper towel and soap dispensers touchless? 
• Do we have seat covers available? 
• Are the changing tables sanitized regularly, and is there sanitizer available for customers? 
• Is the trash touchless? Does the door need a touchless opener?

Menus and Signage

Signs are a frequently overlooked area that can get pretty grubby if left out of the cleaning rotation. Menus are another “usual suspect,” and they are particularly important to sanitize because they’re handled by so many people before eating. Add a menu wipedown to your cleaning protocol, or better yet, switch to a no-contact solution like a menu chalkboard, digital menu board, etc.

Redemption Counter and Prizes

You probably have everything behind a counter, but if not, consider rearranging your displays to prevent kids from digging through the prizes with their (possibly germy) hands. 

Walls

These surfaces are all around us and typically get touched a lot at FECs, but walls are easy to overlook. Consider giving your walls a fresh coat of paint, or better yet, commission a local artist to paint a custom mural for your skating rink. This can even be a marketing opportunity and selling point, especially if it’s a photo op mural that people want to be photographed in front of! 

You can also spruce up empty walls by getting prints made of favorite photos from your rink. Turn it into a contest and have your skaters send in their favorites to be immortalized on the wall. 

Curb Appeal

While not strictly a cleaning tip, keeping an eye on your curb appeal is always a smart move. First impressions matter, and you want your entrance to make a good one, setting expectations for what visitors will find inside. 

Furthermore, perception is reality—a well-kept and appealing exterior communicates to your customers that your facility is clean, safe, and professionally managed. Sweep those sidewalks, freshen up the landscaping, and if needed, upgrade your signage. You might even draw some new customers who have never given your skating rink a second look!

Did you know that video is the most engaging form of digital content? If you have kids or grandchildren, you probably aren’t surprised, as they likely spend a lot of time watching videos on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and Facebook. While you may not “get” the random TikTok dances or YouTube memes, you should still consider ways to use video for marketing your skating rink or FEC. 

In this post, we’ll be sharing some tips for skating rink owners to help you maintain or increase social media engagement and keep your brand top of mind with customers, especially if you’re closed or operating with reduced hours due to the pandemic. 

Increase Social Media Engagement with Video

You truly don’t need fancy equipment to get started making some videos for your skating rink; with a decent smartphone, a bit of practice, and some helpful video tips from the pros, you can start rolling out your own clips in no time. Here are a few ideas to get you started. 

• Showcase all of the improvements you’ve been making to your facility. If you took the time to update, remodel, or otherwise upgrade anything at your skating rink or FEC, now’s the time to unveil it and make sure your customers know. 
• Your staff is an important part of success for any FEC, and we know you’ve got some fun personalities on your team! Show them off with fun videos and introduce them to your customers. Now is a great time to start using TikTok, especially if you have any avid TikTokers or social media savvy employees ready to put their skills to use.
• Go live on Facebook or Instagram to walk customers through your new safety and cleaning protocols. If a picture’s worth a thousand words, a video’s got to be worth 10,000. Many people won’t bother to read through a long text post about your COVID safety measures, but they will watch a video. Just be sure to save it afterwards to your Facebook videos or Instagram highlights. 
• If you are open, showcase people at your facility having fun—even while social distancing! People want to know what it “looks like” out there and are more likely to visit if they see how easy it is to stay safe while still having fun. Plus, knowing that other people are enjoying themselves at your facility will make them more likely to consider visiting.
• Do you teach roller skating lessons? Many skating rinks do, but they don’t necessarily advertise it. Sharing video of a class, or even recording some quick tutorials with “how to’s” for simple skating moves can help get the word out and spark interest in folks who might not have known about your lessons. 
• Most roller skating rinks are extremely involved in and supportive of their communities, from hosting school fundraisers to donating party packages to silent auctions, and so much more. If you have any sort of philanthropic programs at your skating rink, highlight them in a video! People love supporting businesses with a purpose, and knowing that you give back to the community will probably earn you some more loyal customers.

As we write this, some of the states are starting to allow rinks to open back up (usually with restrictions), a few states are still closed, and all of this is certainly subject to change on an hourly basis.  We want to try to keep you as up to date as possible on the inventory situations, so that rinks that are in a position to buy products can know where we stand.  We took some time and tried to get updates from as many vendors as possible, and here is what we know.  Remember that all of this is tentative, subject to change, as usual.

DEODORIZER – We have a good supply of shoe deodorizer in stock right now.  A new shipment with a different scent (lavender) but the same basic properties is on the way.  They’re also going to send us very soon a shipment of plastic cleaner that they recommend for plexiglass.  Remember that the shoe deodorizer doesn’t say this on the can, but the manufacturer’s website shows that this is effective against corona.  This is a much better solution than what some others are using.

CHICAGO – We received a shipment of their 400 (white) skates late last week.  We’re expecting another big shipment, hopefully by August 10, that should get us most of their other products back in stock.

SURE-GRIP – Many of their quad outdoor items are sold out.  They’re working on airing a batch of Boardwalk skates into the USA soon that should help a bit.  Those will be a bit more expensive than normal, to cover the freight costs, but at least that will help with the customers that are in a rush.  Here is a list of some of their skates that ARE IN STOCK NOW.  Most of these are only one or two pair per size, so if you’re interested please act quickly:
Boardwalk Outdoor Red sz 10
Boardwalk Indoor Blue sz 4, 10
Boardwalk Pink Indoor sz 4, 5, 6
Boardwalk Pink Outdoor sz 10
Boardwalk Purple Outdoor sz 4, 5, 6
Stardust Gold sz 3, 4, 5
Stardust Blue sz 3, 4, 5
Stardust Pink sz 3, 5
Stardust Black sz 4, 5, 10, 11
Prism Purple sz 5, 6, 9, 10
Prism Pink sz 5, 9, 10

ROLLER DERBY – The pandemic has slowed down the release of their new items, so we don’t have them yet, but they do have several skates coming later this year that should be winners.  As soon as we have more details on those (including ship dates) we will let you know.  We do still have good supplies on most sizes of the GTX500 skates (their most popular model) and where we are out of a size we probably have it available in a different color scheme.

Many of their outdoor items are sold out right now, but here is a list of some sizes and colors that are CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. Like the Sure-Grip list, many of these are pretty limited quantities, so act quick.
Rewind 772 Solid Black sz 3, 4, 5, 6, 12
Candi 772 Black-Teal sz 3, 4, 5, 6
Candi 772 Pink sz 3, 4, 5
Candi 772 Mint sz 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Candi 772 White sz 3, 4, 5, 6
Candi 774 Seafoam sz 3, 4, 5, 6
Candi 774 Periwinkle sz 3, 4, 5, 6, 11
Candi 774 Raspberry sz 3, 4, 5, 6
Candi 774 Blue sz 4, 5

Food and family entertainment centers go hand in hand, which poses a challenging set of new questions for FECs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. How can you continue to run your cafe, snack counter, or other food service operation while keeping your customers and employees safe and preventing the spread of coronavirus? Keep reading to learn some restaurant safety tips for family entertainment centers.

COVID-19 Food Safety Tips for FECs

Go Menu-less. 

One easy way to reduce contact in the process of ordering food is to go menu-less! Consider posting a QR code that customers can scan on their phones to view your menu, or even using an online ordering system for a completely contactless transaction. 

Provide hand sanitizer at each table. 

In addition to making sure that all restrooms are stocked with soap and paper towels, that signs are posted reminding guests about hand washing and sanitizing, and that hand sanitizing stations are located throughout your facility (especially at high-touch areas like ticket booths or skate rental counters), you can also ensure customer safety by providing hand sanitizer at each table. Simply placing a pump-top jug of sanitizer at every table with a “Please remember to sanitize your hands!” sign makes it quick and easy for customers to enjoy a germ-free meal. 

Remove condiments from tables.

Think about how many people can touch a salt shaker or ketchup bottle during the course of an hour, much less a busy afternoon or evening. Remove condiment bottles and salt and pepper shakers from all dining areas and instead keep them behind the counter with your staff. Staff can provide individual items to customers by request, and wipe them down with disinfectant between uses. 

If you don’t want to deal with disinfecting the bottles between customers, you could instead purchase individually packaged condiments/spices or use condiment containers to portion out condiments in the kitchen. However, due to the extra cost and waste, you may need to charge for dips/sauces to recoup your costs. 

Make sure tables are at least 6-feet apart.

Social distancing is even more important in areas where guests will have their masks off to eat and drink. Measure off 6 feet between tables to make sure there’s enough room, and don’t let patrons move them around without asking. If you have stationary seating like booths or bar stools, you may need to get creative to block them off so customers don’t sit in those spaces. 

Sanitize tables/chairs between uses and mark with a sign that says “This table has been sanitized” to ensure safety to your guests. 

Require employees in food service areas to wear masks AND gloves at all times. 

In addition to requiring your staff to wear masks at all times, any food service employees should also wear gloves and be trained on the importance of changing gloves when contaminated, torn, or compromised in any way. You should also be monitoring compliance to ensure that employees are wearing their masks properly—a mask worn around the neck or under the nose is not effective.   

 

Keep abreast of the latest updates from your local health department and the CDC to make sure you’re operating as safely as possible, and be sure to check out these guidelines for restaurants and bars from the CDC. 

We have some good news to report on some outdoor wheels that should arrive today or tomorrow.

 

As you might know, outdoor skates and wheels have been very popular since the pandemic started, and supplies have been very limited.  Sure-Grip has worked with a source here in the United States to get some wheels made up for us.  Because they were made in the USA they were quicker to arrive than ones made in China.  The downside is they are going to cost a little more, so these might not be for everyone.  Also, we are not getting as many as we need.

 

We should be getting Boardwalk wheels today or tomorrow.  We’re expecting pink, black, blue, red, and purple to arrive.

 

Because supplies are very limited, we are limiting orders in the first week to five sets per location.  We’re also limiting these to existing customers of our Roanoke warehouse.  If any are left after the first week then we’ll open it up to bigger orders or new customers.  But we need to try to make sure that as many of our existing customers as possible get a chance to get at least a few of these.

 

Because they’re made in the USA they are going to be a little more expensive than the price list pricing.  This is only on the wheels that are made in the USA for this rush job.  We expect the price to return to normal once the Chinese supplies arrive.  If you order via email, please note in the email that you understand about the pricing.

 

They’re expecting a shipment of Motion wheels to arrive in another week or two.  These were also made in the USA.  As soon as we know more about these we will let you know.

We just received a new shipment of the shoe deodorizer.  The cans do not say that it’s effective against Covid-19, but the manufacturer’s website says that it is, they tell us it is, they just didn’t get necessary approval to put that on the label in time.  So this is a much better solution than just hiding the odor with dryer sheets.

The same manufacturer has a new plastic cleaner that is recommended for cleaning plastic surfaces, including plexiglass.  We don’t have that yet, but should have it soon, they’re on the way.

Good inventory news to report, we just got in a shipment from Chicago of their 400 (white) skates.  We now have all sizes of the Chicago 400 in stock (sizes 1-11).  Unfortunately this is just white, we didn’t get any of the 405 (black).  Hopefully we’ll get more of their skates in soon, it sounds like they’re getting close on some of the other models.

From local capacity restrictions to changing customer expectations, operating a family entertainment center during a global pandemic has been quite a challenge for many skating rink owners. 2020 has been a wild ride so far, and it can seem like the goal posts are moving every other day. As we all try to find our way forward in the “new normal” of COVID-19, these tips and ideas for skating rinks may be able to help. Keep reading to learn what’s important to customers these days and how to create memorable experiences at your skating rink. 

FEC/Skating Rink Tips to Keep Your Customers Coming Back

Safety & Cleanliness

Our customers have always relied on us to provide safe environments in which to celebrate, socialize, and have a blast. Skating rinks and family entertainment centers have a duty to uphold this expectation in our policies and operating procedures. These are just a start; what other safety and cleanliness tips do you have?

• Train staff on cleaning procedures, give them the supplies they need to do so properly, and let them know that you expect 100% cooperation. 
• Follow the guidance of the WHO, the CDC, and your local health department to stay up to date on the latest best practices for COVID-19 prevention. 
• Make it easy and intuitive for your customers to follow safety guidelines and requirements. Post signs at your entrance asking people to wear masks, wash their hands frequently, and maintain social distancing. Mark out social distancing spots in tape in areas where lines form, install plexiglass barricades between workers and guests, and make announcements reminding skaters to social distance and wear their masks properly.

Transparency 

While having a safety and cleanliness plan for COVID-19 is important, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. In order to retain your customers’ trust, you must offer transparency and clear communication. The best ways to make your customers aware of the safety and cleanliness measures you have put in place are posting public signage and making the information readily accessible on your website. Consider putting a highly visible link on your home page or in your navigation menu directing visitors to a dedicated page outlining your safety protocols. You could even add a pop up modal to grab attention when they first visit your site. 

Professionalism

Professionalism is key when it comes to creating positive customer experiences, so teach your team what you expect and continue to mentor them in professional behavior. Remember that your new safety measures must be adhered to and enforced equally for all patrons and employees in order to be effective. Everyone on your team needs to be on board and committed even when you’re not there to keep an eye on them. 

With all of the tips above, you can make sure your customers and team are comfortable and able to do exactly what they’re meant to do at the skating rink: Have a blast!

INVENTORY NOTES

Supplies of many items remain pretty limited as we continue to deal with the Corona Virus.  Here are some updates on where we stand.

 

Fame – We did get in a shipment, but it was much smaller than what we really needed, so some sizes are out of stock again.  Here is a list of what is currently available:

Black – 10J, 11J, 12J, 13J, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

White – 12J, 13J, 1, 2, 3, 4

 

GTX500 – We are out of black size 7 and 10 and we are real low on black 6 and 8.  We do have the black with pink, black with green, or black with teal in each of those sizes, so those are good options to keep in mind.

Outdoor Wheels – We are out of most of the quad outdoor wheels.  We do have the Firefly wheels (they light up and include bearings) in stock.  We do have the Bones Bowl Bombers and the Sure-Grip Park wheels in stock.  Both of these are designed for ramp and park skating, but could be used for quad outdoor skating.

Sure-Grip is very close on a big shipment of quad outdoor wheels.  These were started once the Corona situation started impacting everything.  They did them in USA factories to speed up production, so it was a lot quicker than having them made in China.  Unfortunately, it also is a little more expensive, so this batch will have some price adjustments to them.  We’re not sure yet how many we’ll receive, but as soon as we have more details, we’ll let you know.

 

Deodorizer – We should be getting another batch of the shoe deodorizer in soon, possibly by July 24.  This disinfects as well as fights the odor.  The packaging doesn’t say this, but the company website confirms that it is effective against the Covid-19 germs.  We are also getting a new product from that same company that is designed to clean plastic surfaces and plexiglass.

Metal Skate Cases – We only have a few of these left in a few colors.  If your rink uses these, get them before they’re gone.  Green, olive, and yellow are still available.

We just received a good shipment of Fame skates from Sure-Grip.  We didn’t get as many as we were hoping for, but this did get us at least some of each size for the first time in several months.  We also have a small amount of outdoor Boardwalk wheels that we could put on some of these skates (for a slightly higher price).

 

To try to make sure everyone gets a chance at these, we are going to pull the skates in the following order. . .

 

First, we will pull the existing backorders.

 

Then we will pull new orders for existing customers with a limit of four pair per customer.  Hopefully this will let everyone have a chance to get at least a few.

 

Then, starting Monday July 6 we will release anything that is left over for larger orders.