WSU News Archive

By Hope Belli Tinney, WSU News

 

OCEAN SHORES, Wash. - Not only can you go home again but, if you’re lucky, you can reclaim some happy childhood memories and create new memories for another generation of kids.

 

Just ask Mike Doolittle. He was a small boy when his father, Wayne Doolittle, and a partner founded the Playtime Fun Center on Point Brown Avenue in Ocean Shores in the mid-1960s. The go-karts and bumper cars - and later a slick track - provided an exciting counterpoint to lazy days at the beach for generations of young visitors, Doolittle included.

 

"I kind of grew up around it,” he said.

 

Though the partner managed the center, Doolittle’s dad kept a hand in, repairing the go-karts and bumper cars and generally keeping an eye on things. The fun center and an adjacent ice cream parlor were sold to new owners in 1995 and they ran the enterprise as BJ’s Family Fun Center for 16 years.

 

When that couple decided to retire in 2011, the fun center went back on the market.

 

"I thought, ‘Hey, this could be a perfect fit,’” Doolittle said. For one thing, he loves go-karts. Always has. Maybe it got into his blood early, but he loves to race.

 

For another thing, he knows ice cream. For the past 18 years he has owned two Baskin Robbins franchises in Oregon. What he enjoyed most about that, he said, was creating great customer experiences.

 

"I love putting smiles on people’s faces,” he said.

 

The more Doolittle thought about it, the more excited he became. But the lenders he turned to for a commercial loan weren’t particularly enthusiastic or nostalgic. They wanted to see a business plan and hard numbers.

 

"It was just foreign to me,” Doolittle said. He asked one of the loan officers, "How do I get my arms around this?” The officer suggested he contact Erik Stewart, a Washington Small Business Development Center (WSBDC) certified business advisor at Grays Harbor College in Aberdeen.

 

"Erik just grabbed hold of it,” Doolittle said, and started digging into the data.

 

As it turned out, the fun center was in a downward spiral. Sales receipts had been declining by 10-14 percent every year for the past six years, Doolittle said. He was excited about the new challenge, but he couldn’t afford to take on a high-risk investment.

 

Working through a business plan with Stewart went a long ways toward allaying his fears: "Erik’s knowledge was huge in coming up with the numbers for the projections,” Doolittle said.

For his part, Stewart said Doolittle was a joy to work with.

 

"He’s a veteran of small business ownership who is confident and capable of being successful,” Stewart said. "But he also recognized that the SBDC has resources and expertise that could provide a valuable supplement to his management skills.”

In the years his father was a part owner, Doolittle said, the fun center hadn’t really had a business plan. For the most part the businesses bounced along day-to-day, but no one spent time planning for growth, building a brand or creating a succession plan.

Now, he said, instead of just getting by and paying the bills, he has annual goals, backed by solid data, and a plan to reach them.

 

Doolittle took over ownership on Memorial Day weekend 2011 and renamed the business the Playtime Family Fun Center as a nod to the original enterprise. Sixteen employees helped keep things buzzing at the fun center and the adjacent Peppermint Parlor ice cream shop.

 

Doolittle thinks he’ll need at least that many employees this summer.

 

When he’s standing at the track watching happy kids fly by, their hands holding the steering wheel in a death grip, there’s a little bit of déjà vu - but also a sense of things coming full circle.

 

Many of those visiting the fun center are second-generation or even third-generation thrill seekers, Doolittle said. It’s not uncommon to talk with someone who first visited as a child and is now coming back with grandchildren in tow.

Being a part of the Playtime Family Fun Center’s past and its future is a special feeling.

"It was almost like bringing the family business back into the family,” Doolittle said.

 

The WSBDC at Grays Harbor College is part of the WSBDC network of 32 certified business advisors working in 26 locations and four international export specialists working in Spokane and South Seattle. The WSBDC has been providing one-to-one business advising, at no cost, to entrepreneurs and small business owners across the state for more than 30 years. 

The WSBDC is a partnership between the U.S. Small Business Administration, Washington State University, other institutions of higher education and economic development agencies. For more information, go here.        

 

Contacts:
Mike Doolittle, Playtime Family Fun Center, mike@playtimefamilyfun.com, 360-289-0572
Erik Stewart, WSBDC, erik.stewart@wsbdc.org, 360-538-2530

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