How to open an indoor entertainment centre

The question that decides

Not "which activities". It is "how many activities, in what flow order, with how many staff". An indoor centre that fails rarely fails on its concept; it fails on its programming.

The number of activities follows the floor area, not the wish list

Every added activity consumes three things: floor space, circulation around it, and staff at peak hours. The third is the one people forget.

On 300 sqm, five activities only coexist if they share space: reception is also the bar, the quiz room is also the karaoke room. We did that in Angoulême, and it requires deciding in advance which functions overlap and at which hours they do not get in each other's way.

On 1,400 sqm the difficulty inverts: it is no longer about fitting things in but about moving people. At Ankor we rejected the corridor plan, which lines up activities and turns the venue into a dispenser, in favour of an organisation around a central food and bar space.

The point of sale must be crossed several times

This is the most profitable decision in an indoor centre layout. If bar and food sit at the centre, a group crosses them several times over an evening: between activities, while waiting, at the end. If they sit at the entrance, they cross them once.

The difference does not show on a drawing. It shows on a P&L.

What goes upstairs does not sell like what stays downstairs

An upper floor always sees less traffic than a ground floor. In Le Havre, on 600 sqm across two levels, the ground floor carries what is decided on the spot and the upper floor what is booked in advance. Nobody climbs a staircase out of curiosity: they climb it because they have already paid.

Staffing is the cost nobody models

One more activity sometimes means one more person on Saturday night, which means a post across the year. Before adding an activity, count its staffing need at peak hours, not its floor area.