New Owners & Operator For Trampoline Park
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From trucks to trampolines – the HW Richardson Group just keeps on growing.
The Jump ’N’ Fun Indoor Trampoline Park has a new owner/operator but it will be business as usual until at least the school holidays are over.
Landlords HWR has taken over the assets from former operators John and Robyn Smart, and will continue to run the business through its property division.
Operator Cameron O’Donnell said they wanted to focus on lifting the standard of the business in line with the company’s other visitor attractions, such as Transport World, and give it “a spruce up.”
“We’re running it the same at the moment as we want to get through the school holiday period, and then we’ll make some changes,” he said.
The business took a hit during Covid-19 – having been closed for two months, but all staff except for John Smart would remain in their jobs.
John said it was a sad day for him and Robyn last Tuesday when they handed over to HWR.
“This was my vision from four years ago,” he said.
Opening in October 2018, they struggled to find an appropriate building for the trampoline park, when HWR director Scott O’Donnell (Cameron’s father) decided to create a purpose-built facility.
“We had massive issues when it started, with shipping delays and then after 14 months trading issues, with Covid making it even more difficult,” John said.
Cameron said the trampoline park would be run completely separately from Transport World and would likely go through a rebrand in the near future.
“And we’ll change the foyer entrance area as well,” he said.
More focus would be put on promoting the business, using his marketing degree.
“Then we’ll see what we can do to add our flair to it. We think it’s a pretty good thing for Invercargill, especially when it’s raining,” he said.
Last weekend they had seven birthdays at the trampoline park and up to 1000 people visit the place every week.
“It’s a great way to start the holidays,” he said.