Bowling business worth...buying?

[mario777]

Hi!

I've been personally approached by the owner of a local bowling alley, city population of 4000+ sitting beside a major highway, 20 minutes from major city. I'm presently renting a space at the back for my micro brewery so I know the place pretty well.

Building is about 5000 sq ft. 6 lanes, electronic scoreboard. A lot of active leagues. owner has been keeping the place PRISTINE since his dad started. The place could use a little paint and some minor improvements but nothing major. The alley is closed all summer and open to public on sundays only. There is a rock n bowl here and there and many b-day and corporate parties.

The owner is willing to finance it at 100% so no bank involved.

Asking price 500K. I'm sure the building alone given the location is closed to 300K, is the bowling business worth 200K? the building is about 60 years old.

At this point there is 2 rental units, one is an apartment and the other is my brewery. both generation 1200$ a month in rent.

How is the bowling demographics nowadays? Is bowling coming back amongst youngsters?

I have many ideas and one of them is to convert the apartment beside into a small brewpub, so I will have a bowling/brewpub which I think has never been seen before.

I have other ideas such as beside rock n bowl, do Metallica night, hip hop night, country night, disco and many other theme based bowling nights.

I'm at the evaluation stage and I would like to know from bowling alley owners, if this price makes sense?

Anything I should know or check for before going any further?

Thank you in advance your help is really appreciated!

Cheers!

[J Anderson]

Hi!

I've been personally approached by the owner of a local bowling alley, city population of 4000+ sitting beside a major highway, 20 minutes from major city. I'm presently renting a space at the back for my micro brewery so I know the place pretty well.

Building is about 5000 sq ft. 6 lanes, electronic scoreboard. A lot of active leagues. owner has been keeping the place PRISTINE since his dad started. The place could use a little paint and some minor improvements but nothing major. The alley is closed all summer and open to public on sundays only. There is a rock n bowl here and there and many b-day and corporate parties.

The owner is willing to finance it at 100% so no bank involved.

Asking price 500K. I'm sure the building alone given the location is closed to 300K, is the bowling business worth 200K? the building is about 60 years old.

At this point there is 2 rental units, one is an apartment and the other is my brewery. both generation 1200$ a month in rent.

How is the bowling demographics nowadays? Is bowling coming back amongst youngsters?

I have many ideas and one of them is to convert the apartment beside into a small brewpub, so I will have a bowling/brewpub which I think has never been seen before.

I have other ideas such as beside rock n bowl, do Metallica night, hip hop night, country night, disco and many other theme based bowling nights.

I'm at the evaluation stage and I would like to know from bowling alley owners, if this price makes sense?

Anything I should know or check for before going any further?

Thank you in advance your help is really appreciated!

Cheers!

I'm not a bowling center owner. I'm not sure if we have any owners lurking here. If we do they must like to remain anonymous. We do have some pro shop operators and center managers, so maybe they will provide some insight.

The questions that I would ask:
Will you have the cash to do the paint and minor improvements?
Will you have the cash or the financing to convert the apartment to a pub? As a residential remodeling contractor, I suggest doubling the number that you've got in your head right now.
Are you ready to go from running one business to running three?

I don't have actual figures on whether bowling is making a comeback. In our local junior program we seem to have lost at least half of the kids from the youngest group, but the two older groups seem to have grown, and we have several more coaches this season. Monday nights, almost all 56 lanes are in use. Wednesday night the 6:00 o'clock leagues are down to about 2/3 of the full house from 3/4 a few years ago, and the 9 o'clock leagues are down to about half the lanes.

[75lockwood]

where in Canada is this? i live in southern Ontario i'd like to think that bowling is flourishing as sport.

as for the ally, is it 10 pin only? or are some of the lanes designated to 5 pin bowling?

[Demoman]

Sounds like a good opportunity to me - if you want my advice about the lanes I would say to stay away from the rock and bowl and birthday party thing and cater to the serious bowlers. If its not a typo and there is only 6 lanes it doesn't sound big enough for that type of place anyways. I would focus on keeping the lanes spotless and well oiled - make sure everything is working right and go for serious bowlers. A good idea would be like a gym type membership where you charge a monthly fee for a certain amount and unlimited practice. Maybe hold small leagues with high payouts attracting the serious bowlers in your area? Just my thoughts and probably what I would do.

[Ball99999]

Given the details of your particular situation/city/bowling alley... it's a resounding HELL no.

First of all you don't have enough clientele to come in. Second, SIX lanes? SIX? People are going to realize it's always hard to get a lane so they'll never come back. Not to mention no possibility of a competitive situation/tournaments/leagues etc.

Hypothetically say you had a place with just one lane in it. Would anyone go there after the first time they visited and were turned away? Six isn't too far off.

If you were nearby I'd love to go into business with you on something else though!

Hi!

I've been personally approached by the owner of a local bowling alley, city population of 4000+ sitting beside a major highway, 20 minutes from major city. I'm presently renting a space at the back for my micro brewery so I know the place pretty well.

Building is about 5000 sq ft. 6 lanes, electronic scoreboard. A lot of active leagues. owner has been keeping the place PRISTINE since his dad started. The place could use a little paint and some minor improvements but nothing major. The alley is closed all summer and open to public on sundays only. There is a rock n bowl here and there and many b-day and corporate parties.

The owner is willing to finance it at 100% so no bank involved.

Asking price 500K. I'm sure the building alone given the location is closed to 300K, is the bowling business worth 200K? the building is about 60 years old.

At this point there is 2 rental units, one is an apartment and the other is my brewery. both generation 1200$ a month in rent.

How is the bowling demographics nowadays? Is bowling coming back amongst youngsters?

I have many ideas and one of them is to convert the apartment beside into a small brewpub, so I will have a bowling/brewpub which I think has never been seen before.

I have other ideas such as beside rock n bowl, do Metallica night, hip hop night, country night, disco and many other theme based bowling nights.

I'm at the evaluation stage and I would like to know from bowling alley owners, if this price makes sense?

Anything I should know or check for before going any further?

Thank you in advance your help is really appreciated!

Cheers!

[Demoman]

Given the details of your particular situation/city/bowling alley... it's a resounding HELL no.

First of all you don't have enough clientele to come in. Second, SIX lanes? SIX? People are going to realize it's always hard to get a lane so they'll never come back. Not to mention no possibility of a competitive situation/tournaments/leagues etc.

Hypothetically say you had a place with just one lane in it. Would anyone go there after the first time they visited and were turned away? Six isn't too far off.

If you were nearby I'd love to go into business with you on something else though!

I wouldn't go that far - Mario pick it apart like any possible business venture. Maybe try to find out exactley how much business the place does and see if it's worth the 200 or not. Is there room for more lanes? Could you connect to your brewery directly from the alleys?

[bayedup84]

sounds like a good idea, be fun to own a alley

[AngeloPD]

sounds like a good idea, be fun to own a alley

it will be fun to own an alley but it will be very hard to maintain it and attract customers specially it's only a 6 lane center.

[bayedup84]

mario777.... so you come any closer on an answer on buying alley?

[mario777]

Hey!

For some reason I didn't get any notifications about your replies!!!!!

Thank you so much for your various feedbacks! I'm getting the financial statements in the next few days and will send to my accountant for analysis.

The owner actually close the center from May to September and makes a very good profit from what I've been told (Financial statements will confirm this), i would open 12 mths a year for sure.

As for being a 6 lane center and getting people to turn away because there is no available lanes, well this happens in big centers with 40 lanes anyway on busy nights. Happens in restaurants happens in many types of business. So this ain't a factor I will consider as part of my decision.

Any other feedbacks and comments... they are surely very welcome!!!

Cheers