Terry Cowgill

‘Useful’ is a Sight to Behold

October 15, 2006 on 8:05 pm | In Local, Main |

Take a walk into Kids Time on a busy weekend and it’s a sight to behold. There are local people with their children enjoying a useful business and not having to pay an arm and a leg to do so. There are screams of joy and the unmistakable sounds of little stocking feet in a hurry.

The fact that there is an indoor kids’ playground in our small community is remarkable enough. In fact, I am told there is nothing like it within an hour’s drive of Lakeville or Millerton. What a godsend to parents looking for something to do with their youngsters on a rainy day — or any day, for that matter.

A former garage, the safe, clean and secure 12,000 SF space features a jump house, obstacle courses, an arcade, a huge toy horse and lots of slides. It’s good exercise and it sure beats television or a Gameboy. Since there are also a couple of bright utility rooms with big tables, you can hold your child’s birthday party there, as a friend of my daughter’s did today.

Located on Route 44 at the state line between Lakeville and Millerton, Kids Time has been a phenomenal success since it opened last year. That in itself would be worth reporting. But as is often the case, there is a back-story and it’s a pet peeve of mine, at that.

I suspect Kids Time (and other local businesses like it) presage the return of the aforementioned “useful business.” What do I mean by “useful?” I think you know what I mean. I am not in the market for real estate, and can’t afford art, antiques, fancy gifts, a $12 sandwich or a $25 dinner entree. Oh, and I don’t need a massage therapist either (haven’t they been sprouting up like wildfire lately?).

As I pointed out in an earlier post, Cheffrey’s in Lakeville is a welcome addition to the business and dining scene in our area and a fine example of a business that locals can actually use. The opening of Dean Diamond’s pizzeria in Lakeville (if the Planning and Zoning Commission ever gives him his needed permit) will further complement the hardware stores, pharmacies and liquor stores we locals patronize.

Ken Thompson, who opened Kids Time last May, is a very likable community-minded guy. Like Jeffrey and Dana Scarpa last year and Irving Saperstein some 50 years ago, Thompson saw a need in the community, had a vision and (most importantly) he knew how to get people what they want at a price they can afford. That’s a good thing because Thompson had to make quite an investment to get the whole thing off the ground: $450,000 for the building, $200,000 to make it suitable for retail and another $200k to build Kids Time.

And Thompson was also smart enough to diversify. Before opening Kids Time, Thompson renovated the “old Riva building” and started a gym, a deli and a discount beverage center. So he not only opened four useful businesses, but he took a faceless dilapidated building that was becoming an eyesore and rehabilitated it into something the community is happy to come to — perhaps even proud of.

Maybe other entrepreneurs will realize there is money to be made off the locals. Let’s hope so. With my luck, an art gallery that sells real estate and whose curator gives massages will open up next week adjacent to a new combination sushi bar and pilates parlor.