Indoor playground to close rather than increase prices

The owner of Mother Hubbard's Cupboard decided to close rather than pass along increased costs.

By JON WILSON
Published November 30, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - An unusual "indoor playground," an apparent hit with toddlers and their moms, will close Friday after a little more than a year in business.

Owner Toni Kennedy, who is president of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Business District, said she decided to close Mother Hubbard's Cupboard instead of passing along a 42 percent rent increase to her customers after the rate went from $1,200 to about $1,700.

"Stay-at-homes moms don't make a salary with all the pressure of everything else. You sacrifice a lot financially to stay at home with the children," Kennedy said.

Kennedy opened at 689 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. in September 2004. She billed Mother Hubbard's Cupboard as an indoor playground.

Unlike a day care center, Mother Hubbard's Cupboard allowed moms a respite, but with their children present. It wasn't a place to drop off a child and run; instead, mothers were able to spend time with their children away from home front pressures.

The mothers weren't even allowed to help with such chores as cleaning up spills.

"My daughter loves it. I thought she'd be open forever," said Julie Menke, a Disston Heights resident who had been bringing 3-year-old Shannon since Kennedy opened.

Word got around quickly, Menke said, and customers came from throughout the city.

"I'm not sure what our option is going to be now," she said. "We'll enjoy parks. I don't have a backup plan."

Kennedy, a former model and makeup artist for stars such as Whitney Houston, had discovered a niche. She said she had a customer base of as many as 300 people and had guided the business into the black financially last June.

Her basic fee had been $8 per visit for one child. Passing along the rent increase would have meant boosting the cost to $11 or $12 per visit, Kennedy said.

Weekend birthday parties with all the trimmings started at $235 and proved popular, Kennedy said.

Kennedy said she looked around for another site, but she has decided not to reopen immediately.

Instead, she'll enter St. Petersburg College in January. She said she plans to study early childhood education with an eye toward opening a "learning" preschool for children 1 through 4 years old sometime in the future.

She also is interested in serving another term as the business district's president.

[Last modified November 30, 2005, 09:41:33]