Warehouse manufactures fun

Tucked in among the manufacturers in Reno's industrial park on Edison Way is a maker of fun: a bounce house.

Inflatable bounce houses have become commonplace at picnics and carnivals, where they are trucked in and inflated on site.

Sandy Johnson, owner of Jump Man Jump, put a different twist on the business customers come to the inflatable.

Johnson leased the 88,000-square-foot warehouse with 25-foot ceilings two years ago.

During the course of a year, 50,000 pairs of feet socks required pay to jump.

She got the idea while traveling as a business consultant in Europe, where she saw a similar business in Edinborough, Scotland.

She was motivated by her daughter to start an inflatables business of her own."I was living on airplanes," she says."My daughter said she wanted more than just her dad; she wanted me to be home more."As an additional tweak to the business, she caters to jumping adults as well as to children.

Jumping is not just for kids, says Johnson.

"Adults of all ages jump.We hosted a 40th anniversary party.We've had family reunions as big as 50 people."

Still, a large portion of her business is for the kids - A big slice of the cake is birthday parties, mostly designed for today's average class size of 20 kids, says Johnson.

Due to political correctness, a student wanting to issue invitations at school must invite either all the boys, all the girls, or if co-ed, the entire class.

The big difference between this company and the many competitors is the warehouse site.

Six amusements loom inside the cavernous warehouse: a slide 25 feet tall and 35 feet long.An obstacle course 40 feet long and 12 feet wide.A jousting arena measuring 20 by 20 feet.A boxing ring 16 by 16 feet.And, of course, a jump house at 15 by 15 feet.A 2,000 pound set of sandbags acts as ballast for a single stationery inflatable.

Portable amusements are often anchored by 30-gallon water drums.

The warehouse site adds costs significant overhead,with staffing, supplies, rent, heating and insurance, says Johnson.

It also allows her to run her business year-round, regardless of weather.

In fact,winter months are the busy time for her, she says.

Starting in January, and running through spring break, says Johnson, the place is booked.

The biggest challenge for a jumping business? "Getting the community to know about us," says Johnson.

Direct mail, sorted by income level and children present in the household, is being scaled back proportionately as word-of-mouth marketing increases, she says.