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BOWLED OVER

Hip bowling concept brings nightlife to shopping centers

By Neil Janowitz

Historically speaking, bowling has gotten a rough shake. Thought of as a game drunks played in the back rooms of taverns, it was not accepted as A legitimate sport in mainstream America until the 1930s. Then, after a brief popularity boom in the 1950s and ’60s, it settled into its current status: the pride of the league players and a fun diversion for birthday celebrants, but a mere afterthought, if that, for bar-going singles on weekend evenings.

Yet Steven Foster knew that beneath it all, bowling was a game with immense universal appeal. It was just a matter of presentation. Fortunately, after 13 years running Jillian’s, an entertainment destination he founded in 1988, Foster knew a thing or two about dressing up otherwise commonplace activities. In the 40 Jillian’s units across the country, Foster had taken billiards, arcade games and, to a lesser degree, bowling, and mixed them with the blaring music and flowing cocktails characteristic of the best late-night hotspots. “We have always lived with the premise that culture needs social environments,” said Foster, who had sold off practically his entire stake in Jillian’s by 2001, when he began developing the Lucky Strike Lanes concept, of which he is today CEO. “And we were confident after our experience with Jillian’s that we could style, fashion and create another well-developed social environment with an interactive icebreaker as the hook.”

When it came time to choose that icebreaker, the choice was obvious to Foster. “Of all the things we had done at Jillian’s, bowling had the most raw potential for filling a niche, and we had plenty of room to improve upon the Jillian’s design,” he said. Then he, his wife, Gillian, and his 27-year business partner Kevin Troy plotted how to integrate bowling seamlessly into an upscale restaurant and lounge environment. “We were very cognizant of all the aspects, and how they had to work together,” Foster said. The result was a splay of bright lights and large TV screens, complementing plush couches and sleek tables. Pop art and photography lent a vintage look, solidified with Lucky Strike’s classic signage. The menu is an assortment of slightly upscale fare, and the drinks are competitively priced, albeit at the high end of the nightlife spectrum.

Appropriately, when they launched their flagship Hollywood, Calif., unit on May 21, 2003, they did so in a decidedly Los Angeles manner: with a barn burner of a party that drew about 500 people. The patron crowds have not subsided; they include parents with children, the trendy see-and-be-seen crowd and anything in between. “There’s been a tremendous amount of celebrity response,” said Foster. “It gives them a chance to avoid the crowds they normally encounter.”

The exposure has amounted to considerable success for the company, which operates 12 units across the country and one up near Toronto. Foster says the company will close this year with nearly $75 million in revenue and will probably top $100 million next year. To that end, the Lucky Strike team is adopting an aggressive growth strategy. Foster cites plans to open five company-owned units next year and as many again each subsequent year. The chain is scouting locations both domestically and abroad.

Additionally, the company is in the midst of setting up franchises, which it expects to begin selling early next year. Foster says potential franchisees should expect to invest between $4 million and $5 million and between 16 and 26 weeks in the project. They will need about 16,000 to 30,000 square feet of space. That is a lot, Foster says, but landlords have generally been receptive. Jeff Kreshek, the principal in charge of leasing at CIM Group, is clear about why a bowling center is succeeding at CIM’s Hollywood & Highland Center. “It adds another dynamic of entertainment,” Kreshek said. “Our California plazas have restaurants, live-performance venues and retail shops, and Lucky Strikes has done very well at mixing in with them. They’ve taken a concept that’s been around forever and made it hip and cool again.”

That’s why Kreshek had no reservations when Foster approached him about opening a unit at The Globe, CIM’s center in San Jose, Calif. “The place can cater just as well to young singles as it can to corporations,” Kreshek said. “I even had my 4-year-old’s birthday party there. There isn’t any one demographic. The place appeals to everyone.”

Of course, not all Lucky Strike units experience the same level of success. Foster learned this the hard way this year when the company had to close units in Pittsburgh and St. Louis, both of which had lasted less than a year. “They were out in the suburbs, just far enough away that we couldn’t take advantage of the city core,” said Foster. “Generally speaking, we don’t need an urban location. We fit in perfectly in areas with dense suburban sprawl. But the Pittsburgh and St. Louis locations lacked the population density they needed.” Foster says they came away from the experiences with a better understanding of how to choose sites. But Stanley L. Eichelbaum, SCMD, president of Marketing Developments, a Cincinnati-based consulting firm, cautions that unless Lucky Strike remains adaptable, it runs the risk of further Pittsburgh and St. Louis experiences.

“What we’ve learned throughout history about entertainment, be it movies, theaters, even sports, is that success is predicated on reprogramming,” said Eichelbaum, whose firm focuses on retail-entertainment development planning. “Successful concepts change. You need to give customers a new reason to come. In the case of Lucky Strikes, it might not be a matter of changing the bowling. They also offer a restaurant and lounge, so they’ll have to focus on staying fresh by recycling those aspects. They just need to be sure that when they pass the baton to any future franchise owners, Lucky Strikes executives don’t stop running at full speed themselves. If they keep a focus on reprogramming and monitoring the competition, they’ll do well.”

And that suits Foster, who is well aware of his volatile position. “We know there’s nothing we can do about the bowling, so we work with the restaurant and lounge, always changing the menu, drinks and content,” he said. “And we plan to roll out some innovations that take advantage of our multimedia environment, including user-generated stuff.”