New Leader, New Attractions

Springfield's Incredible Pizza Co. started 2009 with a change, and it will finish the year with another.

In January, the South Campbell business known for serving up buffet food and family entertainment made the transition from company-owned to franchise. Next month, it will debut three attractions.

Mark Eastin, who has worked for the company since 2002, purchased the Springfield store for an undisclosed amount from his father-in-law, Incredible Pizza Co. CEO Rick Barsness. Eastin said he paid the company's standard, one-time franchise fee of $100,000. Franchisees also make monthly royalty and marketing payments of 5.5 percent of monthly sales.

Eastin said his store operates under a corporate management agreement, for which he pays 3 percent of sales. While he works on-site as owner/operator, corporate offices handle payroll and accounting, and assist with food and game-room control.

All of the store's 50 employees were kept on staff after the transition, Eastin said.

In his first year of ownership, sales are projected to be flat compared to the $3.8 million the store brought in last year, he said.

To improve the bottom line in 2010, Eastin is investing about $400,000 in three new attractions. An expansion of the Tiny-Town children's play area, laser tag and an eight-seat XD Theater ride are expected to be up and running by Dec. 14. To make room for the new attractions, the miniature golf course will be removed.

"It's just time," Eastin said of the decision to change the lineup. "We don't want to see staleness in our companies, so we're always bringing in new things for guests to do."

FEC Construction Management Co., a division of Incredible Pizza Co., is completing the work on Tiny-Town, which will feature toys and activities for young children. Chris Brewer, vice president of marketing for Incredible Pizza Co., said the Springfield store is trying to expand its market share with 2-6-year-olds.

"Typically, we picked up where Chuck E. Cheese left off, but we found in surveys that customers with younger kids liked bringing their kids here and wanted more for them to do," he said.

For older children, Incredible Pizza Co. is putting in a $120,000 space-themed, black-lit Nexus laser tag system in the former miniature golf area.

Incredible Pizza Co. also has ordered a $230,000 XD Theater from Montreal-based Triotech Amusement. The 3-D motion ride seats eight people and shows three short movies: a haunted mine, a cosmic coaster and an animated jet-pack adventure, Eastin said.

Mike Wishnowski, international sales representative for Triotech, said his company has sold 60 XD Theaters worldwide since 2005. Another seven will ship within the next six weeks, he said.

The average time it takes for the ride to pay for itself is between 30 and 35 weeks, Wishnowski said. "If you don't have a roller coaster, this is going to be the biggest attraction at your facility," he said.