Ground Floor: Marion business offers more party options

Cathy Boyes is offering area children and their parents another option for celebrating special occasions.

Boyes' new Marion business, KidZone Chef Parties, features pizza parties for kids. But unlike a typical pizza party, the children do the cooking.

At KidZone Chef Parties, which opened June 1, each child receives a chef's hat, apron, and eight-inch personal pizza crust to top however they choose. An adult chef supervises and provides entertainment until it is time to eat, while the parents sit back and watch the children have fun. At the end of the party, KidZone staff cleans up the mess.

'My goal and my mission is for my customers to walk in happy and leave with a great experience,” Boyes said. 'I want to create that wow factor.”

While the business itself may be new, Boyes developed the concept behind it several years ago when she owned Nick-N-Willy's Pizza in North Liberty.

'I looked into doing pizza parties for kids as a part of that business and the ideas just started to flow,” she said.

Boyes placed a brochure on the counter to promote her KidZone Pizza Parties and soon had three or four bookings every weekend.

Although Nick-N-Willy's Pizza closed, a victim of the recession, Boyes couldn't forget the wide-eyed wonder of the children when she walked out in a full chef's outfit to teach them how to make pizza. With the recent closing of the Play Station and Chuck E. Cheese, two Cedar Rapids businesses devoted to children's parties and entertainment, she decided it was time to resurrect her old idea.

'I thought, boy, what an opportunity for me,” she said. 'This is a need and I am going to fill it.”

Boyes was able to reuse some of the equipment from her former business for KidZone Chef Parties, including a high batch convection oven that bakes four pizzas in 90 seconds. With such a quick turnaround time for its pizzas, KidZone is able to accommodate up to 20 children at a party.

In addition to birthday party packages, Boyes also offers parties for daycare field trips, scouting groups and senior citizen groups. She said cookie-baking and other theme parties also are available.

'It doesn't have to be an occasion,” Boyes said. 'Anyone can book a basic party, which is just getting a few friends together and cooking some pizza or cookies just for the fun of it.”

' Know a manager or company in business for less than a year that would be ideal for 'Ground Floor”? Contact George Ford at George.Ford@sourcemedia.net

At a Glance

'Owner

: Cathy Boyes

'Business

: KidZone Chef Parties

'Address

: 1375 Seventh Ave., Suite D, Marion

'Phone

: (319) 310-3782

'Website

: www.kidzonechefparties.com