by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Florida’s moderate weather is appreciated by many, but bowling centers welcome the return of milder winter weather that sends people looking for indoor activities.
Beach Bowl on Beach Boulevard in Jacksonville Beach has been providing a fun, indoor activity for over 50 years. The crash and rattle of bowling balls colliding into pins may have been a constant during that time, but the marketing of this product has been in a constant state of flux.
“(The bowling industry) is constantly reinventing itself,” said Miles Batt, owner of Beach Bowl. “League bowling was so prevalent for a time, but now it’s more geared toward family activity.”
“Cosmic Bowling” has been the biggest change to the format of the game of bowling. Glow in the dark bowling balls and pins, strobe and black lights and music bring an amusement park feel to the lanes, as well as a test of one’s concentration.
Another noticeable change to the bowling center environment was the smoking ban. The statewide partial smoking ban that became law in Florida in 2003 helped the business to promote a cleaner environment for bowling alleys.
“I was against it. It hurt our business initially,” said Batt. “But now a lot of people appreciate not going home from the bowling alley smelling like a cigarette.”
Along with providing a cleaner atmosphere, Beach Bowl has reached out to schools and the community by donating game passes and cutting back prices to provide affordable family entertainment.
“I have a smart owner who has allowed us to cut prices to attract customers,” said Brett Roberts, general manager. “Empty lanes aren’t good for business. I’d rather make a little bit of money more often than make a lot of money once in a while.”
Part of the bowling center’s outreach includes a summer kids bowling program. All summer long kids were able to bowl two games a day free. They signed up online and Beach Bowl e-mailed passes to them. All the kids had to pay for was shoe rental, $3.25.
Beach Bowl also donates to area schools.
“We don’t do bulk coupon mailings or Mint magazine,” said Roberts. “I would rather hand somebody some passes and get out into the community. We gave out about 25,000 free passes to schools this year.”
Even with the offer of a free game, it’s not easy to attract the Play Station generation.
“It’s tough to reach that group,” said Roberts. “We are just beginning our e-mail campaign, so we are trying to reach them.”
Crisp fall weather may mean that the colder weather could move people to inside activities, but the start of the fall always means a lull in business.
“You can always tell when football season has started, because our weekend crowds tend to dip down,” said Roberts. “You can tell when Fletcher has a good (football) team because all the kids are at practice instead of bowling.”
Beach Bowl is trying to attract families as well as kids. Family interaction may suffer due to everyone’s busy schedules these days, but the bowling center encourages families to visit by offering family fun packs, which include all the bowling they can handle for two hours, shoe rentals, a pizza and pitcher of soda.
“I still feel this is wholesome family entertainment,” said Roberts.
It takes a staff of six full-time and 15 part-time employees to provide that “wholesome” entertainment. The bowling center is open at 10 a.m. every day and closes at midnight from Sunday to Wednesday and 2 a.m. Thursday to Saturday.
356-2466