Flat screen TVs playing the big game, free wireless Internet access, a Starbucks coffee station and healthier food choices are what Super Franks co-owner Frank Tate is hoping will attract adults to his new entertainment center.
The fun center, housed in a 34,000-square-foot building at 5341 Owens Court that used to be Schoeber’s Athletic Club, also has plenty of offerings for kids, including a glow-in-the-dark miniature golf course, video game arcade, a princess room with tables for tea parties and a powder and costume room, an arts and crafts area and a gymnasium for sports activities such as dodgeball. A communal eating area in the center marries the two age groups.
The idea for Super Franks is an interesting one.
“This whole thing started as a joke,” Tate said.
One day in 2003, Tate had promised his 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter he would take them to Chuck E. Cheese, which also happened to be during a critical playoff baseball game when the Red Sox came back to beat the Yankees, eventually going on to win the World Series. The self-described baseball nut told his wife Liana that he couldn’t miss the game, which wouldn’t be playing at the kid-friendly place. It was after that incident that his wife challenged him to create a place that was fun for kids, but also fun for adults.
One of Tate’s two business partners at Super Franks, Douglas Yates, encouraged him to take the plunge and start the business. Another co-owner, Sherman Balch, also joined the team.
“We realized early in our research that kids already enjoy the fun center options that are available, but that most parents wanted more,” Tate said.
After extensive research that involved polling his family, friends and team coaches, Tate learned that kids were easy to impress, moms wanted a clean and safe place that served healthy food, dads wanted to be able to watch sports games while playing with their kids and coaches wanted to have a place for after their games and for their year-end sports parties.
“I’ve really used my kids as a litmus test,” he said. “It’s been great.”
Tate thought of every minute detail for the center, including adding 20 sanitation stations, 29 cameras for security, larger bathroom stalls for people with children to use, non-violent video games, a gymnasium with scheduled activities because children aren’t getting enough exercise and healthy food options. No alcohol is served.
“We felt if it had great food, it would sell itself,” Tate said, adding that the gym has been a sleeper hit that his staff didn’t expect in the past three weeks that Super Franks has been open under limited hours.
Super Franks also has a banquet room upstairs that can be used for corporate events.
Tate, a Lafayette resident, said he, Yates and Balch chose Pleasanton for their business because it’s a growing community, family-oriented, has good schools and sports programs (a recipe for their audience) and was close to Cornerstone Church in Livermore, where all three attend.
If the business is successful, Tate said he’s looking to open more locations in the Bay Area, possibly next in the Brentwood/Oakley area.
For more information about Super Franks, call 271-5880 or visit www.superfranks.com.
