By David Dore
Leominster Champion
LEOMINSTER – For Mark and Christine Emma, the moment they’ve been working towards for years has arrived.
Their new business, a family entertainment center called Launch Entertainment, will hold its grand opening on Saturday, April 22 starting at 10 am.
Launch Entertainment is located at 118 Commercial Road, the former Toys “R” Us store at The Mall at Whitney Field.
Saturday’s offerings will include a chance to jump free all year for the first 100 people, giveaways, photos with Launch mascot Joey, portraits by a caricature artist, face painting and dancing with with a live DJ.
Christine Emma said she and her husband are “just thrilled” that Launch Entertainment is opening its doors to the public.
“It’s been a long time in the making and it’s incredible,” he added. “It’s been an amazing journey. The city is amazing to work and actually bring us to this point. We had a chance in the last two weeks to work out all the kinks, and to actually be here at the grand opening was great.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Friday morning, April 21, for local officials and representatives of the business and nonprofit communities. Also in attendance were the mascots for the Massachusetts Pirates indoor football team and the Worcester Bravehearts baseball team.
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Inside Launch Entertainment is a wide variety of offerings, such as 10-pin bowling, trampolines, a full ninja course with three levels of difficulty, a virtual reality area, an obstacle course, party room, a space for corporate and private events, arcade games, and a restaurant with a bar and full liquor license.
Launch Entertainment is designed to give adults and children the same place to go in town that they were unable to with the recent closings of Roll On America in Lancaster and Mason Bowling and Recreation Center in Leominster.
“My husband grew up in the Fitchburg-Leominster area his whole life, and it was a thriving community when he was young and there was always something to do,” Christine Emma said. “We’ve lived in this area for the last 30 years, and we’ve just seen things disappear. … What we’re saying is we’re going to make the investment in the community and give that back. That was our intention the whole time, to bring everything back to Leominster, to North Central Massachusetts.
Mark and Christine Emma have been working since 2018 to bring the Launch Entertainment chain (founded six years ago in Rhode Island) to Leominster. Christine Emma said they were two weeks away from signing the lease agreement for 118 Commercial Road in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The lease agreement was finally signed in November 2021, and that’s when the Emmas started to move forward with their plans.
Meanwhile, Gardner Discount Furniture — which has occupied the former Toys “R” Us space since 2019 — is moving next door to the former Macy’s department store inside The Mall at Whitney Field in the summer of 2022.
“To actually be here, you know, in April, it’s an amazing feeling,” Christine Emma said.
For more information about Launch Entertainment, including hours of operation, call (978) 237-5600 or visit its website, www.launchtrampolinepark.com/leominster.
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