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There was a time when bowlers had their alleys, families and kids had their family entertainment centers (FECs), and those two market segments rarely crossed paths.
“When I got started in this field, bowling ‘alleys’ were smoky, dark, and gritty,” says Kevin Mills, owner of Architectural Concepts, a Denver-based design firm. “They had very little in common with FECs since their core customers were different. FECs were geared to families with mini-golf and redemption games. In bowling centers league bowlers brought in a regular source of revenue, and they didn’t care if everything was spotless as long as the lanes were clean and the beer was cold.”
But league bowling, a popular activity in the United States during the middle part of the 20th century, began a long, slow decline about 30 years ago. Companies cut workers and the costs of sponsorships; labor unions, a major source of league bowlers, started to wane; and men and women who used to join leagues found other things to do. In 1980 there were more than 9 million registered league bowlers; today there are just 2.5 million, according to the United States Bowling Congress.
Suffering in the league-bowling decline were countless 40- and 50-lane centers, which were either demolished for real estate projects or remodeled with fewer lanes. “Bowling centers saw they had to rely more on casual players and they had to cater to their needs and expectations,” says Kurt Harz, vice president of capital sales for Brunswick Bowling & Billiards. “They had to adjust and compete with other entertainment venues for their customers’ time and money. By doing this, bowling proprietors discovered they were hunting for many of the same customers as traditional FECs.”
“Conversely, FEC operators saw how bowling centers began bringing in crowds for glow-in-the-dark bowling and corporate parties, and they began exploring adding lanes to take some of these customers,” says Howard Ellman, president of Dynamic Designs & Associates, a bowling and FEC architectural firm in Birmingham, Michigan.
The result? The bowling FEC. “A majority of our FEC clients are looking at adding bowling, and the bowling people want the kind of arcade, attractions, and food and beverage operations that FECs have had,” says Ellman. “It’s a good mix.”
Adding bowling to an FEC can require some rethinking of traditional concepts. “The FEC owner is accustomed to thinking in terms of revenue per square foot,” says Bill Snoberger, capital equipment manager for Murrey Bowling Equipment in Los Angeles. “He sees the how much space is required for lanes and shake his head. But bowling is measured in revenue per lane. In the right situation, $65,000 to $70,000 per lane can be expected, which is a nice figure to have in these times.”
Hybrid Bowling and FECs
 Typical of the bowling center-turned-FEC is the Franklin Family Fun Center in Franklin, Tennessee. A traditional 24- lane center in 2000 with a large, mostly nighttime casual play crowd, the ownership attempted to build up daytime traffic and attract families with an 11,000-square-foot addition that included a game room and better food service. “It was an expansion that made sense with our area,” says manager Don McKee. “Since we’ve remodeled bowling has become part of what we do, but it’s not the only thing and our customers are aware of that. It made sense to attract families with being more like an FEC with lanes.”
What sets bowling apart from typical FEC attractions such as arcades and go-carts is its versatility for the center operator. “Kids love bowling; on Saturday afternoons you set up the bumpers along the gutters and you can have a thriving kids’ party business on the lanes,” says Harz. “At night you can have glow bowling and rock music to bring in young people to play; then on weekday mornings you can have senior citizen leagues. The goal is make sure the lanes are used every hour you’re open, and you don’t have that kind of ability with an attraction that’s just focused on one age group.”
In recent years there’s been a further delineation between bowling centers: those that try to attract everyone and those that are focused on adults. “What’s happened is that just making everything glow-in-the-dark and turning the music up loud may not be enough for some customers,” says Ellman. “There are people accustomed to a more upscale environment who want something special, which is why you’re seeing the ‘hybrid’ center develop.”
 In a hybrid center of perhaps 32 lanes, a family with children during the day or a group of teens ready for “Rock n’ Bowl” might see just 24 lanes. But behind a wall, past the modular plastic seating and pepperoni pizza, are eight lanes bathed in mood lighting, where guests sit in comfortable leather couches, sipping grapefruit martinis and munching on citrus chicken kabobs. “Lucky Strike and other boutique centers like them started this concept of the nightclub that just happens to have lanes, and it’s proven successful,” says Mills. “By building out a separate room you’ve got an area for adults and corporate parties, and you’ve added an additional profit center.”
Wahooz Family Fun Zone near Boise, Idaho, is going with that strategy with the construction of a 26,000- square-foot bowling center next to its main structure. “We’re branding the bowling separately, calling it Pinz, and our research shows that this will be a big hit in our area,” says Tiffany Quillici, marketing director for the facility. “And within 24-lane Pinz will be the eightlane ZLounge, which will be focused on corporate parties and events.”
It’s expected that crowds could have a wait time of an hour or more to bowl on the 16 open lanes at Pinz, which is how the center was designed. “We want guests to check out our other attractions, have something to eat and drink, and have fun while they’re here,” says Quillici.
Nightclub Concept
The nightclub/bowling center/FEC may have started in Europe and Asia, where operators had to develop ways to make money without the American concept of league bowling. “Round One, a Japanese chain of centers, has perfected this art of mixing attractions,” says Brent Perrier, president of bowling products for Brunswick. “Since everything is built vertically, they’ll have five floors of attractions—batting cages, arcades, redemption games—and two floors of bowling.”
The worldwide recession hit many bowling and FEC operators hard, especially in Asia. “There have been lots of ups and downs, but we like to monitor how FECs and bowling are doing throughout countries like Japan, China, and South Korea,” says Perrier. “A Round One center has recently opened in California, so it’s possible that we’re seeing more of a trend come over from the east.”
Ultimately, can the bowling centers and FECs truly unite? “They already have,” says Mills. “League bowling will probably continue in some form, but the casual play customer who doesn’t care about how exact your lane surface is has been king for a long time and everybody wants him.”
John Morell is a freelance business writer based in Los Angeles whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. He can be reached at john@jcmorell.com.
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