After three years entertaining the people of Minnetonka, Minn., Big Thrill Factory greeted the New Year with a brand new location around thirty miles away from their original store. The new Big Thrill Factory is in Oakdale, a suburb of St. Paul, and opened on Dec. 21, just in time for the holiday season.
“Three weeks in and it’s blown our expectations away,” said Barry Zelickson, owner of Big Thrill Factory. “Our sales have exceeded our Minnetonka location every day since we opened. ”
According to Zelickson, that’s even before the team has started any concentrated marketing for the new location! Dec. 21 was the location’s soft opening, but Zelickson and his team are eagerly awaiting better weather so they can open the outdoor portion and host a grand opening party. Since the soft opening, Zelickson said they’ve seen plenty of crowds and have heard buzz building as the community realizes the new, fun location is there.
“With the winter break and with our new attractions here, it’s been a strong combo,” Zelickson said. “What we wanted was to take all the positive things of the Minnetonka location and include new, different additions. There are a lot of new attractions, so even though we’re near the same market, our customers can come into the new location and see new things.”
The Oakdale location offers go karts, laser tag, a ropes course, arcade games, mini-golf, trampolines and more for fun; for the hungry customer, the location’s menu features traditional American fare, pizza, tasty deserts, alcoholic beverages and more, emphasizing the “eat” in “eatertainment.”
Look for a feature on the expansion in March’s edition of RePlay Magazine to learn more, or visit their redesigned website here.