At two Illinois and Florida rinks, every day is Mother`s Day

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RINKSIDER
May-June 2014
At two Illinois and Florida rinks, every
day is Mother’s Day
By Susan Geary
S
ince skating is a family entertainment business, it makes perfect sense that most are run by
families who work together toward
success. That’s certainly been the case
for two mom and daughter teams in
the mid-western and southern part of
the U.S., where every day is Mother’s
Day.
Mindi and Megan Smith
The Smith family owns and operates Skateland South and Skateland
Jacksonville, both in Illinois. Mindi
Smith, 48, purchased Skateland South
in Springfield, Ill., 12 years ago. She
had roller skated there as a kid and
developed a business relationship with
the rink. “Then one day I threw out to
the owner if they were ever interested
in selling to give me a call, and about
a year later I ended up buying a rink,”
she said.
At that time, Mindi offered her
16-year old daughter Megan a parttime job. Back then, Megan wasn’t
much of a skater. In fact, “she had only
been roller skating a couple of times in
her life,” said Mindi. The key word is
she “offered” a job. “It wasn’t a forced
issue,” said Megan, “it was something
that I wanted to do and that I fell in
love with on my own.”
Megan is credited with building
the birthday party business during her
teen years. She then left for college to
become a teacher, while still working
part-time at Skateland. After securing
her degree, she pursued a teaching job,
while her mom bought another rink
last year, 40 miles away in Jacksonville. About the same time, Mindi was
facing a major health scare, which was
a driving force for Megan to relinquish
her teaching duties, take over the Jacksonville rink, and handle administra-
Independent Voice of the Industry
tion for both rinks. Megan wanted to
help in any way she could, and Mindi
was extremely grateful. “She gave up
an important part of her life to help me
with mine. It’s really been a blessing
to have her there, somebody that I can
trust and rely on.”
Megan and Mindi aren’t the only
Smiths on the Skateland payroll. “I
also have a son, 20, who works with
us at both rinks, so we really created
a family environment,” Mindi added.
Plus, Megan is pregnant with twins
due this spring, and she plans to get her
kids on skates as soon as she can.
Now 27, Megan admits she’s
learned a lot from her mom and noticed
many similarities. “We’re a lot alike
with the hands-on management. We
both really enjoy interacting with the
clientele, the customers, the kids, just
as much as we do with our employees.”
Although Mindi loves that her
daughter is a business partner, she does
admit there’s a downside. “She’s working opposite shifts than me so I don’t
get to see her like I would like to see
her and now we’re in opposite cities.”
Jan Fearnow and Annette Browning
In Ocala, Fla., Jan Fearnow, 65,
purchased a second family rink at the
suggestion of her 44-year-old daughter Annette Browning. Jan and her
husband have owned Skate-A-Way
in Plymouth, Ind., for more than a
decade, but have wintered in Florida
where Jan’s daughter was born and
raised. (The older Fearnows relocated
to Indiana 25 years ago, and also own
Cricket Loft, an embroidery company
that provides apparel for USA Roller
Sports.) Jan started skating at three
years old and was a competitor, but
Annette, a former stay-at-home mom,
was more of a recreational skater. “I
skated at this rink years ago, but I
Jan Fearnow and Annette Browning are the mom and daughter owners of
Skate-a-way South in Ocala, Fla.
never competed,” she said.
Skate-A-Way South in Ocala
opened this past fall. Annette originally
planned to just help with renovations
and get the rink opened, but decided to
stay on and manage the facility. She’s
in charge of all the birthday parties
and employee scheduling, while Jan
handles the book keeping, admissions,
skate sales, and scheduling of the art
and speed practices.
“It keeps us close, and every day
is a new experience,” said Annette.
She likes working with customers and
having a safe place for kids. And since
they both work the same schedule, Jan
and Annette get to see each other every
day at work.
As for the rink back in Indiana,
Jan credits a great management team
with taking care of the place while
they’re away in Florida at their new
Ocala facility, although Annette mentioned that Jan and her husband plan to
stay in Florida permanently and travel
back and forth.
Megan and Mindi Smith, daughter and mother owners of Skateland South and
Skateland Jacksonville, both in Illinois, enjoy being in business together.
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