They’ve acquired sport: Ready Up Game Lounge faucets area of interest for enjoyable, leisure | Arts & Leisure

It doesn’t take the smartest business person to know that you have to pay attention to your clients. But you have to be pretty attentive to make business plan adjustments based on the wants of your clients’ family. That’s exactly what led to the creation of Ready Up Game Lounge, a new game and entertainment center that opened early last month in Burlington.

Two of the partners are the husband and wife team of Juan and Amber Cosme, who started Costoonz LLC in 2011, which provided costumes and entertainment for birthdays and other gatherings that focused on young kids. Even as the venture was doing well, the Cosmes noticed the three and four-year-olds weren’t the only ones craving fun and games.

“There would be a seven-year-old older brother or a sister 12- or 13-years old, an older cousin or family member and the parties would be full of people of all ages,” said Juan. “At that point we were just entertaining the younger kids. That’s when the natural thing came into our mind.”

Briefly, in 2016, the Cosmes opened a small venue called Costoonz Kids that targeted older kids with video games and a climbing playground, while providing parents with a place to lounge. But Covid came along and stunted that business stream. However, the pandemic provided the two with an opportunity to refine their idea for entertaining kids of all ages — even adults. The couple brought in Andrew Covington, a friend from N.C. A&T State University, who had a similar idea for a business that was bar-related and entertainment-related.

“So, we just meshed our ideas together and — boom — out pops Ready Up Game Lounge,” Juan said. “We have a food truck, a full-service bar, as well as a party room, arcade, pool tables, six axe throwing lanes, and a Nerf gun arena. We basically have something for the whole family, for all ages.”

So far, business has been steady as news continues to spread about the company through word-of-mouth. The group has been marketing itself through its social media platforms. The facility is spacious and conveniently located in Burlington at Exit 143 near the JR Cigars Outlet.

“Total space is 16,000 square feet,” said Amber Cosme. “On our Ready Up Lounge side, that’s 10,000 square feet that includes the axe throwing lanes, the full arcade, the bar lounge, the pool hall, and the concession area. This is our main lounge area. On the other side is our Nerf gun arena, which is around 6,000 square feet. That’s where we have the Nerf gun arena along with our our shooting training and safety area, which is where participants go before they can actually take part in the Nerf wars.”

In addition to marketing the fun and games to kids of all ages, the owners of Ready Up are actively promoting the center to adults and businesses.

“We want to target everyone, all the demographics from all ages,” Amber continued. “That includes the corporate events, the team building exercises. It’s a stress reliever for axe throwing and it’s also fun to go in there and shoot blasters with your co-workers.”

Ready Up currently has 25 people on staff, which includes bartenders as well as general staff. Pricing varies depending on the particular games and activities and length of time. The facility doesn’t not yet have a season pass, but it is something the owners said they are planning to add in the future. 

As is the case with other entertainment venues that cater to kids, Ready Up has plans to partner with nearby schools. 

“We plan to reach out to some of the school PTAs to see if there is something we could do with field trips or just fun and safe things for the kids to do,” said Andrew Covington. “So we were trying to figure out different ways to connect with the community, especially the schools.”

As is the case with any strong and ambitious business plan and its partners, the Ready Up Game Lounge owners are optimistic about the future of their business, and have already keyed in on hopes to expand, either through additional locations they would run, or through franchises.

“Yes, definitely,” said Juan. “Some of the ideas that we want to address and add on as we grow will put us on par with a Dave and Buster’s, and other larger entertainment chains. We’re going to have so many diverse areas and services that we can provide that will capture the attention of not only young people, but older people. We will have a wide array of entertainment. We would like to expand aggressively, but that depends on how profitable this first venture is. But we definitely can see ourselves in at least two to three major cities in North Carolina in the next three to five years.”

Among the activities that potentially will be added are virtual reality content and electric go-karts.

Ready Up Game Lounge is open Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m.; Fridays from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.; Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.; and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, go to www.letsreadyup.com.

Ready Up is at 2401 Eric Lane, Suite 101 Burlington 27215.