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April 9, 2009

Streetlevel: Kids Space Mamalu Shuts Doors

mamalu-0409.jpgThe number of options for places to take your kids on a rainy or cold day just decreased by one. According to the Greenpoint Parents blog, Mamalu, the indoor kids play space and cafe, had its last day on Sunday. While the blog is sad to see it go ("To have a place where you can breastfeed and no one cares if your kid is wailing... that was great!"), it also offers up some advice if a buyer is found for the business ("keep it clean" and "have a protected play area in a corner for crawlers" are two suggestions). What are some other indoor play spaces in Brooklyn?
Mamalu Closed, Rumors of Possible Buyer [Greenpoint Parents] GMAP
Photo by dioramist




Posted by Brownstoner at 2:01 PM | Comments (20)
Categories: Streetlevel, Williamsburg

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Comments

Anyone know why it closed? Seems like such a great idea too.

Posted by: bxgrl at April 9, 2009 2:17 PM

I'm really sad about this. My daughter had her 3rd birthday here. It was expensive- but it was so much fun- even for the adults. That cafe space in the front was really great.

Posted by: panda10 at April 9, 2009 2:30 PM

is this a viable business model? did it close cause owner didn't run it well enough? Is this like a daycare or just for parties, etc.?

Posted by: more4less at April 9, 2009 2:37 PM

there's quite a bit of dialog going on about this on brooklynbabyhui (parents yahoo group). apparently, comes down to an extremely difficult landlord. there seems to have been a buyer and investors lined up. recently, there was a facebook group created to save it and many people bought the memberships (versus pay per session) to help support mamalu's.

place really was great because the food was so good and the decor was just really well done.

i suspect because of it's killer location across from the park and specifically across from the new outdoor tables/outdoor cafe area, that the landlord wants way more money now. i could be wrong.

Posted by: wine lover at April 9, 2009 2:38 PM

That's too bad..It is a cool place and had very good food.

I think every neighborhood in NYC needs a place like this.

There are several similar places I can think of, one in Prospect Heights...Can't remembeber the name but it is a Ice Cream shop that has a play area. There are a couple places on Atlantic Ave as well.

But Mamalu really got it right in my opinion.

Posted by: Dan76 at April 9, 2009 2:48 PM

so will they be able to save it, even in a different location? My sister and friends would have killed to have a place like this when they're kids were little.

Posted by: bxgrl at April 9, 2009 2:48 PM

Moxie Spot in Bklyn Heights is the closest thing to it...can't believe there's not something like this in park slope.

Posted by: new2hood at April 9, 2009 2:50 PM

Years ago there used to be an ice cream shop on Atlantic called (I think) Peter's. They had a small play area, a library of borrowable books and a lovely cat. IS Peter's the name of the place you're thinking of, dan76? They closed and I always hoped they moved to another location.

Posted by: bxgrl at April 9, 2009 2:54 PM

Sorry to see it go, Been their many many Saturday mornings since they opened. Good food i agree. There is another place in PH on Underhill... I forget the name.

Posted by: IMBY at April 9, 2009 2:58 PM

There used to be a Cafe Boo Bah on Atlantic near Smith, where Cosmic Cove (Carmello the Science Fellow) and a new place with cooking classes.

Posted by: neilw at April 9, 2009 3:00 PM

Wow, that's disappointing. When we lived in Williamsburg we took our son there all the time. Loved the place and the food as others have mentioned. We had his 1st birthday party there and all our guess were so impressed.

Posted by: LP at April 9, 2009 3:13 PM

bxgrl...

I think I remember Peter's..I lived in Cobble Hill for a few years. It was a nice place, closed right before the Ben & Jerrys moved in. I thought Peter's had better Ice Cream. I was sad to see them go.

Moxie Spot was the place I was thinking of, but I thought there was another on Atlantic in Boerum Hill? Maybe that is just an indoor play area though.

Posted by: Dan76 at April 9, 2009 3:15 PM

Unfortunately I've lost track of all the neat kid's palce now that my niece and nephew are grown but they used to love Peter's. They made their own ice cream - I liked it better too.

Posted by: bxgrl at April 9, 2009 3:23 PM

sounds like these kinds of business could be a viable business. Have to chk out some of these places mentioned above. Interested as a parent and as a curious potential business operator (hey, anyone of us could be fired from corp job in this bad econ and consider openning a business)

Posted by: more4less at April 9, 2009 4:15 PM

Having been to this place many times with my little one, and clearly seeing the need for a space like this onthe northside - I would agree that it would make a lot of sense to get a business like Mamalu going again. I'd be interested in being a partner too

Posted by: lambretta at April 9, 2009 4:52 PM

It's the second Williamsburg place of its kind to close, sadly -- first being WillyB's. Both really brought something to the community. Blue Marble on Atlantic has a really small play area, looks cute, although I haven't actually brought my kid there to play. I don't know, but I would think there'd be liability issues with insurance that would be slightly nightmarish... other than that, great business idea.

One thing I discovered today: the Crispus Atticus playground on Fulton and Classon has Mommy & Me playtime in their community center weekdays from 10-12. (And possibly into the afternoon, according to the woman I spoke to.) Looks like a great hang-out, although sadly, I bet they won't have iced coffee.

Posted by: Heather at April 9, 2009 8:56 PM

AREA Yoga in Brooklyn is starting yoga classes with a kids playgroup at at the same time in the mornings....instead of eating ice cream, do yoga while your kids play!

Posted by: areakidsbrooklyn at April 9, 2009 10:14 PM

What if you are one of the few but precious Brooklyn parents who hate yoga?

Posted by: Heather at April 9, 2009 10:38 PM

Every few years a passionate parent opens a place space like this and then finds out, it isn't profitable or loses interest and it closes. There is a need for these places and perhaps now that commercial real estate is cheaper, someone can run one a good margin. Orly's treehouse in Long Island which has incorporated the playhouse, cafe, kids classes with a day spa/haircare set up and memberships. Perhaps someone would start something similiar around here.

Posted by: bqe1970 at April 10, 2009 9:02 AM

The Underhill and Atlantic Ave spots are called New York City Explorers. They're 10 bucks for unlimited all-day play. They're more toys/blocks/balls etc than Mamalu's, which was more of a 'soft gym'. The NYC Explorers on Underhill is small, but esp good if you have a crawler or toddler; less big kids go there.
We've been to all of them, really. It was a long Winter to be cooped up with a toddler. Mamalu was good and an interesting crowd usually (more parents than nannies) but it was often filthy and could be a little rough. Big kids would get all amped up and you'd have to watch them like a hawk in order to keep them from stampeding the toddlers/crawlers. They had a $5 admission fee but were lax about collecting it- I saw people walking in without paying every time I was there; I had to actively get the counter person's attention in order to fork over my fiver. That probably wasn't helping their bottom line.
Lately we've been going to Powerplay on 3rd Ave and 7th St ( I think). It's VERY clean, which is nice, but doesn't have the good food or atmosphere that Mamalu had. The kids, of course, don't mind. They have stuff for every age/ability - slides, cars, dolls - you name it, and they also have a full gymnastics gym for the older kids.

As an aside, I can't believe I just wrote a virtual essay on indoor play spaces. It's true- you really do become what you despise. I actually used to cool, or at least I thought so.

Posted by: houseowax at April 10, 2009 10:56 AM

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