10/09/2026
"I'm a third-generation rink operator. It goes back to my grandfather, who was looking for ideas during the Depression on how to earn a living for his family. I've got a book somewhere at home with all of his ideas in it. One of them was a skating center. He ended up owning several of them. He'd build them up, sell them and go start another one… and keep going like that.
And then my mom and dad met at his skating center in Adrian, Michigan. The story was there was a sq**rt gun fight going on, my grandfather saw him and said, 'You're out!'
My mom and dad got out of the skating business for a little while, and then they decided to get back in because they really missed it. My family opened up one in Jackson, Michigan. Eventually, my dad sold the business to me and my sister. After 10 years, she wanted to retire so I bought her out.
I just love what I do. I think it's the joy I see on people's faces, an opportunity for me to meet new people. Personally, I'm a Christian, and I was blessed to be put in this position, to have this really cool place. I just want to bring God glory by whatever I do here and just share goodness with everybody.
It's a blast. It's a great time. It's great for families. We've been here a long time, so we've been through some hard times with the economy and stuff as well, but lately there’s been a bit of resurgence. I think skating is great for people of all ages. I’m 67 and I still get out there and skate. I just love it and it gives you this really good feeling. It’s social, gets people interacting with each other. It’s physical activity and a great activity for families to do together. And who doesn’t need a little more fun in their life?
We take a lot of pride in our facility. We have a hardwood floor; something not a lot of skating rinks have these days. I know because I helped put that floor in one board in at a time. I know every board! We worked 16 hours a day, about two and a half weeks, to get that in. And we get a lot of people that come in here, and they just love it. It brings back memories and nostalgia of what skating rinks used to be like.
We’re proud of the facility, but we also want it to be safe for families. We were one of the first rinks to institute a no smoking rule, and a security buzzer at the door so nobody gets in without us knowing. It’s very secure, and knowing that helps families have fun. I tell my staff all the time that supervision is a cornerstone for operations. People trust us with their children here, so we remind our staff that it's important to be observant.
But along with safety, we always want to be fun. We're always trying to think outside the box and come up with new ways to entertain people. We’re expanding all the time and do fun field trips in our classroom with several interactive STEM lessons explaining how roller skate work, how the music comes out of the speakers, the lasers in laser tag and things like that.
We really want people to be treated like we want to be treated, and to have fast and friendly, efficient service, and we want the people who pay to feel good about this place. People work for their money, so when they come in and plunk down that money to come in, we need to show them a good time. We want to be a top destination in people's minds. What am I going to do with my family tonight? Where can I go? Our goal is to be top of mind for anybody that wants to come in, and we want to deliver.
I hope what we do brings people joy."
—Mark Oliver, AllSkate Fun Center
