Indoor playground Kids Empire coming to Long Island, joining other new tenants in Commack shopping center

Kids Empire, the indoor playground chain, is planning to make an entrance on Long Island that could also be its debut in New York State.

The Los Angeles-based chain will open a 21,000-square-foot location in Commack in the Mayfair Shopping Center, where another kid-focused tenant, My Gym, and Mimi’s Coffee & Bubble Tea also are headed, according to Levin Management Corp., the North Plainfield, New Jersey-based manager of the shopping center.

"These additions reflect consumers’ desire for retail properties that offer meaningful experiences — in addition to tenants that provide traditional products and services," E.J. Moawad, senior leasing representative at Levin, said in a statement Monday. 

Kids Empire indoor playgrounds include climbing features, mazes, slides, soccer arenas, building areas with giant blocks and other activities. 

The Commack location will open in the fourth quarter of this year, Julia Rouaux, spokeswoman for Kids Empire, said in an email.

"We’ve been looking at Long Island for a few years and Commack was strategically chosen for one of our first New York locations due to its ideal demographics, strong family-oriented community, and excellent location," she said.

Kids Empire will occupy a portion of the 60,300-square-foot space that was vacated in 2021 by a Best Market grocery store, which was at 84 Jericho Tpke. in the shopping center. The rest of the grocery store’s space was taken by a PGA Tour Superstore in 2023.

Founded in 2016, Kids Empire has 100 indoor playgrounds in 24 states, including Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas and Pennsylvania, but there are none in New York State. The chain is exploring opening additional locations in New York State, and plans to open one in Brooklyn in the fourth quarter of this year, said Rouaux, but she could not provide more details. It is unclear whether the Commack location will be the first in New York State.

But Kids Empire is planning a large rollout on Long Island, said Melissa Naeder, senior director of brokerage in the Melville office of real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

"We are actively looking to open several locations in Nassau County and Suffolk County [in spaces that are] 9,000 to 20,000 square feet," said Naeder, who is Kids Empire’s exclusive broker on Long Island.

Founded around 1983, My Gym is headquartered in Los Angeles and has more than 700 locations worldwide, according to its website.

My Gym offers fitness programs and physical activities for children ages 6 weeks to 10 years old.

The Commack location is taking a 3,000-square-foot space that was vacated by women’s apparel retailer Runway Clothing in January, Levin said.

Mason Pulde is the franchisee for the My Gym planned for Commack and four existing locations on Long Island, including one that opened in Plainview last week, he said.

He declined to say when the Commack location will open.

Mimi’s Coffee and Bubble Tea will open in a 1,200-square-foot unit in the Mayfair Shopping Center in May, Levin said. The space was vacated by an electronics repair shop, I Fix Screens.

Mimi’s did not respond to a request for comment.

Built around 1960, the Mayfair Shopping Center is a 222,000-square-foot property whose current tenants include grocer Lidl, Outback Steakhouse, Sephora, Loft, Bagel Toasterie and Northwell Go Health.

With the occupied space and three incoming tenants, the shopping center is 92% leased, Levin said.

There are several leases pending that will make the center fully leased when they are signed, the company said.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.