Today we’d like to introduce you to Marty Kennard.
Marty, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I worked for Target Corporation for 17 years, moving 8 times in my first 12 years. A few claims to fame was being one of the youngest store managers in the company at age 26, a Super Target store manager at 27 when Super Target was just a test prototype, and being the youngest district manager at the time when I was just 28, overseeing a $420 million-dollar district over 2.5 states.
After leaving Target when I turned 40, I started buying rental properties more or less as a hobby. However, after learning how easy it was to make passive income & being inspired by the Rich Dad / Poor Dad book series, I started to take investing and being my own boss a bit more seriously. I even started a few new corporate careers to support my home-buying habit. Then, in late 2015, my future business partner (Rob West) convinced me to invest in a large sand volleyball bar and grill rather than another rental property. From this, we bought, branded, and have been renovating the largest and coolest sand volleyball bar and grill complex in DFW!
Has it been a smooth road?
I don’t believe there is such a thing as a smooth road when it comes to owning your own business. Any misstep is a lesson learned and a mistake not to be repeated. We certainly went too far down the path of renovating everything and anything, but now we have made a much more strategic pace to ensure we are funding the improvements as we go.
Finding the right team is always one of the most critical parts of building a successful business, and while we’ve done an outstanding job of hiring some great people, we also have yet to find stability in some areas (maintenance, evening manager). With our sales up, anywhere from 50% to 100% to last year, we are also recognizing the need for more professional marketing, and better event management tools. But, with all that said, the wins are far out-weighing the cons at this point!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We have a very unique offering, and a very strong following of loyal customers. Yes, there are many sports bars, but how many of them can you play sand volleyball at? And yes, there are several sand volleyball places in town, but how many of them can you have 24 courts, a large studio where you can do anything from yoga to free salsa lessons, to a large screen TV (28 feet!) the size of movie theater above a stage that hosts bands such as Le Freak? Only at the Sports Garden…
And, even though there are many activities and corporate events held at our venue, we are mostly known as a volleyball place. With sand volleyball being one of the fastest growing sports in the world right now, we wanted to do our part to make it ‘Spectatable’. What that means is where you are there to play or just have an adult beverage, we made watching outdoor sand volleyball enjoyable. We filled in a pool and built a sun deck…we tore down a fence and put up a 115-foot bar deck complete with roof, fans, TV’s, and a full-service bar. And soon we will be wiring our championship court for people to see live on TV both inside the bar on the big screen, and via the internet.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Dallas is just like Texas, and both still embody the dream that you can strike it big. Isn’t everything bigger in Texas? It’s true, even when it comes to new business opportunities. Land and labor are still relatively affordable, customers are very encouraging of new concepts and ideas, and the market is still expanding.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1850 East Belt Line Road
Coppell, TX 75019 - Website: SportsGardenDFW.com
- Phone: 972-462-7715
- Email: info@SportsGardenDFW.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SportsGardenDFW/
Image Credit:
Le Freak
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