Vol. XXVI, No. 6, June 2026

  1. Editor's corner
  2. A barbell approach to the K-shaped economy
  3. Alcohol use among teenagers is on the decline
  4. The number of community location-based entertainment venues continues to grow
  5. Our company's latest social eatertainment project opens
  6. The importance of global flavors for social eatertainment venues
  7. Is your LBE venue seeing real revenue growth?

[ Index of Previous eNewsletters ]

The number of community location-based entertainment venues continues to grow

JLL's retail tenant research tracks 207 community location-based entertainment (LBE) concepts operating 4,746 locations across the U.S. and Canada. The research found that attendance among the LBE concepts it tracks increased 12% from 2019 levels to 217 million visits in 2025, with an average length of stay of 2 hours and 20 minutes.

JLL says Americans have not stopped looking for things to do together. Now, in the K-shaped economy, for all but the higher-income group, who can still afford to spend $1,000s to visit Disney World, they are doing it closer to home, at concepts priced for a Friday night or Saturday afternoon rather than a multi-day trip in Orlando.

Their research found that 721 new LBE locations are planned or announced, representing an additional 16.5 million square feet of LBE space.

The following chart shows the number of 2026 locations for each LBE type and the percentage growth since 2023 for each.

The number of escape rooms grew the most, by 247%, but they remain small in number at 430. The number of family entertainment centers (FECs), with the largest number of locations, 1,717, grew 10.6%, with only 91 planned or announced, representing only 17% of all planned square feet of new LBEs.

Trampoline parks (including kid zones) have 1,355 existing locations, second only to FECs, and 355 planned new centers.

The competitive socializing category, a relatively new concept, has grown by 84% since 2023, now with 913 locations and 1.78 million square feet of planned space.

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Vol. XXVI, No. 6, June 2026

  1. Editor's corner
  2. A barbell approach to the K-shaped economy
  3. Alcohol use among teenagers is on the decline
  4. The number of community location-based entertainment venues continues to grow
  5. Our company's latest social eatertainment project opens
  6. The importance of global flavors for social eatertainment venues
  7. Is your LBE venue seeing real revenue growth?

[ Index of Previous eNewsletters ]