A world of play in Loganholme
Business owner and mum of 2 Leona Xiao knows the value of a great play centre: the kids love it, the parents can have a coffee and connect with each other, and at its best, it can be a community of its own.
Leona is the owner of the newest Chipmunks Playland in Logan, based at Loganholme, a venture she pursued after working in retail management.
‘I have boys who are 6 and 3, and I know how much they love it at Chipmunks, so it was something I had thought about for a while,’ she says.
Now Leona is 6 months down the road, she couldn’t be happier with her career change, and neither could her boys.
‘They love it here! They want to come and play every day,’ Leona says.
‘For me, it is so different because your customers are children under 11 and their parents and grandparents. We also host birthday parties and celebrations here, so being a part of those special events is so nice. We try and make every party slightly different, so they have great memories.’
Chimpunks also opens out of hours for private events that are extra-special, like first birthdays.
While owning the centre brings a lot of responsibility, Leona says her love of children and a warm welcoming community – as well as a dedicated team behind her – have helped her settle in, and she has big plans.
‘In the future we want to do more activities and workshops for local mum’s groups, as well as special Halloween and Christmas events,’ Leona says.
‘We have been really warmly welcomed by customers and some people we see every week, so we want to really create a sense of community here.’
One place where there’s already a sense of community is among Leona’s 14-strong team – many of them casual workers at their first job.
‘We have a great team of young people, and for me it’s important to give them extra support and care. We love to see them grow here and learn new skills, become more confident,’ Leona says.
‘We get great feedback from parents about our services and our food at the café so there is a lot of pride involved for all of us.’
Head to the website for more information: Home – Chipmunks Playland & Café Loganholme
