Having to close for three months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Harold and Kelly Mason could have just closed the doors of Racin’ Mason Pizza and Fun Zone.
Knowing people want a safe place to go and have a variety of things to do, though, they chose to give it a shot and reopen.
The entertainment business, which offers an arcade, inflatable attractions, bumper cars, black light miniature golf, go-karts, laser tag, food and party rooms, opened back up June 15.
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So far, however, business has been slow.
“Saturdays have been good, but the rest of the time, not good,” Kelly said.
“Saturdays, we were doing $3,000 to $4,000, and now, we’re doing $1,500 to $1,800,” Harold said. “That doesn’t even pay the rent.”
During a normal summer, Kelly said they were open seven days a week. They tried that for a while this year since reopening, but that didn’t go as planned.
“We decided to close Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday because we just weren’t getting anybody in here,” Kelly said, noting current hours are noon to 8 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays and noon to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
As a way to draw people in, a special event with a fair theme is planned for Friday and Saturday at Racin’ Mason, 357 Tanger Blvd., Suite 317, at Shops at Seymour.
From 2 to 8 p.m. both days, a $35 bracelet will provide admission to the indoor and outdoor bounce houses (indoors ages 2 to 12), laser tag, bumper cars, black light miniature golf, race car simulators, a bungee trampoline, a kiddie dragon ride, a train ride and indoor and outdoor go-karts.
Plus, there will be fair food, including funnel cakes, lemon shake-ups, cotton candy, ice cream, soft pretzels, snow cones, pizzas, breadsticks and more, along with games, face painting, prizes and appearances by Mario, Luigi and Donkey Kong.
Normally, it’s $30 per bracelet for two hours. Those bracelets and single-attraction tickets will still be available Friday and Saturday.
“My tagline is ‘No fair? No fair,’” Kelly said of this year’s Jackson County Fair being canceled due to the pandemic. “Really, we’re the closest thing there is to a fair there is around here, and we’re here and we’re available, so we just need to get people here.”
Staff members are following protocols to keep the facility safe. Employees have been added to do temperature checks and keep records at the door, have customers sign waivers and clean games and other attractions after they are used.
“We sanitize the games nonstop,” Harold said. “We’ve got people walking around sanitizing. The bounce houses get sanitized after a few kids go in. We go through and we spray them down with Lysol and stuff again. We’re up on the sanitizing stuff.”
By signing the waiver, customers receive a free membership. Those who provide an email address will receive information about specials and free token days.
If the number of customers increases, the Masons hope to expand their hours.
“The more people we get, the more we’ll open back up,” Harold said.
That also will help the Masons reach a point where they are making a profit again.
Before the shutdown, Kelly said business was great. They had several groups scheduling family night events on top of the regular business.
“After we shut down, we’re having trouble getting that momentum built back up again,” Kelly said. “Even though we were closed, we still have to pay rent, we still have to pay our electricity and our phone bills and our insurance. We still have to pay all of that, and there was no income coming in. There were times when we were just ready to throw our hands up in the air and say, ‘We’re done.’”
The Masons thought they would have trouble selling everything if they closed, so they decided to reopen.
“I told him, ‘Even if we do leave right now, we’re still going to have the back rent anyway, so let’s just open back up and let’s just see what happens,’” Kelly said.
Since opening the business in the summer of 2018, the Masons have regularly changed the games inside and added attractions in hopes of keeping it fresh for customers each time they visit.
They have added laser tag, bumper cars, a Nerf arena, black light miniature golf and a race car simulator. They also added indoor go-karts to go along with the outdoor track, a bungee trampoline and the dragon ride.
During this year’s shutdown, they had several requests for their clown car to be the lead vehicle in birthday parades for kids.
On Easter Sunday, Kelly donned an Easter bunny costume and rode around the city in the car and handed out candy. Of course, that was done with social distancing in mind by placing candy at the end of a pool noodle for kids to take safely.
“We had a good time doing that,” Kelly said.
The facility also has large party rooms that can be rented and are separated to allow people to practice social distancing.
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What: Fair-themed special event
When: 2 to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Racin’ Mason Pizza and Fun Zone, 357 Tanger Blvd., Suite 317, at Shops at Seymour
Cost: $35 bracelet (includes admission to indoor and outdoor bounce houses (indoors ages 2 to 12), laser tag, bumper cars, black light miniature golf, a race car simulator, a bungee trampoline, a kiddie dragon ride, a train ride and indoor and outdoor go-karts; there also will be funnel cakes, lemon shake-ups, cotton candy, ice cream, soft pretzels, snow cones, pizzas, breadsticks and more along with games, face painting, prizes and appearances by Mario, Luigi and Donkey Kong); $30 two-hour bracelets and single-attraction tickets will be available, too
Who: Everyone participating will be required to have their temperature checked at the door and sign a waiver (parents need to sign for children under 18)
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Current hours at Racin’ Mason Pizza and Fun Zone are noon to 8 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays and noon to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
For information, call 812-524-1000, visit racinmasonfunzone.com or find Racin’ Mason Pizza and Fun Zone on Facebook.
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