The decrease should continue to draw in the families, who have frequented Splitz more during the past 18 months, she said. FatCats plans to trick out the center even more, adding 49 arcade games, putting in pool tables, establishing a fuller-service restaurant, enclosing the bar, building “party rooms,” developing outside water features and a waterslide, and eventually expanding to add a few more bowling lanes, Hoffmann said.įatCats also is planning to drop the prices for an hour of bowling during peak times to around $14.99 from the current $27.50 to $29 range. 1, Splitz was bought by FatCats, an operator of three bowling centers in Utah. In the coming months, those offerings are expected to get even broader, she said. Splitz was born around the same time when operations such as Lucky Strike Lanes - chic centers that came with dress codes and trendy nightclub-like environments - opened in areas such as Hollywood, Boston and Denver.ĭuring its handful of years in business, Splitz experienced some success because it had a little bit of something for everyone, said Jackie Hoffmann, executive administrator and marketing specialist for the center.
Initially, Splitz’s employees would escort customers to their lanes, carry their bowling shoes and get them food and drinks. The 40,000-square-foot building constructed as a Vans Skatepark was renovated for the installation of 29 bowling lanes a lighting and sound system priced in the six figures and arcade games.
“I would say that nobody builds centers anymore the way they were built in the 1970s or 1980s,” said Fred Groh, managing editor of Bowling Industry Magazine, a Westlake Village, Calif.-based industry publication.īoulder’s closest family entertainment-focused bowling center came along in 2004 with the opening of Splitz Bowling Center in Westminster.
THUNDERBIRD LANES OK FULL
Some have full restaurants, bars, more hands-on service, TVs, pool tables, arcade games and blacklight or Cosmic Bowling that’s popular with teens and young adults. Those types of centers incorporate more than the standard lanes, ball returns, tables and chairs. “… That is why a lot of bowling centers today build FECs, or family entertainment centers, or a hybrid center.” “That customer spends five to six times more than the traditional league bowler,” he said. Strike Ten Entertainment, the industry’s marketing arm, focused its efforts on targeting the casual, entertainment and recreation bowler.
The growth came as a result of a non-traditional customer filling the rented shoes. “We went from 64 million to up to 69 million people participating,” during the past seven years, he said. That trend started to shift in the ’90s and into the 2000s, said Jim Sturm, president of the Bowling Proprietors Association of America. The machines are built simply for entertainment purposes, but the second a customer receives a cash payout without the establishment having the proper licensing, it becomes illegal.After peaking in the 1970s, bowling participation slipped off the mark for a period of years.
Lieutenant John Mull says simply having the machines isn't 's what the bowling alley was doing with them that caused the police to take action. The man told the officers he had just been gambling at Thunderbird Lanes and detailed the entire operation and explained to them how the whole thing worked when asked. Police were alerted to it early Monday morning when officers stopped to talk to a suspicious looking man who was wandering around. The investigation is still ongoing, but officers believe it has been going on for quite some time. Thunderbird Lanes, near Northwest 44th Street and Cache Road, was shut down as police confiscated six electronic machines they say customers have been using to illegally gamble. LAWTON, OK (KSWO) -A Lawton bowling alley was temporarily shut down Monday morning after police discovered an illegal gambling operation inside.
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