Monster Mini-Golf Scores a Hole-in-One

Providence, RI, February 06, 2008 --(PR.com)-- It came to a head during a three-week California vacation in 2003. Christina Vitagliano, who had built a large and highly reputable antique auction house from nothing in Danielson, Ct., wanted out after five years. Constant trips to Europe in search of goods were exhausting instead of glamorous. Watching families argue and scream over the possessions of deceased relatives was abominable. The industry's greed was appalling.

Patrick Vitagliano, Christina's husband of six years, ran his own highly successful sound and lighting production company that counted major Broadway productions and large concert tours among its clients. He was used to his wife's whims changing on a dime. After all, she had formerly been director of marketing for a multi-level entertainment complex filled with restaurants and nightclubs in Providence, R.I. Her marketing creativity there had gained her a national reputation until she awoke one day and decided she wanted to be an auctioneer.

Now this. Patrick asked his wife what she had in mind for her latest venture.

“I don't know,” she told him. “The only thing I know is that I want to do the exact opposite of what I'm doing now. I want to do something that's fun. I want to see people happy every day.”

That Christina chose mini-golf for her next business is only part of the story. The real story is the ingenuity, business savvy, marketing creativity and intriguing potential of Monster Mini Golf - Vitagliano's brainchild - that has sprung from an original location in a Connecticut town of 5,000 people into a franchised concept with 21 locations either open or in development from Florida to California. Twelve more franchises are expected to be granted in 2008.

Monster Mini Golf is mini-golf with attitude. It's an indoor, black light/glow-in-the-dark 18-hole course built around a fun monster theme with three-dimensional props, animatronics, Broadway-quality special effects and a state-of-the-art sound and lighting system that combine to deliver the world's first and only interactive mini-golf experience. It's enjoyable for toddlers and 'tweens, teens and thirty-somethings and everyone else.

The first Monster Mini Golf opened in Danielson, Ct., on Memorial Day weekend in 2004 in the 8,000-square-foot space of an old textile mill that Vitagliano had rented for her auction house. Christina and Patrick spent five months building the course and props themselves, living on peanut butter sandwiches and Domino's Pizza. They did it using their own available cash to lessen the risk. Within a month, business was impressive, buoyed by Christina's marketing prowess. Within six months, customers were driving more than an hour to play the course.

While Christina had the imagination and marketing prowess and Patrick added the creativity and technical expertise to get Monster Mini Golf started, it has since been the intangibles that have made Monster Mini Golf stand out from other franchised concepts. There are hundreds of other franchisors in the industry, but spend just a couple of minutes with Christina and you sense a different type of energy, passion and potential. If you ask Christina if she feels a kinship with the popular Mac vs. PC television commercials and how she envisions her concept vs. other franchisors, she enthusiastically answers, “Yes!”

“I would like to be known as the best franchise to own,” Vitagliano says. “Not as having the most locations or being the fastest-growing or the highest-grossing. Those are important considerations, but it's our reputation as business owners and as a franchisor that is more important than anything else. I want to be the Universal Studios or Disney World of mini-golf. I always want to stand in a class of our own. I want our brand to become a household name so that people across the country know Monster Mini Golf.”

The Vitaglianos look for the same passion in their franchisees. They come from all walks of life: medical professionals, middle managers caught in a downsizing, husband-and-wife teams and more. Thus, Monster Mini Golf franchise owners share the same eagerness and enthusiasm for building the concept's brand as the Vitaglianos.

“We're a creative company and we look for creative people. They have to have enthusiasm for the business and what we do, not just the numbers and the bottom line, because that will all take care of itself,” Christina said. “I get e-mails and calls from our franchisees every day with ideas for promotions and other things we can do to keep getting better. It's nice to have all those heads out there eager to contribute, especially as we grow.”

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