Family Entertainment Group has been providing endless amounts of fun for over 20 years. President and CEO, George Smith, tells us about the company’s rapid geographical and operational expansion to bring forth a new generation of entertainment
Writer: Lucy Pilgrim | Project Manager: Callam Waller
Family Entertainment Group (FEG) has been providing fun, memories, and joy for thousands across the US since its inception in 2004 as a full-service entertainment company.
FEG excels in providing attractions in conjunction with entertainment and resort partners, as well as owning its own facilities, bringing to the forefront arcade games, escape rooms, mini golf courses, go-kart tracks, virtual reality (VR), laser tag, and more across a number of indoor and outdoor facilities that range from 17,000 to 40,000 square feet (sqft).
FEG also has its own entertainment brands, including In The Game which provides the latest games and attractions and a delicious chefinspired menu – all in an exciting atmosphere designed for guests of all ages to enjoy.
FEG also owns Bonkers fun centers, designed with children aged 12 and under in mind. Each facility has a brightly-colored design both inside and out to welcome guests to great food, big fun, and happy smiles. They also own the Max Action Arena brand which focuses on more extreme fun with an adult vibe, featuring axe throwing, VR, and more.
From the beginning, FEG has been a key partner to some of the country’s greatest family amusement parks and resorts.
“We opened our first location in November 2004 in the beautiful city of Sandusky, Ohio, known as Castaway Bay. This was in cooperation with Cedar Fair Corporation, who recently merged with Six Flags Corporation to become the third largest theme park operator in the world,” opens President and CEO, George Smith.
The company’s collaboration with industry-leading brands did not stop there, as it subsequently worked with Kalahari Resorts and Conventions, who represents some of the largest indoor water park resorts in the US. It also works closely with Great
Wolf Lodges, Cedar Fair Parks, and Universal Orlando Resort Properties.
FEG is particularly proud of its food and beverage facilities, as each location features high-quality, fresh food with either a sit-down restaurant or counter service providing a wide range of offerings.
In its totality, the company strives to curate a place where both families can have wholesome fun, and where adults can go out at the end of a long week.
“It is important for us to create memories that last a lifetime for tourists and locals alike. Whether it be a date night, a bachelorette party, escape room adventure, or a teambuilding axe throwing event, we want people to have fun,” emphasizes Smith.
FEG’s widely loved and nationwide brand, Bonkers, was first created after the company acquired a facility with the name in Massachusetts.
After buying out the previous owner, FEG built a more youthful, vibrant location that included soft play, mini bowling, arcade games, and a café, amongst more. The most recent addition to the Bonkers facilities includes Build-a-Bear workshops.
Each Bonkers location caters to a young audience, primarily between four and 12 years old. Moreover, each facility is between 30,000 and 40,000 sqft, and contains a sitdown restaurant.
Each diner can enjoy food that is freshly prepared using fresh, locally sourced ingredients.
Alongside its entertainment facilities and restaurants, FEG offers an added retail experience.
Approximately 80 percent of the company’s revenue is generated from retail, as a significant amount of its locations contain vibrant, wellstocked stores where people can win prizes by cashing in tickets they have won by playing arcade games and activities.
FEG’s Prize Stores offer a wide range of items from collectibles, games, novelties, and cookware to sports memorabilia and candy.
Its prize options include items that are not only trendy and current in the marketplace but also cater to all ages.
On an operational front, although many of its smaller projects go from
inception to reality in a short period of time, the company’s larger, multifaceted facilities can sometimes take years of planning as they are built from the ground up.
As such, FEG conducts in-house design, construction, marketing, and graphics, as well as serving customer requirements across many facets of the building process.
“We have the team to create the elements that attract people, catch their eye, and make it a place that always feels fun and inviting,” highlights Smith.
Furthermore, FEG strives to cultivate long-term game play across all its products. This is secured by acquiring only the highest quality games from manufacturers around the world.
“We want to deliver a reliable product for our customers with stateof-the-art equipment. From the claw on a crane game coming down to grab a prize to making a prize wheel spin, it is our goal that the game play is seamless, making our games durable and attractive.”
George Smith, President and CEO: “We are ideally looking for specialists in a vast range of areas.
“We also employ staff from around the world who work hard and remain loyal to the company, as well as younger people so that they can be trained to become key team members with a clear career trajectory.
“Every employee is also enrolled in a retirement program; even if you are 18 years of age and are not yet thinking about retirement, we are still going to invest in you. We also have an excellent healthcare scheme to ensure each team member gets the best medical treatment, as well as education benefits.”
A further differentiator of FEG can be found in its distribution capabilities, as the company possesses the workforce to not only produce and buy a product, but also distribute games to entertainment facilities across the world.
FEG has recently implemented an integrated system in the form of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology that streamlines the tracking and operation of the company’s facilities.
This technology spans the entirety of the business, from customers’ payment methods to the wristbands used to access rides and games.
“Each wristband contains an RFID chip that starts the equipment, including arcade games, laser tag, VR
experiences, and even bumper cars, which are all tied into and connected by a single system,” Smith explains.
As such, the integrated technology allows the company to maintain its operations at the most efficient level, as each facet is accounted for. For example, the merchandise team can track prize inventory, while the food and beverage team can track food deliveries.
“We can identify the status of thousands of pieces of equipment to address any issues instantaneously.”
Similarly, FEG can assess and make modifications to the food menu if need be, through the highly-precise monitoring of produce quantities to within half a percentage point, resulting in greater efficiency.
“By having better information input consistently, we’re able to refine that
“IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO CREATE MEMORIES THAT LAST A LIFETIME FOR TOURISTS AND LOCALS ALIKE. WHETHER IT BE A DATE NIGHT, A BACHELORETTE PARTY, ESCAPE ROOM ADVENTURE, OR A TEAMBUILDING AXE THROWING EVENT, WE WANT PEOPLE TO HAVE FUN”
– GEORGE SMITH, PRESIDENT AND CEO, FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
Toy Factory, LLC, founded in 1999, has over the past 25 years cemented its position as the premier supplier of Licensed Stuffed Toys to the Amusement Market, including Amusement Parks, Outdoor traveling venues, Skill Crane Vending companies and Family Fun Centers. It is in this last category that Family Entertainment Group, through its vast network of unique and diverse operations, have helped to foster that growth showcasing our wide variety of popular and iconic brands. Their merchandising acumen is recognized and respected as unparalleled in our industry! We are extremely proud of our relationship with a deeply respected industry veteran such as Mr. George Smith, and his accomplished team.
Best of luck as always George, and congratulations on this well-deserved recognition of your many years of dedication to, and success in our beloved industry!
Smart Industries is a privately owned manufacturer of coin operated amusement games. In 1963 Smart Industries started as a traveling amusement operating company, which consisted of 500 games and a 200 piece traveling arcade. In 1985 Smart Industries began developing and manufacturing their own crane games.
Since then Smart Industries has created a wide variety of great new games that have revolutionized the industry. The largest development that Smart has given the industry is the joystick crane, which is seen on virtually every crane on the market today. smartind.com
data by utilizing staff expertise and their extensive experience. Overall, we can have a greater understanding of what’s going on in any given moment,” surmises Smith.
Seamless integration extends to the training of its staff, as all the company’s training systems can be found online via an internal FEG website. A single interactive data program provides guidance on a wide range of topics including HR, medical enrollment, and even providing access to information for fixing equipment.
The company has placed significant investment and effort into building the system from its foundations to create the most efficient platforms to prepare for ongoing growth. All the modules are interactive, allowing employees to add to the database to build a greater bank of knowledge and expertise.
FEG has a solid pipeline for expansion going forward. Plans include the addition of nine to 12 locations in
2024, alongside other acquisitions which could potentially double the size of the company.
It is particularly focusing on areas of greater population density and abundance of resources to draw upon, specifically in tourist hotspots like Florida, Texas, California, and Hawaii. FEG also has an eye on international markets, such as the UK.
“London is a great place for social entertainment, and we want to incorporate some of those elements in select US locations to cultivate more
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unique experiences for FEG guests.
“Although some of the entertainment itself differs, London provides some unique places for people who want to go out and have fun; we would like to offer that here,” Smith comments.
Elsewhere, the company also strives to replicate facilities in the Middle East, which has some of the most advanced family entertainment centers.
“They are often built well; due to the wealth in the region and the abundance of high-end malls. Therefore, adopting the look, feel, and finish of these facilities could be advantageous,” he adds.
By taking this approach, FEG is creating new experiences for families and fun-seekers across North America by adopting the aesthetics, functionality, and attractions of centers across the world to create the most enjoyable facility possible.
The business’ unmatched success
in the sector stems from its ability to cater for a vast customer base, and its uniqueness in doing so.
“No other industry players have the geographical scope or customizable capacity that we do, thanks to the breadth of expertise and diversity found on our team,” states Smith.
For example, the company has the comprehensive capabilities to customize each location depending on geographical trends and tailor to various customer requirements.
“We’re currently building a location in downtown Las Vegas on Fremont Street, which differs from our typical facilities. We expect our audience to be happy-go-lucky people and party goers, so we’re customizing our environments and offerings to suit this new influx of people.”
Going forward, the organization is looking to refine each department in preparation for the anticipated expansion of the company, as it hopes to double in size over the next
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18 months. This involves laying the groundwork so that it has the right people in the right place, at the right time.
“I’m optimistic that we are going to have a strong sales year, which will result in even more opportunities.
“The goal is also to not only maintain our quality standards, but continue to improve them and grow as the business evolves,” concludes Smith.
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corporate@fegllc.com
www.FEGllc.com