In an industry still dominated by moms and pops, Ninja Jump Inc. has bounced far higher than the rest.

The Los Angeles based manufacturer of inflatables has ridden the growing popularity of moon bouncers, which have become fixtures at fairs, parties and other events that draw families and children.

The secret of its success? Think Mickey, SpongeBob and Shrek. Ninja has snagged licensing rights to popular characters produced by the likes of Walt Disney Co., Viacom Inc. and Universal Studios.

“Since I founded the business in 1993, we have grown from a small manufacturer of inflatables to the largest manufacturer of this type of product in the United States and most likely in the world,” said company president Rouben Gourchounian.

Ninja manufactures large inflatables for commercial use as opposed to the smaller ones that are rented for neighborhood birthday parties. The majority are sold to rental companies, but it’s increasingly selling directly to fixed-site locations, such as amusement parks and family entertainment centers. Seventy percent of Ninja’s sales are in the United States with the rest primarily in Australia, Europe, and Latin America.

The fun doesn’t come cheap.

The price for a Ninja inflatable ranges from $1,300 for the simplest models to more than $12,000 for its most elaborate designs. The average inflatable costs $2,500 to $3,000. Thousand of units are moved annually.

“There isn’t a kid around who isn’t drawn to inflatables like a magnet,” said Beth Robertson, a spokeswoman for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

Ninja’s success is emblematic of an inflatables industry that continues to see “strong, steady growth” even after a big bounce in the 1980s and ’90s, said Robertson, who estimated there are 10,000 to 15,000 companies in the U.S. that rent the bouncers.

Design techniques


Gourchounian, 47, is an Armenian native who has lived in the Los Angeles area since 1975. He studied business in both Armenia and the United States, and founded Ninja Jumps after seeing an inflatable at a child’s birthday party.

He started with just 1,500 square feet and three employees, who took almost three months to complete his first simple inflatable. He later moved to his current location in an industrial park south of Glendale 10 years ago, but the business didn’t really take off until he snared the first of his licensing deals in the late 1990s.

“At first it was difficult to get the entertainment industry to talk with me,” Gourchounian said. “They were not familiar with the product I was offering. I was refused many times, but I persisted.”

Today, the company’s line of inflatable includes a Finding Nemo Club, The Simpsons Jump, a Universal Monsters Jump and a SpongeBob Combo Club. It also has a line of intricately designed bouncers in the shapes of fire trucks, a safari adventure club and a Noah’s Ark.

Bob Johnson, president of the Outdoor Amusement Business Association, said that Ninja and its main competitor, Eagan, Minn.-based Cutting Edge Inflatables have come to dominate what he estimates could be a nearly $1 billion-a-year industry.

This is a big change for a specialty once dominated by small mom and pop manufacturers that cycled in and out of business and had no regulation on the quality of their products. Still, it’s estimated there are more than 100 manufacturers of inflatables, including more than a dozen larger companies.

Another key for Ninja has been the innovation in digital design and printing on the inflatables. Gourchounian came to inflatables from the sign industry, where he was familiar with digital printing.

“It took over a year and a half to come up a fabric tough enough to withstand the wear and tear that our customers put it through that still would accept high-quality ink of digital images,” he said.

Most of Ninja’s competitors now use digital printing, although some manufacturers continue to hand-paint their inflatables.

Safety standards have also improved. Manufacturers have worked through the American Society of Testing Materials to develop increased safety for the users and managers of inflatables. In 2001, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a safety bulletin with a guideline of standardized protocols for operating and inspecting inflatable devices after a number of serious injuries, including at least three fatalities, occurred on mobile inflatable rides. These injuries, which occurred on both slide and bounce devices, were primarily attributed to improper operation, anchoring and set-up of inflatable rides.

The next challenge for the industry might come from China. Many of the U.S. based inflatable companies have moved their manufacturing operations to China. But the vast majority of Ninja Jump’s inflatables are constructed in its Los Angeles facility, which encompasses about 50,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehousing space and 100 employees.

However, Gourchounian also has opened a small factory in China where he manufactures some of the simplest inflatables in order to compete on cost. He is open to the possibility of expanding his manufacturing in China in the future but “only if we ourselves run the operation and can assure our high standards and quality there.”