David Medeiros
Urban Air Adventure Park |
300 Quaker Lane, Warwick
The pitch: Urban Air Adventure Park offers family entertainment with multiple attractions, including trampolining, bumper cars, a ropes course, a sky rider, indoor skydiving and a ninja warrior course.
Employees: Four full-time; approximately 110 on an hourly basis.
Cost to obtain franchise: $100,000 franchise fee; 7% royalty fee; $750,000 liquid requirements; total investment ranges from $3.5 million to $8.3 million depending on park size.
Before opening franchise: Medeiros previously worked for Aspen Aerogels Inc., as well as for large chemical companies, one of which was acquired by Dow Inc. Afterward, he partnered with a friend who owned a residential construction company for close to six years. Medeiros also owns a Garage Kings franchise.
Reason for opening: After working in the corporate sector and finding it unfulfilling, Medeiros chose Urban Air because he wanted to get out of the boardroom and into the arcade. Plus, he always wanted to own his own business.
“We really believe that the more we take care of the community, the more the community will take care of us. We want to help nonprofits raise money with spirit nights and want to help the local Little Leagues.”
“There’s a process to purchasing a franchise; you can’t just go and buy one. It’s almost like an online dating type of thing. You need to ask questions and learn about the business.”
“[I] really settled on something that was going to be a lot of fun and have a big, positive impact on the community and people’s lives.”