That big red building that’s been growing for more than a year off the side of Frisco’s Stonebriar Centre is KidZania, and it’s almost finished. So is the taller glass tower under construction next to it, a Hyatt Hotel.
Both additions on the north side of the mall are among the reasons that Stonebriar is finishing its second decade as an example of how a still-thriving suburban shopping center can stay relevant in a disrupted retail environment.
KidZania, a children’s-size town where role-playing is the experience, plans to open before Thanksgiving. The 80,000-square-foot town is being turned over to staff this week. They’ll begin moving into KidZania’s 55 buildings, which include stores, a bank, a TV station, an aviation academy, restaurants, an optometrist, a hospital, a university, a theater and a fire station. About 300 people have been hired, and the total workforce is expected to reach 500.
An 18-story Hyatt Hotel attached to the mall plans to open in April with 303 rooms, two ballrooms (13,000 square feet and 4,200 square feet), and several meeting spaces. It’s working with KidZania on creating packages since the mall, already popular with families in Collin County, expects to become an out-of-towner destination, too.
The Frisco KidZania is the first location in the U.S., “but it’s already a proven concept around the world,” said Daniel Moon, vice president and general counsel for Sam Moon Group, which owns the Hyatt that’s under construction. Depending on the market, developer and local incentives, a KidZania could cost $30 million to $50 million.
“We always think big concepts start in the U.S. and then go out to other countries,” Moon said. “They really know what they’re doing.”
KidZania, which is for children ages 4 to 14 and has a toddler area, too, is designed to open kids’ minds to different careers and industries, said Susie Tsai, KidZania’s chief marketing officer.
To get into the aviation academy, for example, they have to pass an eye examination at the optometrist’s office, she said. Only students who work in the fashion boutique can put on a fashion show in the theater. To ride on the fire truck and go put out a simulation of a burning building, they’ll have to undergo training at the fire station. A camera crew from the TV station can be dispatched to get the news story, and so on.
“It’s a safe place to learn, a safe place to fail and to just be you,” Tsai said. “Kids think they’re playing, but they’re actually learning.”
KidZania has an education advisory board made up of two on-staff educators and 10 people from the private and public sectors, including the dean of the college of education at the University of North Texas and an educational consultant to Disney.
All of the play commerce is based on a currency called Kidzos, and it can be spent or saved for another visit in an account opened at the bank.
Parents can drop off children ages 8 and older before they go shop. Or they can stay in a waiting room and track their children wearing radio frequency identification tags on their wristbands. Cameras are everywhere, and adults in town must be accompanied by a minor.
While the company makes its money from the entry fees — $39.95 for school-age children ages 4-14 and $19.95 for adults and toddlers — KidZania also generates revenue from companies that sponsor the businesses in the town.
Many of the features in the attraction are sponsored by real companies. Spotify is sponsoring a podcast recording studio. Southern Methodist University will be the name on the college, WFAA-TV will be on the TV station and the Essilor brand will be on the optometrist’s office. There’s a construction zone obstacle course sponsored by Turner Construction Co.
Dallas-based Mooyah Burgers and The Colony-based Pie Five Pizza will run restaurants that take real cash, and children and parents can also get some hands-on experience in the restaurants.
Other sponsors so far are Bic, Colgate, Columbia-Sony, PepsiCo, Planet Fitness, Takis and Texas Health Resources.
School field trips are a big part of KidZania’s business, said Ted Beaman, chief talent officer for KidZania USA. But the company wants to be inclusive and will work with schools if they need “deeply discounted rates,” he said. Being inclusive also extends to the environment and making it available to children with physical and mental limitations, Beaman said. KidZania’s workforce will include people with disabilities, he said.
The next KidZania will open in Oakbrook Center outside Chicago in 2020.
Locations at the American Dream in East Rutherford, N.J., and Main Place Mall in Santa Ana, Calif., are in the works. Main Place is owned by Dallas-based Centennial Real Estate Co., which has started a major redevelopment of the property, turning it into a mixed-use village with apartments and a hotel.
KidZania USA is based in Frisco and has the rights to develop the brand in the U.S. and Canada. It is a franchise of Mexico City-based KidZania, which was founded in 1999 and has 27 locations in 21 countries. KidZania USA is owned by E2W LLC, a group of investors that includes Keith Rubenstein of New York-based Somerset Partners LLC.
Surprisingly, in a market with two of the biggest U.S. airlines headquartered here, American and Southwest, the aviation academy doesn’t have a sponsor yet.
The nose of an actual Boeing 737 is the first thing people see in the mall. It punctures the wall above the entrance of KidZania.
The ticket counter issues boarding passes to KidZania, and the entrance looks like the TSA area of an airport.
KidZania employees will be put to a test in early November, when about 5,000 area schoolchildren will be part of a week of dry runs to help work out the kinks, Beaman said.
“After that first week, we’ll assess where we are, and we’re targeting late November to open to the public,” Beaman said.
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