What was the nightmare?

At what center? Sorry...I don't know your whole story and your posts are very vague. I live in NoCal so it would be nice to know what centers to avoid.

Where in Nor Cal are you? Everything is fine where I bowl. I'm in Sacramento by the way.

Maybe I can help.
It is AMF centers or the fool operations manager at Strikes Unlimited? Doesn't matter. Bowlmor will screw up AMF's leagues. Their business plan guaranties that they will fail. But AMF Rocklin Lanes has WAY better management than that Dickwad running Strikes Unlimited also located in Rocklin. That tool(Clarence or Ken) had the nerve to tell me that he doesn't care about the bowlers safety and that I was the problem and not the sticky settee areas. I'm a little bitter? Yes. And I'm not the only one that feels this way.

Ken R.

How will bowlmor screw up leagues Ken? I'm lucky I bowl at Rocklin AMF.

This is an interesting thread, as I'm also in the Sacramento area, though I did the bulk of my bowling at Mardi Gras.

I will say that some writing was on the wall when these alleys were putting more money towards remodeling the bar and putting in TVs and screens than replacing 40-year old pinsetters, which they obviously had the money to do, but didn't.

I've only been out to AMF Rocklin once, and that was during the city tournament 6 years ago; I haven't been out there since, so I can't really judge.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there were only 5 - 6 AMF alleys in the area, at least going back to 2003 (when I moved here):

Alpine Valley
Land Park
Mardi Gras
Rocklin
Woodland
Crestview

Half of those are gone, leaving Mardi Gras, Rocklin, and Land Park open. Bowlmor's business strategy may kill the others.

My understanding is that Strikes Unlimited and Strikes Elk Grove have nothing to do with AMF/Bowlmor at all, so they are out of the picture, along with:

Fireside
Country Club
Capitol
Lake

If Bowlmor is indeed under new management in this area, it will be interesting to see what happens, and if they do something different than Bowlmor's strategy, otherwise, expect more of an exodus after this season ends.

BL.

Quote from: bradl on January 03, 2014, 01:36:31 PM

This is an interesting thread, as I'm also in the Sacramento area, though I did the bulk of my bowling at Mardi Gras.

I will say that some writing was on the wall when these alleys were putting more money towards remodeling the bar and putting in TVs and screens than replacing 40-year old pinsetters, which they obviously had the money to do, but didn't.

I've only been out to AMF Rocklin once, and that was during the city tournament 6 years ago; I haven't been out there since, so I can't really judge.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there were only 5 - 6 AMF alleys in the area, at least going back to 2003 (when I moved here):

Alpine Valley
Land Park
Mardi Gras
Rocklin
Woodland
Crestview

Half of those are gone, leaving Mardi Gras, Rocklin, and Land Park open. Bowlmor's business strategy may kill the others.

My understanding is that Strikes Unlimited and Strikes Elk Grove have nothing to do with AMF/Bowlmor at all, so they are out of the picture, along with:

Fireside
Country Club
Capitol
Lake

If Bowlmor is indeed under new management in this area, it will be interesting to see what happens, and if they do something different than Bowlmor's strategy, otherwise, expect more of an exodus after this season ends.

BL.

But How is bowlmor going to ruin leagues? You have to remember its not just league bowlers that go to the centers. It was a smart move to fix the bar area first being they make more money during open bowling and a lot of them go to the bar and spend more money. I've bowled at all the centers you've listed except one (Lake Bowl).

• For some alleys in question, they have changed the hours of operation. Some have started to open later in the day (around 4pm). That would effectively kill any senior leagues that would occur during the day (some have leagues at 1pm). They wouldn't be able to bowl their 3 games in less than 2 hours and get out of the way for possible redressing of the lanes before other leagues start (at 6 or 6:30pm).
• Repeat customers. Bowlmor's strategy is to make money off the open bowlers, which gets them into the house. But it does nothing for keeping their repeat business, and that is what brings in their money consistently. By keeping leagues there and keeping the prices low or comparable to the market in that area, you keep your repeating bed of customers that always come in. Raising the lineage and lowering your operating hours is going to LOSE you customers, to the point where the open bowlers will not be able to make up the difference.
• Close pro shops. A few people here who have posted in the Bowlmor threads in the past year have indicated that Bowlmor wants the pro shops in the AMF houses out. That not only eliminates quick access to any accessory, new gear, or coaching at any time. Also, whenever a ball is damaged by the alley, they hand that off to the pro shop to handle, as they sure as hell don't want to give refunds. With no pro shop and aging pinsetters, who will handle ball damage that the alley is responsible for?

A quick search for "bowlmor" in this forum will get you a lot of information on what has happened at various Bowlmor locations, and what could potentially happen.

BL.

Probably the reason for the late opening hours is that they believe that bowling entertainment is for Parties, Night Life, and Events, most of which does better late at night.