Reply With QuoteWhere are you at these days?
Pro shop (kind of)
Well since I've been back to work at the Bowl I've been quite busy since Feb getting things up to par. I've redesigned the food menu, hugely expanded the beer and liquor selection and so far with both of those sales have gone through the roof.
My next project was to get some sort of pro shop going where we offered at least the bare minimum of services. Thus far I have a ball spinner, ball oven and a electric bevel tool. I have a full stock of cleaners, albron pads and polishes.
I also got misc supplies like bowlers tape, thumb tape, rosin bags, puff balls and microfiber towels among other things.
It's not much really but it's more than the place has ever offered since it's founding nearly 90+ years ago. With a fairly minimal investment it's another way to bring in revenue. At least now I can do some minor ball repair, surface changes and maintenance plus provide some basic supplies. Sadly I personally am the only one that knows how to do any of it so it falls on me.
For the major stuff I have a great person to refer people to. I've already sent him a ton of business and because of it I get my stuff for next to nothing. I have no intention of ever stocking new balls, bags, shoes or drilling anything. That's way above my pay grade! So far so good, the word is getting out and my customers are quite pleased. I'm being once fall leagues get rolling it will be a big hit.
The other upside, I have all the supplies to take care of my own and sons equipment for free. See what I did there? As they say... Work smarter not harder.
Where are you at these days?
Do you mean as far as not being on here much or where I am physically at?
Physically I'm back in Illinois where I started, also back working at the same bowling center I was at before I left for TN. Only now I'm managing it instead being assistant manager. Most likely by the end of this coming week I'll be the GM as the current one is surely getting sacked. If not it will be a miracle.
As far as not being on here is just a time thing. I work open to close at least 5 days a week and the two days I'm "off" I'm not off. I end up there for one reason or another. If I'm not there I'm answering emails, calls and or texts. So yeah, it doesn't give me much down time. When I do get it, I TRY to relax. Maybe watch a Cubs game, have a cocktail or two, grill and chill.
I usually pop in here late at night after work while laying in bed waiting to wind down. Today though, I opened at 9:30 and shut it down by 2pm. The front office wouldn't let me stay closed the whole day so I went in merely for our Sunday regulars and locked the doors after they left. They paid me more to be there than we made... just like I told them it would be. At least I get some down time today.
I got home last night at almost 3am. We had a packed house because we had two bands and 3 comedians preforming. It was crazy busy. I was less than thrilled to go in today on 3 hours sleep.
Getting sufficient sleep most days is a great thing healthwise.
Glad you found a bowling alley needing your services and I hope it works out well for you. It was sad to see Bowling Green shut down as well as Wheaton Bowl. My wife saw in the newspaper that there was a new place opening up on or near highway 59 north of highway 64. Not sure where. I knew of one pretty good place in Carolstream out that way.
Take care Phoney.
….so what’s the gm getting sacked for?
Yeah, Wheaton had been gone a couple years now. It was a dump anyway. It looked like the 60's and they were cheap idiots. Half of each lane was still wood and the other half synthetic.Originally Posted by djp1080
Your ball would hop where the two met. Nothing like having a speed bump in the middle of the lanes. The oiler would get caught on every lane. The owner didn't care and was a rude jerk, as was most of the staff. They did it to themselves. They couldn't compete with Fox and Bowlero when they had 40 yr old must carpet at nicotine stained walls and ceiling tiles. How long ago was it you could no longer smoke in a bowling alley? Plenty of time to update or slip on a coat of paint. Nobody was sad to see it go.
Bowling Green on the other hand was a surprise, nobody expected that. I had seen that it was shut down during Covid. Shut down, shut down, not temporarily. I'm not sure what the story is about it but I am curious. I'm pretty sure it's already been sold but no idea what they are doing with it. I'll see if I can find out at the next BPAA meeting.
Haven't heard about the new one on 59 and North Ave, it's not Bowling Green because that's on 59 and Roosevelt so it's a couple miles north of that. I gotta check that out.
You know, I realize you a bit West of me but one of these days you have to pop in and come visit me. I still live 5 minutes from Fox Bowl and my center is a few miles from that. 😜
While you seem to have your ear to the ground in my area, you may wanna keep an eye on Lisle Bowl. They are closed for the summer? I don't get how they can afford to do that? It sounds like a recipe for the beginning of the end for that place. They were barely open even when the reopened after Covid. Like the owner of my center says "You can't make money if your doors aren't open." Hence the reason we were open July 4th.
Sorry but not really the place to elaborate on that. Let's just say that it's pretty hard to get sacked in this era where more people would rather collect unemployment than work. So I'll just have to leave that to imagination.
Stepping up wasn't at all in my plans as I'm happy where I am but since I seem to be the one who cares enough about the place I'll do it. At least it's a pay bump and I can get things done.
Yet, they ended up paying you more to open the place then they brought in. So they made no money. A long time ago I worked in retail for someone that was like that. We would be open on Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc. We would get time and a half to work holidays. The owner finally realized that there were simply times that it made no sense to try and open if it meant losing money. He finally started closing on Easter, Christmas and Thanksgiving. It sucked for the workers losing the time and a half shifts, but made sense for the business.
The bowling center I go to, now owned by Bowlero, was closed on July 4th. Which was very unusual considering in past years they would open up with rent-a-lane specials and usually be pretty busy. The place was swamped yesterday.
I agree about the fourth. We tried showing the last 4 years revenue on the 4th and it was about the same, excluding 2020. They figured it might be different this year because everyone was stuck at home last year. It was a shot in the dark. I got paid so not a big deal
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