The eatertainment category has been around at least since the late 1970s, when “Charles Entertainment Cheese” started playing music alongside his animatronics bandmates for pizza-eating families. Once COVID restrictions went away in 2021 and 2022, the category experienced a massive renaissance, fueled simply by pent-up demand from consumers who spent a year-ish holed up in their house with their pandemic pods. Puttshack was a beneficiary of that trend, opening its first tech-driven mini-golf location in the United States in 2021, about three years after its debut in the United Kingdom.
In 2022, Puttshack received $150 million in growth capital to support its domestic strategy. Consequently, the company’s 19th location opens in October in Minnesota – its first in the state and 15th in the U.S. Another is scheduled to open in Atlanta in November. And, according to chief executive officer Logan Powell, it’s just getting started.
Powell joined Puttshack shortly after it was founded. He discovered the concept in his previous role in private equity.
“It was an investment opportunity, and it was the best concept I’ve seen in the space in my career,” he said during a recent interview. “It was extremely compelling, not only to invest in, but to operate.”
Powell relocated to the U.K. six months before the pandemic to take on the global president role at the brand. As Puttshack ramped up its U.S. presence, he relocated to Nashville and served as chief financial officer before taking on the CEO role in July. In addition to buying into the operations and the economics, Puttshack’s accessibility also enticed him to the brand.
“Anybody can come in and play. That’s a huge focus of ours. I love that it spans generations and it’s (American Disabilities Act) accessible. We want to make sure the brand is attainable,” he said.
Powell said the company continues to focus on growth but adds that it has a big enough footprint now where it can also focus more on operational execution and guest experience based on learnings. Technology plays a big role for both – the company uses a proprietary golf ball tracker that keeps automatic scoring, for instance, and knows which player is actively playing at any given time. The booking experience is also high-tech and proprietary. Now, the company is developing additional game modes and experimenting with a “Challenge Hole,” that customers can rent so they can play and dine at the same time. The traditional course doesn't allow guests to do that and they typically have to wait until they're done playing to eat.
“We provide a good experience now, but it could always be better. A key pillar for us is to innovate on the tech side and we have cool innovations coming on that front,” Powell said. “We really want you to be fully immersed in being with friends, family, colleagues, enjoying the game and the experience, and we’re removing any barriers to do so.”
Forty-five percent of Puttshack’s revenue comes from the mini golf game, which features themed holes, like a drum set, for example, while the rest of it comes from food and beverage orders. Powell believes this nearly even split is what brings people in and what keeps people in, respectively. The menu, he adds, sets the concept apart from other eatertainment brands, with globally inspired offerings – Lebanese hummus, chorizo and cheese empanadas, and Puttshack poutine, for example – and craft cocktails refreshed a couple of times a year.
“Our food and beverage scores are extremely high. I don’t think people are expecting the quality we give them. A lot of operators in this space focus solely on the game or the food and one or the other is an afterthought. We take a holistic approach,” he said.
That approach is intentionally targeted to Puttshack’s core customer, who is 21 to 39 years old. Food and drink offerings, Powell said, are important to this demographic and the company launched dining reservations earlier this year to cater to their demand. It’s another example of the constant changes being made to keep pace in a quickly changing category and for a quickly changing consumer set. He acknowledges the eatertainment space has gotten significantly more crowded since that initial post-pandemic renaissance but he is optimistic about Puttshack’s position.
“One of the things that sets us apart is that mix of revenue coming from the game and food and beverage. We continue to perform well," he said, adding that there could likely be a shakeout in the segment. "I think it will be bumpy and the winners will come out of the cycle over the next 12 to 18 months. The winners will be those with a heavy focus on the game and a balance on food and beverage and that are tech forward. People want something new and fresh and I think we give that to them.”
Puttshack has been named a 2024 Hot Concept Award winner by Nation’s Restaurant News. Awards will be presented at CREATE: The Event for Emerging Restaurateurs on Oct. 10 in Nashville. Executives from each Hot Concept – which also include Angry Chickz, Mecha Noodle Bar, Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ, Tacombi, and Toastique – will be on-hand for a panel discussion with editor-in-chief Sam Oches that explores each brand’s unique story and how they’ve navigated challenges along the way.
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]
