A digital rendering of how the Urban Air Hanford Adventure Park proposed to be built at the Hanford Mall might look.

One of the most important elements of running a successful business is to have a steady, reliable stream of customers.

As Fresno entrepreneur Spencer Freeman sees it, he’s checked that box off in the new business he’s developing, a trampoline park inside the former Forever 21 store at the Hanford Mall.

“The target market is 2 to 14 years old,” he said, adding that even after those children grow older, “There are always a new batch of kids coming up,” and they’ll be looking for something fun to do.

As for why he wants to set up the trampoline park in the Hanford Mall, Freeman said he and his two partners looked at sites from Bakersfield to Madera, with many not meeting their needs for space and high-enough ceilings required in the industry so none of the bouncing customers get hurt. In addition, some owners just didn’t want a trampoline park in their buildings, said Freeman, managing partner of Freeman Development — with interests that include owning Pacific Storage — and co founding SelfStorage SMS, a service that messages tenants of storage units when they’re late paying their storage units.

Then they came across the former department store at the Hanford Mall that has been vacant since early 2016.

It had plenty of room, as the trampoline park would occupy only about 35,000 square feet or the 85,000-square-foot space, and the ceiling is 26 feet high in most areas, well above the 17- to 22-foot-high requirements to accommodate the trampolines and other attractions, said Freeman, who also teaches business classes at San Joaquin Valley College and Reedley College.

In addition, there is “cross promotion” — being visible every day to mallgoers — and the mall’s operators offering a good lease rate, Freeman said.

Most importantly, he said, “It comes down to a mixture of where we thought some cities have some growth opportunities and where we thought it would be adopted well — meaning [areas with] less opportunities for family entertainment.”

Hanford fit that bill, said Freeman, adding that he hopes to get his trampoline park open by the fall.

A lot has to happen before that, he said, noting that on Tuesday the Hanford Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit for the trampoline park, but he and his partners still need to get a building permit to section off the new business from the rest of the former Forever 21 and to convert it into a facility full of various types of trampolines.

If that happens, the new facility will become the first franchise in California for Texas-based Urban Air Adventure Parks, a chain of 45 trampoline parks in the U.S. and Canada.

“Urban Air Hanford will be furnished with wall-to-wall trampoline arenas, dodgeball courts, stunt airbag, slam dunk tracks, runway tumble track, the tubes obstacle course, the Urban Warrior Course and Warrior Battle Beam,” states a press release on the company’s website.

Company officials said the Hanford facility will feature other attractions, including a ropes course, indoor climbing walls, a Pro Zone Performance Trampoline Pit and an Urban Air Sky Rider Indoor Coaster — a sort of zip line on an overhead track, rather than on a rope or cable.

“Guests can also go head-to-head in our state-of-the-art arcade or sit down and share a meal at the Urban Café,” the press release continues.

Urban Air officials didn’t respond to an interview request, but in the press release announcing the Hanford facility, CEO Michael Browning said, “Residents of Hanford and nearby communities of Visalia, Tulare, Lemoore and Selma, can look forward to experiencing our modern approach to safe and affordable family fun and one-of-a-kind birthday party packages with our innovative adventure attractions!”

Trampoline parks are a relatively new industry. In 2011 there were 40 worldwide, and current estimates put that number at more than 1,200, with about 700 of them in the U.S., said Bethany Evans, executive vice president of the International Association of Trampoline Parks, based in Hershey, Penn.

Currently Fresno has two trampoline parks, while Visalia has one and Madera has the Skywalk Extreme Sports Arena, featuring “ninja warrior-type obstacles” that include trampolines, according to its website and staff.

“The one thing that appealed to me, it was something for all ages,” where children, teens and adults could enjoy themselves, said Tiffany Ball, who along with her husband opened 2Extreme Jump Arena in Fresno in December 2011.

Back then, trampoline parks were new, but the popularity has grown to the point that most major cities and a lot of smaller ones have them, she said.

She added that the business has been so successful in Fresno that her husband has opened eight more trampoline parks in the U.S., Canada and Taiwan.

For her part, Evens said she believes the popularity of the business is so strong because “families are always looking for that attraction that appeals to all age levels.”