Two bowling alleys that are pushing the game’s ongoing makeover are setting up in Orange County, alongside old school lanes here that have carved out niches to survive.
This spring, two upscale bowling centers (they’re not called “alleys” anymore) are set to open. New York-based Strike Holdings LLC, which runs chic Strike bowling centers on the East Coast and in Northern California, is opening at The District at Tustin Legacy shopping center.
And Virginia’s AMF Bowling Centers Inc. is opening one of its upscale 300 bowling centers at GardenWalk, a shopping and hotel complex going up next to Anaheim’s Disneyland Resort.
They’re set to join Orange’s Lucky Strike, another of bowling’s new breed, as well as about a dozen others dating back to the game’s heyday in the 1950s and 1970s.
The newcomers are aimed squarely at average folk,not the grizzled, coffee drinking, cigarette smoking league bowler. Anyone with money seeking a fun outing is the target of these new lanes.
Some things haven’t changed. It’s still loud inside with low slung ceilings. And the game is the same,you’re still hurling heavy balls at 10 pins and hoping for the best.
Sleek, Modern
But newer lanes have sleek, modern interiors, upscale food and drinks, lounges, sports bars, banquette rooms, DJs, arcades, even go-karts. The vibe is chic, modern, even seductive.
In ads for Lucky Strike at The Block at Orange, a leering woman in fishnets dares you to bowl. Lucky Strike does well with the mostly younger crowd that visits The Block shopping mall.
Now Strike and AMF are upping the ante, adding soccer moms,
corporate types and even tourists to the mix of potential bowlers.
Strike is set to open next to a Costco, a 14-screen AMC Theater and a huge Whole Foods Market.
Founder and Chief Executive Tom Shannon said he’s targeting suburban families and is within, pardon the phrase, striking distance of hundreds of Irvine businesses.
“It’s kids and families, plus corporate,” he said.
That made The District ideal, he said, because it’s planned as a place that keeps people there longer.
The District is heavy on outdoor spaces,fountains, walking areas, even a fireplace,to attract “moms and strollers” and give them reasons to stay, said Jeffrey Axtell, project director for co-developer Vestar Development Co. of Phoenix.
“It’s unlikely they aren’t going to purchase something,” he said. “Even if they don’t the first time, they’ll come back on another trip.”
Shannon opened his first upscale bowling center in Manhattan in 1997. Strikes followed in Bethesda, Md., on Long Island, then in Miami and Silicon Valley’s Cupertino.
Food
Food is a big part of the equation. Strike does $10 million in food at its handful of bowling alleys.
A Strike center costs about $10 million to build and can bring in $7 million to $8 million in the first year.
OC eventually could have two, according to Shannon.
AMF’s first 300 bowling center in California is set to open in May at GardenWalk.
It’s going after people who don’t bowl often but want an upscale experience,families at Disneyland, tourists, corporate types and people shopping at GardenWalk, said Paul Barkley, senior vice president of new center development for AMF’s 300 unit.
“We’re in the same complex as the movie theaters and the restaurants,” Barkley said. “We’re within walking distance of many of those locations. They’re going to see there’s a bowling center as well.”
He describes 300 as “bowling-focused” with “upscale” elements. Bowlers are greeted at a podium by a host or hostess who open a tab for the party, get you the lane, help you get fitted for shoes and a ball and then escort you to your lane.
Sushi?
The menu skips on salty nachos and heat lamp hot dogs for nicer fare. But reports of sushi have been greatly exaggerated, according to Barkley.
“If you want it, we’ll make sure it’s there, but it’s not on the everyday menu,” he said.
The center is set to have 41 lanes,32 public and nine private, with the private ones in a room with a separate sound system and bar. Prices aren’t set yet. Barkley said he expects it to be “definitely higher” in the range of $6 to $8 per game, double that at older bowling centers.
Those older centers still survive, attracting the old school bowler, leagues and the merely curious. But many centers from bowling’s golden age are gone, redeveloped as shopping centers or condominiums. Twenty years ago, the county had 25 to 30 centers.
Old School
Among the survivors: Linbrook Bowling Center in Anaheim, at Lincoln Avenue and Brookhurst Street. It’s open around the clock with a sign that dates back to the futuristic Googie architecture that reigned in Anaheim in the 1950s.
“We’re trying to get it registered” as a historical landmark, general manager John Haveles said of the sign.
Haveles is 66 and has been around since Linbrook opened in 1958.
Since then, he’s run eight bowling centers and spent time outside the game.
He calls newer bowling center chains real estate companies. Trendy lanes such as Lucky Strike use bowling as a backdrop for what really are nightclubs, he said.
At one time, Haveles ran Kona Lanes in Costa Mesa, another Googie-loving hangout that’s now gone. Haveles’ wife runs Gable House Bowl in Torrance. He said he’s met each of his three wives in bowling alleys.
Linbrook leases out its bar and pro shop. Haveles said he’s only in one business: bowling.
The center charges two bucks a game on Mondays and Tuesdays. At peak times, games are $4.50. Shoes rent for $3.50.
Among older centers, the county’s nine independents and two corporate-owned ones target a niche or two. Most of a bowling center’s business comes from within 10 miles of the site, according to operators.
None are as old as Linbrook. Most were built in the 1970s, the last time bowling was hot.
Two are owned by AMF: AMF Valley View in Garden Grove and AMF Carter Lanes in Fullerton.
AMF is the name in bowling, having introduced the automated pinspotter in 1946 and once a big maker of other bowling gear, from balls to the machines that return them.
Roll Up
In the 1990s, AMF tried to get too big, rolling up (pardon the pun) bowling alleys across the country.
A Goldman Sachs Group Inc.-led group bought the company in 1996. AMF, which owned about 200 centers, bought hundreds more in 18 months.
“We bought a couple chains, and things went well,” said Merrell Wreden, vice president of marketing for AMF. “Then they didn’t go so well.”
AMF filed for bankruptcy reorganization and sold off almost 100 centers in Britain and Australia to get healthy again.
“We got our balance sheet in order and came out of the bankruptcy in nine months” Wreden said.
Code Hennessy & Simmons LLC, a private equity firm in Chicago, bought AMF in 2004. AMF now runs 340 centers.
“We’re much healthier than when we owned 535,” Wreden said.
The company is constantly researching its market. Leagues used to be 85% of the business a couple decades ago. Now they’re less than 40%, he said.
That leaves upside in “open play”,people walking in off the street,and “managed play”,scheduled groups, such as corporate events or birthday parties.
AMF does 170,000 birthday parties throughout its centers, he said.
OC is part of AMF’s “L.A. south” district, which was one of the company’s top performers in the most recent quarter, he said.
Other Centers
Forest Lanes in Lake Forest once was owned by AMF but was sold four years ago when the company scaled back.
It’s now one of three bowling centers owned by Charlie Kinstler, a big name in bowling circles and publisher of Bowling News, a regional newspaper covering Southern California.
His two other centers, Del Rio and Keystone, are in Los Angeles County.
Another independent is Saddleback Lanes in Mission Viejo, where John Chapman is general manager.
“We’re kinda in between” the traditional bowling alley and the newer trends represented by Strike, Lucky Strike and AMF’s 300, Chapman said.
Saddleback Lanes does a lot of birthday parties, some corporate events and attracts families, as you’d expect in Mission Viejo.
Saddleback is the southernmost OC bowling center and draws from San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano.
The center opened in the 1970s. The same family has owned it since 1981. Owner Dave Del Conte now is selling it to his nephew Darrin Del Conte.
Saddleback Lanes sees about 1,600 league bowlers but schedules only a few tournaments,to keep things open for families.
“We have a good mix,” Chapman said.
