Today we’d like to introduce you to Robin Henders and Dan Brown.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Robin and Dan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
We started as a small summer tennis camp with about 30 students in 2008. We rapidly grew each summer and soon had over 200 players returning year after year. On January 1, 2014 we opened a 5 court tennis center on the border of Naperville and Plainfield, the first indoor tennis center in Illinois in 30 years. We quickly filled up our classes and our membership grew, and in 2015 we completed an expansion, we now have 11 courts (the second largest tennis center in Illinois), we have Playsight Smart Court technology (one of 3 facilities in the state to offer it to members), and we have over 1,000 members.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Getting a bank to agree that we had a good idea was a huge struggle. Dan visited a number of banks before finding one that liked the idea. We both had decided that we were going to shelve the idea for a few years when we finally got a call back from a bank that wanted to move on it.
Learning how to start a tennis club from scratch was also a huge undertaking. Most clubs have been in existence for 30-50 years and have their systems in place, we are in a good place now, but the first 2 years we had a steep learning curve. We are very thankful for loyal members that understood that we were trying to open a business and institute our own culture while still working full time on court.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Five Star Tennis Center – what should we know?
We are known for our culture. All players are welcome, regardless of their playing ability. We have worked very hard to cultivate a family atmosphere among our staff and our members. We work to keep all of our players engaged in our club programming and stay very active on social media to promote our events.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
A constant focus on the experience that our members are having. We are always cognizant of our customer experience with everything that we do here.
Contact Info:
- Address: 11959 Normantown Rd., Plainfield, IL 60585
- Website: www.fivestartennis.com
- Phone: 630-282-4888
- Email: fivestartennis@gmail.com
- Instagram: fivestartennis
- Facebook: facebook.com/fivestartennis
- Twitter: fivestartennis
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