A first-of-its-kind family entertainment center is scheduled to open in June in North Augusta. The owners of The Splatter Place are moving from their current location on E. Martintown Road to a larger space on W. Martintown Road.
“As Matt, my manager, says, ‘We are bursting at the seams.’ We have grossly outgrown that space, and we needed to expand,” owner Brandy Gunsolus explained for ABD. “As we have spoken with our customers, they want more. As we’ve looked at social media, everyone wants more, more things for kids to do, more things in different price ranges.”
Gunsolus said, to accomplish that, they must relocate to a larger space. They are moving into the former home of the Bin Store, next to the Family Y of North Augusta, at 401 W. Martintown Road.
“It’s 19,000 square feet. We are doing some construction, building out the new attractions that we’re adding to the space. We’re adding several new attractions. We’re putting in two arenas that will accommodate indoor Nerf wars, archery, tag, bubble soccer, which is where you crawl inside the inflatable bubbles and then play soccer,” she said, ticking off a list of new activities.
The larger facility will mark the first multi-activity center providing family-style entertainment under one roof in North Augusta.
“We aim to be an affordable activity center, family entertainment center for all ages,” she said. “In North Augusta, we’ve got a fantastic bowling alley. We’ve had activity locations. This will be the first multi-attraction, family entertainment center.”
The Splatter Place was selected as the winner of the 2024 Best of South Carolina in the Family Amusement Places category. The 116-page report breaks down the Palmetto State’s best in business, industry, lifestyle, and leisure in multiple categories. (https://guidetosouthcarolina.com/best-of)
One of the new offerings will harken back to everyone’s childhood, dodgeball.
“This is the new, improved dodgeball, not the dodgeball we used to play back in the 70’s and 80’s. I still have bruises,” she quipped. “It’s not the old balls that we remember from P.E. These are now engineered, sting-free balls. We will also have what are called hybrid sports, including foot pool. It’s a combination of soccer and billiards. It is like a billiard table on the floor that you play with soccer balls and kick with your feet.”
Needing a larger facility and the desire to offer a wider selection of activities were not the only things that prompted Gunsolus to expand.
“We weren’t planning to go this big before, but we decided to really go for it because post hurricane, we really saw the community come together. We saw a sense of community pride; people are wanting to really support one another. We’re seeing strong support for small businesses. We’re not corporate. We are a locally owned small business. We’re the one and only. We’re not a chain or franchise. We are right here,” she said.
Along with physical growth comes the need to expand staffing levels. Gunsolus said they have started taking applications to fill 17 new jobs.
The target date to open is June 6. The larger space will include private party rooms, a snack bar, and a retail area. Activity prices will range from $10 per hour to rent the bay for something they call “golf darts,” to $25 per person for a 25-minute, splatter painting session.
Learn more at https://thesplatterplace.com/ or by following the business on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093052694217
