Space Walk of Middle Arkansas

In 2018, Chance Clifton simply wanted to cover his son’s travel baseball expenses. Seven years later, he’s now the owner of one of the top three Space Walk franchises in the U.S.—Space Walk of Middle Arkansas—with a 70-piece inventory ranging from bounce houses to a 27-foot dual-lane water slide and even an inflatable zip line.

What began as a side hustle run out of his garage has grown into a full-service event rental operation serving all of Arkansas and parts of surrounding states. The company now averages around 1,000 events annually and is on track to top 1,200 bookings in 2025.

Clifton’s path to entrepreneurship wasn’t a straight line. A Marine Corps infantry veteran, former full-time firefighter, and current EMS volunteer, he brings a mission-first mindset to everything he does—including party rentals.

“I started with six inflatables,” Clifton said. “It was just to make a couple thousand dollars a month to pay for baseball. Now we’ve got 70 inflatables, plus tents, tables, chairs, party supplies, generators, interactive games, foam machines, racing arches—you name it, I do it.”

That hands-on, “client first” approach, as Clifton calls it, has helped him create a business model that’s both scalable and deeply personal. As one of the state’s largest providers of rentable, inflatable fun, Space Walk has you covered. He doesn’t just rent equipment—he collaborates with clients to elevate events, from school functions and church festivals to city celebrations and corporate employee appreciation days.

“We’re not necessarily party planners, but we plan our part of your event to make it better,” he said. “Say a business calls and wants a kids’ zone for 500, maybe 1,000 employees; we’ll design it, deliver it, and staff it if needed. We’re more concierge now than we are just bounce houses.”

Space Walk is a national franchise with more than 250 branches. While that gives Clifton access to a nationwide network of partners and equipment—nearly 4,000 units in total—it’s his personal determination and vision that set him apart. In fact, he now mentors other Arkansas branches and helps them scale events when their own inventory comes up short.

“If a smaller branch lands a big event and doesn’t have all the equipment, I’ll haul my gear up to support them,” he says. “Because if they grow, we all grow.”

Clifton’s model has made Space Walk of Middle Arkansas the third-largest Space Walk franchise in the U.S. by sales. He credits that success to his roots in public service and the Marine Corps, where he learned resilience and leadership under pressure.

“There’s no ‘give up’ in the infantry,” he says. “There’s always the next level. I took that same mindset into this business.”

That mindset was tested in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person gatherings across the country. Clifton had just left his full-time firefighting job in Bryant to pursue the business full-time. Within a week, he lost more than $100,000 in cancellations.

“My wife and I had just gotten married and come back from our honeymoon when it hit,” he said. “I thought I’d lost everything.” But Clifton and his wife pivoted quickly. They extended rentals from one-day to three-day periods and leaned into the mental health benefits of kids being able to play outside.

“You’ve never seen someone so desperate to get kids outside as a mom locked in the house for a week,” he joked. “We became a kind of mental health service.”

That decision saved the business and quickly accelerated its growth. Backyard events boomed as families looked for safe ways to celebrate birthdays, holidays, or random Monday afternoons during the lockdown.

Today, Clifton is focused on refining the customer experience and expanding his reach. He’s developing new partnerships in Northwest Arkansas, mentoring other operators, and investing in high-impact, budget-friendly equipment like the inflatable zip line.

“Our goal is to captivate audiences like nobody else can,” he says. “Give me a concept or a crazy idea—I’ll make it happen.”

With a blend of grassroots grit and franchise-scale ambition, Space Walk of Middle Arkansas is more than a business—it’s Chance Clifton’s way of building community, one inflatable at a time.

“I’ve got no college degree, no business background. I’m just figuring it out as I go,” he says. “But we’re doing something right, because we believe in doing good business by treating people well.”

Space Walk is the founder of the very first bounce house, so it’s safe to say they know a thing or two about inflatable fun! Rent with peace of mind, so you can focus on what matters most: having a blast! For more information or to schedule an event, go to www.herecomesfun.com/branches/Arkansas/middle-arkansas, or call 501.847.9325.