Meet the franchise owner of Big Air Warner Robins, who already has Middle GA ties

Dustin Pelletier sold the family business to open his first Big Air indoor trampoline and adventure park nine years ago in Spartanburg, South Carolina, because he wanted to try something different.

And he’s never looked back.

Today, he’s gearing up to open his fifth Big Air franchise in the former Conn’s HomePlus location in the Houston County Galleria in Centerville. He also has plans to open an additional Big Air in Georgia, possibly in Columbus.

In addition to Spartanburg, South Carolina, his other Big Air franchise locations include Greenville, South Carolina, Columbus, Ohio, and Auburn, Washington, a suburb of Seattle.

Also, he’s a regional developer for Big Air, managing and directing the operations of all eight Big Air locations in South Carolina.

Big Air Warner Robins is among three indoor trampoline parks gearing up to open within a short distance of each other.

Why Big Air?

A native of Greenville, South Carolina, Pelletier grew up in the family business doing concrete construction. When he was a preschooler, his dad took a contract job in Perry, moving the family there for a stint.

Pelletier earned a degree in audio engineering at Full Sail University in Winter Park near Orlando, met his wife, they married and moved back to Greenville in 2004 where they raised their three children, Skylar, 30, Rylie, 20, and AJ, 18.

Having rejoined his father at Action Concrete Pumping upon returning home, Pelletier later bought the company in 2010. He sold the business in 2015 and opened his first Big Air in 2016.

“It was so cool when we started Big Air, AJ was 9 and Rylie was 11, and that’s the perfect age for them to come to the trampoline park and really build a family business together,” Pelletier said. “My wife (Tabatha) did the payroll and human resources, stuff like that, and I was there running and operating the business.

“And my kids would be there after school,” he said, noting that Rylie would work behind the register and AJ was the “equipment tester.”

“So basically that means he was just playing the whole time ... You have a lot of fun, and we’d do this together as a family,” Pelletier said. “And we built so much unity and strength in our family by doing that.”

‘A good fit’

One of the aspects that attracted Pelletier to Big Air was that it was a good fit with his Christian values and offered him and his wife the opportunity to influence young hearts and minds.

“Kids are going through stuff, and they always have gone through stuff, from breakups to, you know, issues with families or had a hard time at school or bullying or grades,” Pelletier said. “And, you know, we can be a resource for them if they want to, or if they feel comfortable. And so it’s been very rewarding.”

His trampoline parks generally employ 60 to 100 people, with most ages 15 to 18.

“These are usually first time jobs for most of these employees, and teaching them skills that as adults, we take things for granted, like we think everyone knows how to mop, or everyone knows how to clean a toilet, or everyone knows how to clock in, or everyone knows customer service. They don’t, and we get to teach them these skills that they’ll take on to their next job and their next job and their next job, and hopefully they’ll remember their time at Big Air for the rest of their lives,” Pelletier said.

He enjoys seeing some of his early employees from his first Big Air in Spartanburg that are now adults with kids of their own.

“It’s really neat … seeing it come full circle, and their kids now come to the trampoline park and jump and have a great time,” he said.

‘Engaging attractions’

Big Air Warner Robins will have about 50 “really fun, energetic, engaging attractions,” Pelletier said.

Those attractions include a large ropes course in the air and 16 different rock climbing walls at different skill levels with climbers harnessed, and a flex sports court with basketball goals for “kids to test their skills and do some slam dunks if they want to,” he said.

The park also will include dueling zip lines, a tube slide where a guest sits in a tube and can launch themselves onto a soft surface, ninja warrior courses for all ages, dodge ball and trampolines to jump on and airbags to fall into.

“We have an exclusive called Arena X, which is kind of like a fun play zone with hidden beacons, like little flashing lights around an obstacle course area,” Pelletier said.

“Kids use an RFID wristband to basically search for those hidden beacons and tag them with their wristband to collect points in a timed gameplay, and at the end of the time gameplay, they see how many points they collected or how many of those beacons they could find. So it’s a good mix of technology and fun.”

The Warner Robins location will be only the second of Pelletier’s Big Air franchise locations to feature Arena X.

“Not all locations have the same attractions,” he said. “We try to vary the attractions and keep it fresh. And you know, as new attractions come out, we add those to the different locations, too.”

Big Eats Cafe & birthday parties

Big Air also will have a full-service Big Eats Cafe where hot fresh food will be made in-house such as pizzas, chicken tenders, french fries, mac and cheese, hot dogs, corn dogs, churros, and jumbo pretzels.

The large cafe will be able to seat about 100 people.

“I think this is important because families can come in and enjoy time jumping together and then enjoy some lunch or a dinner together or some snacks,” Pelletier said.

Big Air also offers birthday party celebrations with a private room with a dedicated party host.

“Everything would be included from the food and the drinks to the grippy socks to jumping time … attractions,” he said.

While the trampoline and adventure park is geared for all ages, Big Air also offers areas that are only for children 6 and under: Little Ninja and Little Air.

“We give them their own little zones to play in, and that allows parents to kind of have those precious moments with their kids, jumping and playing with them without having to worry about bigger teenagers interfering or bouncing into them,” Pelletier said.

Pelletier aims to open Big Air Warner Robins in the fall, pending final inspections and permits.

The trampoline park is now in the permitting process with plans being finalized for the interior construction work, which is expected to take four months. or under.

“It’s just a shell of a building just now, but all of the equipment has already been purchased and ordered and is being manufactured as we speak,” Pelletier said.

Keep a watch on Big Air Warner Robins social media for updates.

“As we get closer, we’ll start announcing that we’re hiring, and then we’ll start announcing when our grand opening specials are going to be, when we’ll start taking reservations,” he said.

Hours are expected to be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 1 to 7 p.m. Sunday.