Extreme aerial recreation center plants headquarters in Provo
Case Lawrence of CircusTrix poses for a portrait in the new office Thursday in Provo. The company is opening a new headquarters in town, and the space is as colorful as it is fun.
Case Lawrence of CircusTrix poses for a portrait in the new office Thursday in Provo. The company is opening a new headquarters in town, and the space is as colorful as it is fun.
Case Lawrence of CircusTrix poses for a portrait in the new office Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017, in Provo. The company is opening a new headquarters in town, and the space is as colorful as it is fun. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
CircusTrix murals can be seen in all types of creative ways in the new office Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017, in Provo. The company is opening a new headquarters in town, and the space is as colorful as it is fun. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
There’s some cool construction going on at the historic Brigham Young University Women’s Gymnasium on the corner of 500 North and University Avenue.
Of all the businesses that have occupied this building over the years, the newest one might be the most intriguing. But don’t plan on visiting it anytime soon. It will be the worldwide headquarters of CircusTrix, and while the name is intriguing, only the office employees will get to enjoy the fun within.
CircusTrix is the company behind 33 extreme air sports and indoor recreation parks across the globe. Think indoor trampoline park on steroids. CircusTrix locations house trampolines, foam pits, parkour and obstacle courses, America Ninja Warrior training gyms, Cirque du Soleil courses, slack lines, wall running, and rock climbing walls.
The company started during the recession six years ago, and is growing as fast as Case Lawrence, founder and CEO, can raise $1.5 million — the average cost of each location. That’s not a sum easily come by, but it’s one Lawrence continues to fund.
“There’s a real demand for extreme intentional physical experiences that are shareable. They want to have very intentional staged play experiences,” Lawrence said. “We’ll continue to diversify into any kind of unique challenge that people can’t cheaply assemble at home.”
Indoor trampoline parks have been around for more than a decade, but many in Utah have struggled with scaling. Lawrence said he had that part down, and has the means to continue rapid business growth.
Lawrence scraped together the first million and a half with a mishmash of investors, but after that, he’s had willing investors ever since. CircusTrix announced in January that Palladium Equity Partners, a private New York investment firm, made a significant investment into the company. That investment will allow Lawrence to open new locations as fast as he can find buildings for them.
“Whatever capital we need to grow, they have it. We’re the first in this highly fragmented industry to get that,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence also credits the local labor pool of recent college graduates for helping CircusTrix expand.
“Here’s you have a ready, experienced talent pool who are not reticent to relocate,” he said.
Most of his locations are run by Utah expatriates, trained specifically for managing these extreme recreation centers. Most of them also are passionate aerial sportsmen and women themselves.
“As soon as Case introduced me into the world of aerial recreation I was instantly hooked,” said Colten Hudson, former Utah County resident, and now general manager at GravityPark in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “It really is such an awesome sight to see so many participants of ours come and let loose for one or two hours and genuinely enjoy themselves with the friends and family they are ‘defying gravity’ with.”
Colten Ashby, another former Utah resident turned general manager in Richmond, Virginia, loves being part of a company that is always innovating this type of exercise.
“We’re always adding new features and new things, and everyone else is always taking note and following us. It’s fun to be part of that,” he said.
Bryan Castle, former Springville resident and now park operator in Louisville, Kentucky, agrees.
“Every new park we open gets a little better with new and improved attractions,” he said. “I love the autonomy we are given to make decisions while at the same time have so many resources to pull from for advice. I would say we are just bigger, better and cooler than an ordinary trampoline park.”
Lawrence plans to continue this theme, and his focus comes from a belief that exercise and athletics are very different in today’s society. When Lawrence was a kid, he said his generation would escape by heading to the local arcade.
“With technology, people are now able to escape at home. The arcade is at home, and physical experiences are what people will go out and pay for,” he said.
Despite the hordes of recreation lovers in Utah County, Lawrence said the Provo location — which houses samples of what CircusTrix centers offer — will not be open to the public. It’s simply not big enough. The ideal location is at least 50,000 square feet with plenty of parking.
“We’ve got cities all over the world, Utah included, where we know the market is good. But it’s an ongoing treasure hunt for the right building,” Lawrence said.
As soon as he can find the right location, though, Lawrence said he plans to open up a CircusTrix in Utah. Here’s hoping it will be in Utah County.
