Indoor play meets parents’ coffee bar at new business
Jan. 11, 2018
A couple with South Dakota ties is expanding their Colorado-based children’s play concept to Sioux Falls.
Matt Krieger is a USD graduate whose wife, Kristen, grew up in Miller. She’s a third-grade teacher, and he’s the founder of Monkey Bizness, a growing chain of kids’ indoor playgrounds.
“Our mission is active play,” he said. “You don’t find video games or coin-operated games in our stores. It’s active play specifically for 2- to 8-year-olds.”
He bought the business a few years ago from its founders, who started it in 2004.
Among the more unique additions is a parents’ coffee bar, where “we try to offer a comfortable environment for parents,” Krieger said. “A lot of places have hard benches and aren’t a lot of fun for parents to hang out, so we have a coffee bar-type atmosphere.”
The 3,000-square-foot location will take the former Bold Behavior space at 57th Street and Louise Avenue near Spezia.
Attractions will include a soft-play unit similar to a restaurant play space, an indoor treehouse with rock formations and a foam pit, a horizontal climbing wall, a toddler area, a bounce house and interactive games projected onto the floor.
Monkey Bizness has five locations, included three franchised units, and is working on additional franchising. The Sioux Falls location will be corporately owned.
The plan is to open sometime in March.
It’s the second business to announce plans for an indoor-play concept in Sioux Falls. Bloom plans to open this spring at Park Ridge Galleria.
