- Funding for Working Capital is provided by the Friends of KTW, Raymond C and Marguerite Gibson Foundation, Kansas Department of Commerce, and go to Pcan.

Coming up on Working Capital.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engine.

Welcome back to Working Capital.

This week we're at Andretti Indoor carts and games, and today we're with Shelby McGrath, the general manager here.

Okay.

I saw a little clip of you guys.

I looked online, I was like, wow.

But when you walk in the door, I mean mine and the whole crew, our jaws just dropped.

Let's just start off, how did you get started here?

I mean, where did, did you come from the company or just switch over here 'cause it's such an amazing place.

- Yeah, I came from a similar FEC prior to this.

I've had coworkers that I know have joined in Readys and just had nothing but great things to say about it.

So I, once I heard they're coming to Kansas City, I reached out and got started on this amazing journey and it's been great ever since.

- Okay.

Give us a little bit of the history of where this started and, and how, where this began.

- Yeah, absolutely.

One of our owners, Eddie, was in contact with one of the members of the Andretti family many years ago and they built the concept of the first andrettis.

It was an outdoor carting facility and of course with weather being affected in that, yeah, they really looked at the next phase, which was making it indoor.

So they added into the indoor course so we can not affected by those weather.

And from there it just continued to grow.

We are opening up in many centers and we have Georgia and Florida and Arizona's and we just keep building - This.

This may be a question you don't know, but yeah.

Did the, did the kind of upgrading to the electric carts change the layout to be able to add more stuff in and keep it more open as opposed to, you know, an indoor with gas engines, you kind of gotta have to plan a different way.

So does this really open up the, the ideas?

- I'm not a hundred percent sure on that, but yes, I do believe so.

I mean, it definitely opens up the element of having them multi-level, multi floors and things like that.

It's just, you know, when you have gas carts that causes some issues with doing that.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And please don't bring any banana peels or your, your pet turtle no throwing objects out on the, the course.

So - Yeah, anything that you have in your pockets will we asked to put in the locker before going onto the carts.

- Another aspect here is the employees.

So besides you, and we heard a little bit about how you came here.

Tell us about the other, other employees here and other positions you have that help round out your facility.

- Yeah, so in order to operate this facility, it does take around 300 team members.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

So we have, you know, a lot of different positions for anything that is your skill level.

But we have our track marshals that operate the different carts and mechanics to make sure that those carts are staying up and running.

We have our maintenance team, which takes care of our building and you know, our servers, our bartenders and our starting line.

All of that hourly staff that goes into keeping the front open.

- So really you do have some skilled employees here.

It's not just like you're showing up and oh, you're doing this today or this, wow.

Having basically mechanics in pit and I didn't expect that many people, I mean it's a huge facility, but that's quite a bit to manage then.

So how is your management team structure?

Do you guys have a a good, how much does your management team take care of or do you have HR outsource?

Is there anything that you have done outside that so you don't have to worry as much and can focus on team - Members?

So we have seven team managers here, so oversee different departments.

But yeah, we also have an amazing corporate team that helps us take care of a lot of the HR things.

But yeah, we have 17 managers that oversee every department, so - I know it's a huge facility again, but that probably helps a little bit take off a little bit of stress.

Absolute, absolutely.

Because of having so many more trained in that side of it to help people have been go-karting for decades.

But when I walked in, just the sheer size of the space and we'll get to the games in a little bit, but of course with Maria Andretti, the emphasis is on driving.

- Right.

- And this is world class go-karting.

How has this, how, how since the opening, how have you seen the community embracing this and this kind of experience?

- I think it's been similar for everyone that's walked in.

You know, if you've been to an andrettis, it is the Orlando one, which is quite a bit different design than this one.

So everyone's just really surprised when they walk in and really being able to cater to every age group, anything that you need to be catered to, we have it all.

- And speaking with that, so there's three different versions of the track.

We're really four.

So when you come here, depending on your age, you have a little bit slower for the, for the younger kids.

Yes.

But let, let's just start off with the mini Marios to begin with.

So we even what age - Four?

Yeah, starting at age four.

- Age four, they're on the track.

It's a little cute track up here.

Everyone can see around it.

So there really is something for all ages.

Yes.

So stepping up from there, you get into the more what, what came for which, tell us a little bit about the track and the different classes and the different courses you have.

- Yeah, so every andrettis is gonna have a different track design.

So no matter which Andre location that you're gonna go to, you'll get a different experience at each one.

So from mini Mario, that's from four to seven years old.

And then we go up to our juniors, which are from seven to 12 years old.

And then we go into our intermediate and adults intermediate is going to be from 12 to 18 years old unless you have a permit and then you can move up to the adult course.

- Wow.

And with that, as you guys will see in some of this, this B roll, I mean it's multi-level.

I think the, the, the green course has more higher banks.

Yes.

The blue course has tighter turns.

Your assistant manager, Darren, who who was great giving us the first tour, was telling us some of the places have super tracks where they combine them and that may be something in the future.

Yeah.

You guys are ready to, to retrofit for absolute, combining the blue and the green into some huge experience on certain weekends or that kind of a, a specialty at some of the - Racetracks, it's normally on our slower days for on weekdays.

Okay.

So during the slower times when we're able to combine both tracks, we don't need to be running both at the same time.

We can combine them.

- That's so cool.

- Yeah.

- So if someone wanted to come out and race, is it, you need to call ahead, how, how do you plan your trip here and is there anything to where if you had like a birthday party or some other event?

- Yeah, so we have kind of our walk-ins groups and then of course we have our groups that book for corporate events, birthday parties, really any kind of event that you're looking to do.

Those can all be pre-booked minimum of three days advance for those for sizes, anywhere between four people all the way up to 150, 500, whatever you wanna cater to.

We can make happen for any size group.

And then for walk-in, we just do that on a first come first serve basis.

Everyone does have to have a waiver filled out for the track.

- Okay.

- Which you can do online or in store.

You'll fill out that waiver and then we get you registered to the next available track.

- So it's kind of, it's drop in basically.

Yeah.

Unless you have a huge party where you, you kind of need a little bit of a a leadway.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- So this first few weeks that you guys have been open, how big of groups have you had in have?

Have you seen a lot of people having fun?

Not to get into licensing rights here, but I did see certain video game characters who are known for car ting around.

I saw some people dressed up that way.

I mean it seems like people are having a lot of fun - Here.

Yeah, absolutely are.

We are having a lot of company holiday parties already and more to come every single day.

So everyone's, their companies are coming out enjoying us.

And then of course everyone's birthday parties.

We've been celebrating every weekend as well.

And then just a lot of our walking guests, I think everyone in the area is very excited for us to be here.

- The food offerings, what kind of food do you serve here?

- It's traditional style food.

So you know, sliders, hamburgers, pizzas, it is a 95% scratch kitchen though.

So we are making everything as our prep and back house.

So it is, even though it is traditional food, it is very good traditional food.

- And that is different for usually franchisee places.

'cause usually yeah, they're coming outta one spot.

So that way it's, it's controlled in a good and bad way, but that's also hearing it scratch.

'cause fresh is always best.

Yes.

So that's - Awesome.

Absolutely.

And our cocktails are handcrafted the same way.

So you know, we're always looking to have the best offerings for what scale that we're at, - The event space here and the amount of food options and like you say, from 10 people to 500, the, the spaces you have, the way they're thought out to be able to expand.

And you can have a small room, middle-sized room or the grand room.

So tell us a little bit about how you can scale to fit the different events here and, and how that's kind of thought out of ahead of time.

- Yeah, absolutely.

We have six different event spaces that can, our smaller rooms can adjust to 10 to 24 people at max in the smaller ones.

And then our grand room is going to be at a hundred people max.

But all of those walls will break down and we can open them up to fit more into those rooms.

And then as well as this room that we're in right now is also an event space that you can rent out for our skybar.

And then we do full, full buyouts as well.

So the full center, if you have a very large group, we can shut down fully for you as well.

- All the rooms are very cool.

We're told you can, you can hook in the speaker systems if you need to.

- Absolutely.

- But I will say the sky bar though, being able to see the track, being able to see the arcade space.

This is the, the spot Absolutely.

In the space.

So fully stocked bar.

I heard also for certain events you do have port portable bars that can be brought out to different spaces.

Yeah.

- So events that book in our bowling alley area that want a bar there, we can do that or dining area.

So really any space within our venue can be rented out for a event.

- Well you mentioned the bowling, so the bowling here isn't quite your traditional bowling.

Right.

It, it's not the full size, but it, it may just provide a lot more fun than traditional bowling, especially for people who may not be the best at bowling.

Right.

So it gives us a little bit about your duck pin bowling and explain a little bit how that works.

- Yeah, so it is interactive duck pin bowling.

So they are a smaller lane so it's not quite as long.

And as well as the balls are smaller and the pins are smaller, they're attached to strings and, but it is interactive so you can play different games like Angry Bird, you can throw the ball on the lane to interact with it.

It's completely interactive with the ball as well.

- Yeah, I mean interactivity is definitely the key here.

So moving on from that laser tag, you have your 70 experience.

- 70 is my favorite.

- Seven.

Okay.

Let's, let's just jump there then.

Until people, and I did hear from Darren though, do not do the clowns because the clowns are very scary.

But anyways, let's jump there.

For the seven D experience, that's something pretty new that most people definitely haven't seen or, - Or heard of.

Yeah, absolutely.

It's a movie theater room.

We have 16 seats that are interactive with the screen.

So there's a phaser that will interact with the screen.

You're shooting at different things within the game and it scores you on the screen live.

So there's 16 positions and it'll take your picture and show you throughout who is winning and who has the most points.

And then at the end it'll post all of the pictures for that.

- And that's kind of set up a seat as a theater space.

Was it two rows I believe?

- Yeah.

- So you can have a pretty large group in there all together if you don't each other.

So holiday parties and whatnot.

You're, you're having these experiences together, not just on the track.

There's, there's so many other options.

- Absolutely.

- So why, why is that your favorite?

- It's just fully immersive.

Like, you know, you're really in, in it, you have the 3D glasses, you have the wind blowing, you have the phaser interacting with the screen.

It's very competitive without, you know, you're standing still or sitting still.

- I know when, well you have some VR and AR and some other experiences too, but does the 70 d does that help a little more with people who maybe get nausea and that motion sickness being able to be rooted in a chair moves some, yeah.

I mean you are moving some, but - Yeah, your seat will move.

So, but with, - But you're there in space.

- Yeah.

With the vr you know, you're, it's completely taken you out of the element and into the game with the 3D glasses, it's not quite as immersive as the VR is.

So I do think that helps a little bit with that motion sickness.

- Nothing quite like what you guys will see right now in this space.

Tell us how much fun people have been having in this.

'cause it is multi-level.

I'll let, I'll let you explain it, - But Yeah, absolutely.

But - If you're a laser tag fan or this is probably for you.

- Yeah, so it's a dis dystopian theme.

So it is completely interactive with, you know, the walls will also be interactive.

You can shoot towards the different, there's eyeballs there that you can shoot towards to get extra points.

It's completely interactive with the facility as well.

And it's just top scale as far as the fog will interact with you when the gates open and the, just anything that's interactive with it, - It almost feels like you're in a game show.

- Yeah.

- I mean you are the the space.

Yeah.

It, it definitely doesn't feel like the other laser tag places that Right.

I've ever been - In.

Yeah, absolutely.

- How many people in that can play at a time?

- 28.

- 28.

- 28 people - That has got to get frantic in - There.

It can a little bit, especially when you're talking to him about a 10 year old's birthday party.

- Yeah.

- But you know, it's really just fun.

- Okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna jump back a little bit.

So like, track experience and the, the the 70.

How long are these going before you know, you get a little break 'cause there is a lot going on to where you once in a while need to step away for the census.

So like your 70 experience, how long does does a normal?

- So it's really gonna be dependent on the game that you're playing.

There are gonna be different areas for that, but from the time you get into the champ to time you get out, it's about 15 minutes.

- Okay.

So yeah, you're you're in there for a bit.

- Yeah.

Not the actual video's not gonna be interactive for that full time.

But by the time you get seat belted in, make sure everyone's good to go.

It's about 15 minutes.

Wow.

- Stick around.

We have a lot more to talk about here at Andretti.

Indoor carts and games.

So hope you're enjoying working capital.

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- Welcome back to Working Capital.

Okay, Shelby, there is so much more to talk about still let's get more into that VR space, that AR space that, that's kind of taking over in, in the entertainment sector a little bit.

So I know you have a few offerings that deal with that.

So what are those like and and what are those ex who are those experiences for?

- Yeah, so it's our holgate and hyper deck, which are both four player games and there's different game selections for each one.

So they're different ages geared for them.

Some are a little bit scarier, some are not.

So you can kind of select the interaction that you'd like to have with those.

- Is it the, is it the hollow deck where, I mean you're feeling the breeze, you're feeling heat, you're feeling different, you're feeling different sensory things other than just being in a virtual space.

Is that kinda the difference between the two?

How do you differentiate that?

- So the hollow gate is up top, that's gonna be more of a free standing interaction.

So you can actually move around with it.

The helmet will move with you within a certain timeframe.

Then the hyper deck, which is downstairs that's going to be more stationed, you're gonna be fitting into it and moving the round, - Which also may help a little bit too with motion sickness Yes.

For people to get started.

I mean, you're still moving again and you're in a different space, but sometimes that physical touch and knowing that you're, you're locked to something.

- Yeah.

- I may be a, an avid VR gamer.

So you do get a little nauseous if you play for, you know, an hour or two.

- Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

- The people just seeing their faces playing in that and just the smiles, I, I don't know who wouldn't have a, a good time in - There.

Yeah, absolutely.

It's fully immersive.

You know, you're going to be enjoying it whether, you know, we, it is a 54 inch height limit on that just because you have to be able to be tall enough to reach into the headset.

- Yeah.

- But otherwise it's for all ages.

Wow.

- And a little bit more racing then besides the carts, you have some world class racing simulators.

Yes.

Tell us about those.

- So those are designed specifically for Andres.

So it really will put you into what it would feel like to race in an actual course.

And really just for people that aren't feeling comfortable to get out onto this track itself.

It's a really good other option so that you can still be able to participate in the attraction and have that fully immersive experience without actually getting onto the track.

- Will all those simulators race against each other also?

- Yes.

So you can all four, it's four seats and you'll be racing against all four.

- And I did see it, it's, it's so many tracks around the world.

Almost any car you could think of.

Yeah.

Is there to play as and and they all have their different hand link and choose, you know, paddle shifting.

You, you can have whatever experience you want with that.

Absolutely.

So do you see a lot of people trying that before they get into the, the regular carting just to get a little bit feel of something faster moving?

- Absolutely.

And it's also great for people that maybe, you know, have hurt their ankle and can't get into the cart or just have some sort of injury.

That's an also great an option for them to do that as well.

- And besides all the new age attractions, you still do have very new still though kind of your traditional arcade.

How does that kind of fill in all your offerings?

- Yeah, so you know, if there's a weight on anything, you can definitely go in and play the arcade games or just come in for the arcade games.

We have every arcade gate offered.

And we also gear a lot of our arcade games towards the younger kids as well.

So they're smaller carts that you can get into.

So it really, that has that experience for them too.

'cause a lot of FECs that you go to don't have that experience for the younger ones.

So we do have a lot of games that are geared just towards that younger crowd.

- That's always good.

'cause you know, people our age, if you bring two young a kid, you wanna make sure you can keep playing your game.

So they need to have something to do too.

- Yes, absolutely.

We have everything for every age.

- How has the reception been between men and women, boys and girls?

I mean, it, it seems like it caters to everybody.

- Yeah, absolutely.

Anyone can have fun doing it.

You know, whether you're here on a date and you wanna beat your date on the track or have that interaction with the vr, whatever you'd like to do.

It's for everyone.

- And, and once you're here, I mean you, you can stay here for hours.

- Absolutely.

- So I'm gonna circle back around now to the go-karts with these, I mean you're, you're full helmeted.

You're, you're getting a course beforehand, you know, a little, a little primer.

They're not just throwing you on the track and saying like some places, oh wait in line, here you go, here's the gas, here's the break.

Try not to hit anybody and go.

Right.

So they're giving a little bit.

- Yeah.

Safety is our number one priority.

Absolutely.

- Everyone gets all geared up, they're ready to go out.

But because of different skill levels, we talked a little bit earlier, tell us about just the top three.

So between the, the young, the kids versus the, the two more adult tracks.

- Yeah, so they're all gonna come out besides Mini Mario, which is upstairs, all of the other three will come out of the same briefing area and they'll be directed towards whether they're on the red track, which is our junior track intermediate or adults.

So intermediate can be on either our green or our blue track.

We switch 'em up so that way you can have a different experience if you're doing it multiple times.

But really the intermediate's gonna go a little bit slower than the adult will.

We'll open the adult fully up to full speed and intermediate is about five miles slower than that.

- Is the intermediate track also the tighter, tighter turns?

Is that part of it too?

So we'll - Do intermediate on either green or blue so they can have that experience.

It's really just gonna be a difference of the adults will go 35 miles an hour and the intermediate will go 30 miles an hour.

- Okay.

- So we want people that, you know, come often to be able to experience both of those tracks and have different experiences every time they come.

It's just gonna be the difference of the speed that you're allowed to go.

- Are there any racing leagues or something where you come in and you have a track time each month?

Or is there any - We don't have anything like that set up now.

I know that's something people are definitely wanting.

So we'll look forward to doing that in the future.

But right now with just the amount of people we have coming in, it's really just for fun right now.

- And of course for bragging rights, there is podiums at the end.

You see everyone's track times in first, second, third.

So hopefully you're not coming in last in your group and can have a bragging rights.

Oh like yes, yes, yes.

And all this would not be possible without the Andretti namesake.

So if you don't know, just look up the name Andretti and you'll be shocked with all the racing acumens between Mario and his brother Aldo and then down to his, his son Michael.

I mean, when I was little we didn't have a lot of channels of course, but especially Saturday mornings like the a, b, c Wild world of sports, watching Mario Andretti race was just, it, it was a thrill of, of one of, one of the thrills of my childhood really got me involved in, in cars and living cars.

So seeing this and seeing his vision, it's amazing.

So does he still, does the family, especially Mario, he was here for the ribbon cutting.

Yes.

Did, did he get out on the track - At all?

Yes, he did.

So all of our openings has the entire and Ready family will come out, they'll get out onto the course itself and race it so that they can have that experience.

And then of course they'll interact with our guests that we have on open a day.

- And that's fantastic that he still loves it so much that you know his name's on it.

Yeah.

But be able to get out and, and be accessible with the people who are, are enjoying his dream.

'cause really without him winning all those races, I think starting in 66, 68, 60.

Anyways.

One of the best racers of all time.

Yeah, absolutely.

So hopefully this, I'm sure part of that decision is probably thinking they can help inspire other racers in the future.

Yeah.

So, you know, you never know when you'll find that next little boy or girl who's gonna be a world record holder.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- This is fantastic.

So I'm so glad to see this in, come to Overland Park, the Kansas City area.

I hopefully it'll be here for, for decades to come.

'cause I, I know I'm going to probably be a regular here.

- Yeah, absolutely.

So - Thank you Shelby so much for coming, working, working Capital and letting us see this fantastic track.

So if you want to see more, learn more, come check out Andretti indoor carts and games or look online.

We thank you for watching Working Capital and we hope to see you next time.

To catch up on previous episodes of Working Capital scan the QR code with your phone or go to www.watch.kw.org.

Funding for working capital is provided by the friends of KTW, Raymond C and Marguerite Gibson Foundation, Kansas Department of Commerce.

And go Topeka.