There’s a new business opening this fall that is sure to benefit area families. The Little Things Play Café will provide a place for children to have unstructured playtime at an indoor playground, while parents sit and visit over a cup of coffee.
“The idea came on a day when I was sitting at home with my best friend. Both of our children were playing in the living room while we were having a cup of coffee at my house. We talked about how we had seen play café’s and would like to bring that concept here. To have a space that was like being in your living room but to be able to be out in the community,” explains The Little Things Play Café Owner Brittany Webb. “The concept is not a novel idea. There are play cafes in urban areas. But we thought that Southwest Michigan needed the same amenities that larger cities offer, especially since people are moving out of the cities to areas like ours.”
Brittney and her husband Erik, who co-owns the facility with her, came to the area in Spring of 2017. Both had long commutes from the Chicago suburbs to their jobs and realized how much time spent in their cars was taking away from quality time with their family.
“We realized if we wanted to raise a family and actually see our children more than from 7pm to bedtime, we needed to move to a community that offered a better work-life balance,” explains Brittany.
Brittany was able to stay at her job and work remotely. Erik left his HVAC job and started his own local construction company called Webbstock Services. Erik is a licensed general contractor in Michigan, so the pair has been able to do much of the build out themselves. They have also been able to contract some of the work out to local companies.
The Little Things Play Café will be located in St. Joseph at Hilltop and Washington (in the same plaza as Papa Vinos). The indoor playground will have interactive equipment, activities and toys to promote creative play. The café will feature coffee drinks, small bites and comfortable couches and chairs with wi-fi throughout. They are planning to open this October with the play area, café and private rooms for birthday parties. Future plans include family movie nights, summer camps, children’s yoga, a kids music festival and more.
The Little Things Play Café is also offering a unique annual membership benefit and packages for area companies to offer their employees. They are hoping this will give businesses some added incentives in their efforts to recruit talent to the area.
“The core of these memberships and packages are to show the talent pool looking at our area that we are a strong community that cares about life outside work. That it’s not just about the time spent from 9am to 5pm. One of the great things about our locally based companies is they understand that having a strong support system for families outside of work creates a better work-life balance, and that creates more satisfaction on the job,” Brittany says.
Learn more about the The Little Things Play Café at their website or follow their Facebook page to stay informed about details on their grand opening slate of events.
by Julee Laurent
MOTM Contributor
