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A fast-emerging social-eatertainment concept for the post-pandemic era comes to America

It's finally coming to America - indoor miniature golf combined with a bar and food for adults. We've previously covered the emergence of this new location-based social-eatertainment business model in the U.K. and Australia in past issues:

• Holey Moley in Australia
• Swingers in London
• Junkyard Golf Club in the U.K.
• Puttshack in London

Now we have three different versions opening in America.

Urban Putt- There are currently two locations open. In Denver, the 9,000-sq.-ft. venue is located in the renovated Old Spaghetti Factory in the historic Denver City Cable Railway Building. The venue was renovated at the cost of $5.0 million and features a moody steampunk atmosphere. Its golf course includes replicas of Denver landmarks such as Red Rocks Amphitheater, Coors Field, and the Denver International Airport.

Urban Putt in Denver

The San Francisco Urban Putt is located in a renovated old mortuary in the Mission District. Steampunk variations on San Francisco landmarks emphasize the quirkier aspects of the city. TheTransamerica Towerhas been turned into a nontraditional mini-golf windmill. Golf Land at the Beach - a tribute to S.F.'s long gone Playland atthe Beach amusement park - compels players to putt into the mouth ofLaughing Sal. The Earthquakehole winds past a swaying line of Victorian rowhouses and concludes at the Gold Fire Hydrant. A successful putt into the hydrant triggers an alarm to wake up sleeping firefighters in the firehouse.

Both Urban Putt locations feature 14 holes of miniature golf, a full-service bar, and a restaurant featuring comfort foods like fried-chicken-and-waffle skewers, hand-tossed pizzas, and peanut butter mousse pie.

Puttshack - This concept with three London locations will be opening its first U.S. unit in Atlanta on April 21. The 25,000-sq.-ft. venue will feature four tech-driven mini-golf courses, a world-inspired, high-concept menu, a full bar, and an indoor-outdoor rooftop patio. Each customer is assigned a sanitized ball with a chip that automatically records their shots and registers their score on the leaderboard. Additional locations are planned for Nashville, Atlanta, Miami, and Chicago.

Puttshack in Atlanta

Swingers - This is another concept coming across the Pond from London, where there are currently two locations. On June 11, Swingers will unveil its first U.S. location at Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. in the two-floor, 20,000-sq.-ft. space formerly occupied by Buffalo Billiards, a beloved sports bar that shuttered in 2019. Swingers will be a combination of two nine-hole crazy golf courses, a food hall featuring a selection of food from four of D.C.'s most exciting gourmet street-food restaurants, stunning cocktails, and live D.J.s. A second U.S. location will open in New York City's Flatiron District at a new Virgin Hotel on Broadway in late 2021 or early 2022.

Swingers in Washington, D.C.

These three social-eatertainment concepts combining miniature golf, a highly approachable social activity, in an adult environment with a foodie-worthy menu and upscale cocktails and drinks should prove to be a perfect formula to attract higher socioeconomic adults craving in-person highly social activities and food and drink that they couldn't get while isolated so long at home. As our CEO reported in a blog last December, "To thrive in the post-pandemic world, out-of-home entertainment and art venues need to adjust their business models to make sure they appeal to the higher socioeconomic customers who are likely to account for 80% or more of all revenues."

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