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Community Spaces, Reimagined

The Field

Your indoor park. Rain or shine.

Transforming abandoned big-box stores into year-round indoor community parks with playgrounds, walking tracks, local food vendors, and gathering spaces for every age group.

Explore the Vision See the Plan
The Problem

Nowhere to go. Nothing to do.

Families, teens, and young adults are constantly searching for affordable, casual places to hang out. Outdoor parks are brutal in extreme heat or cold. Meanwhile, thousands of empty big-box stores sit abandoned across the country.

11,000+ Vacant big-box retail stores across the US
100+ Days per year too hot or cold for outdoor parks
$0 Affordable gathering options for teens and families
72% Of parents want more indoor play options
Empty warehouse space waiting to be transformed
Kids playing in a vibrant indoor space
The Solution

Dead malls become living parks

The Field takes vacant retail spaces and fills them with life: astroturf fields, walking tracks, play structures, game rentals, and local food kiosks. One space serves the whole community, all year long.

  • Repurpose vacant big-box stores

    No new construction needed. Renovate existing spaces at a fraction of the cost.

  • Day-part programming

    Mornings for families, afternoons for teens, evenings for adults. Always relevant.

  • Low-cost, high-access

    $5 admission keeps it affordable for everyone while managing capacity.

Key Features

Everything a park should be, indoors

Indoor astroturf field with families

Climate-Controlled Fields and Track

Astroturf playing fields surrounded by a walking and jogging track. Perfect temperatures year-round, whether it is 100 degrees or 12 degrees outside.

Colorful playground equipment for children

Age-Zoned Playgrounds

Separate areas for toddlers, kids, and teens. Modern play structures, safe surfacing, and designs that keep every age group engaged and entertained.

Local food vendors and market stalls

Local Food Kiosks and Market

Rotating food vendors, concession stands, and a permanent indoor farmers market. Not a restaurant; just great local options when you want a snack or a meal.

Friends gathering and socializing

Flexible Day-Part Programming

Family-friendly mornings with playdates and mom meetups. Teen hangout afternoons with games and activities. Relaxed adult evenings with fire pits and social spaces.

Market Opportunity

A park-sized gap in every community

Between expensive indoor entertainment centers and free (but weather-dependent) outdoor parks, there is a massive underserved space. The Field fills it.

Parents with Young Children

Safe, affordable indoor play without the chaos of commercial play centers

Teenagers

A casual, cheap hangout spot that is not the mall or a parking lot

Young Adults

Social gathering space beyond bars and expensive restaurants

Extreme-Weather Communities

Cities with harsh winters or scorching summers that need year-round options

Total Addressable Market

$8B+

The US family entertainment center market alone exceeds $8 billion annually. The Field targets an underserved, lower-cost segment of this market with dramatically better unit economics through repurposed real estate.

Diverse community gathering in an open space
Business Plan

Built to grow, built to last

Revenue Model

  • Low admission fees: $5 per visit or monthly memberships
  • Vendor booth rentals for food kiosks and farmers market stalls
  • Equipment and game rentals (bocce, cornhole, frisbee, etc.)
  • Event space bookings for birthday parties and community events
  • Corporate sponsorship and naming rights deals

Go-to-Market Strategy

Launch a pilot location in a mid-size city with available vacant retail space and extreme seasonal weather. Partner with a local corporate sponsor for naming rights to offset initial buildout costs. Build grassroots demand through a parent petition to demonstrate community need and secure municipal support for zoning approvals.

Competitive Advantage

No direct competitor occupies this niche between pricey indoor entertainment centers and free outdoor parks. By repurposing existing vacant buildings, The Field dramatically reduces construction costs while revitalizing dead commercial zones, creating goodwill with local governments and communities that accelerates expansion.

Startup Cost Estimate

$500K - $1.5M

Covers lease deposit, interior renovation, astroturf installation, playground equipment, HVAC upgrades, initial vendor buildout, and insurance. Significantly lower than new construction thanks to repurposed retail infrastructure.

Year One Milestones

1 Secure first vacant big-box location and complete indoor park buildout within 6 months
2 Reach 5,000 monthly visitors and sign 1,000 monthly memberships by end of year one
3 Onboard 10+ local food vendors and secure at least one major corporate naming sponsor

Key Risks

  • Commercial real estate zoning restrictions may limit the ability to convert retail spaces into recreational use, requiring municipal cooperation
  • High ongoing costs for climate control, maintenance, insurance, and liability in a large indoor space could pressure margins
  • Maintaining a low price point while covering operational expenses depends heavily on securing significant sponsorship revenue

Every community deserves a Field

Dead malls and abandoned Walmarts are waiting. The families and teens who need somewhere to go are waiting, too. This idea is yours to build.

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