For years, Jasmine Peoples and her husband commented about the lack of local activities for younger children and families. She has decided to do something about that with a new storefront in the prime real estate of 400 Texas Street.
Jasmine has you at the smile!
It is a small space with a big heart, a place that you can come and enjoy the feeling of a day at a carnival and splurge on nachos and hot dogs, giant pickles, cotton candy, ice cream cones, flavored ices, jumbo popsickles and a variety of juices, soft drinks and waters.
Fun Zone Menu
While there, you can rent a board game, make some slime, buy party favors, dance to your own silent disco, and try your hand at arts and crafts. You can also rent kites, virtual reality games, even a ‘movie theater’ set up for your back yard (and buy the movie box meals to go with it).
Fun Zone Listing of Family Fun Options.
Welcome to Fun Zone Family Entertainment, 400 Texas St. adjacent to the Shreve Memorial Library.
It may seem that the center of downtown’s Central Business District is an odd place for a family-friendly business such as hers, but Jasmine says that it is important to her for it to be there. “Our community needs more events that bring families together. My husband and I do a lot of traveling and much of the reason we travel is for our kids. I want to create something so families can stay here and have the same experience, and save that travel money!”
Fun Zone, 400 Texas Street.
The small shop is currently visible through the chain link fence and around the large equipment digging a pool-sized hole in the sidewalk just in front of her business on Texas Street. The big water main dig “started just 5 days after we opened,” Jasmine laughs. “I didn’t know it was happening. When I saw the construction, I was ‘What is THIS??!'”
Need a landmark? Here’s your dig!
Jasmine has been a small business owner long enough to know that challenges come with the territory and she knows that her entrepreneurial spirit will help get her through. Another thing that will get her through is sales. She wants people to know about what she is doing and is working on outreach through social media, in person and through family and friends. She would love to add others to that list.
“This is a way to help bring the community together,” she says. That is a big statement for a small business, but her ultimate goal is to create opportunities for families to engage with one another instead of engaging only with their phones. “I’m just trying to do things a little differently” noting that lasting connections are not made by spending hours interacting with TikTok videos or scrolling Instagram but by talking and laughing with each other and having shared experiences.
Go by for a hot dog, or her current best seller, the $4.00 BBQ Beef Sandwich. Grab a bag of chips and a drink. Bring a (gasp!) book and sit outside at one of her comfy shaded tables and watch the Big Dig or sit inside in the air-conditioning. Sneak away from work with a friend for an ice cream and a board game. Bring the family for a little inexpensive fun. The Fun Zone will be there for you, Tuesday- Saturday, 11 am- 6 pm.
