Local Links: Adding a touch of fun to your special celebration
The demand for soft play sets has increased in the last few years which offers a safe play area for toddlers.
It's one of the newest ways that recently gained popularity in the last few years while adding some fun at a special celebration.
Royalty Small World is a soft play rental for children between the ages of two to five years old.
"We basically started it so younger kids can have fun and not just the older kids," said Royalty Small World's owner Ana Villanueva.
Each playset starts off at about $300 per rental.
The idea sprouted during the pandemic when Villanueva was looking for a similar idea to have at her child's birthday. But she couldn't find anyone in the Coachella Valley who rented out these types of sets.
Since its start about a year ago, the business has boomed but it didn't go without fears Villanueva said she had.
“It was hard because I was starting new. I don’t know if people were going to book me," explains Villanueva. "But then I started getting my work out there like on Facebook, Instagram and people were loving it and booking me here and there.”
Now the bookings come every weekend where Villanueva custom designs the sets to her customer's party theme.
As a stay-at-home mother, while her husband ran his barbershop business, Villanueva never thought she'd have this business to call her own. Let alone starting a party rental business during a pandemic.
But with her drive, she pushed through. Now with more people becoming vaccinated and events making a comeback, the bookings continue flooding in.
Most importantly, she said it's her children that keep her and her business going.
“I want them to be able to look up to us, their parents," Villanueva said. "To show them to never give up on their dreams, and we want to motivate them and tell them how we started off with no help. They can do anything they put their mind to.”
For more on rentals, you can find the business on Instagram and Facebook under Royalty Small World.
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