Tucked away in the Collegeville Station, the only remaining Gymboree Play & Music in Southeastern Pennsylvania received a grand makeover recently, complete with a new look and new equipment, that is already boosting business, noted owner Joan Daly.

Daly and her husband Pat, who live in Pottstown, bought the 21-year-old franchise at West Third Avenue and Chestnut Street in Collegeville about a year ago, well aware of the additional investment waiting around the corner, writes Gary Puleo in The Times Herald.

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“We went in with our eyes open and were planning it with our finances. When we saw the new equipment at a training in San Francisco it was a no-brainer. We just felt like we had to have it. It’s about a $50,000 upgrade,” Daly allowed. “The place looked dark before and the equipment was old. The new equipment is like a huge playground. It’s more engaging, more colorful and has more things going on with it. It keeps us more competitive with all the things that are going on out there today.”

The remodeling, from design to installation, took several months, Daly said.

The renovation to Gymboree Play & Music of Collegeville, where parents and grandparents engage in the developmental fun right along with their kids and grandkids, includes a soft new play floor that is a layered system composed of plastic surface tiles and foam underlayment, providing a firm yet soft surface with impact-absorbing qualities, Daly explained.

The equipment is now all modular, which should keep the playful learning from ever growing stagnant.

“Every two weeks we change the equipment, tear it all down and put it back up to go along with the lesson plan we’re teaching,” Daly said. “It’s a lot of fun because it’s always something different for the kids to be engaged in. Each set up includes new lesson plans and song lists that are developmentally designed for each age group. The lessons are engaging and encourage interactive imaginative play and they still end with our famous Bubbles and Parachute activities. The new equipment is taller, to better accommodate the 3-to-5 age range,” Daly added. “A 5-year-old can literally swing from the bar. It kind of helps the business that way too, because the older kids can play.”

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