COVER STORY
By Joan Taylor e never planned to own bowling centers, but native Georgian Steve Brown is approaching his 50th year of “doing this crazy stuff.” Adding to the craziness was the recent $2,000,000 in renovations and upgrades at both of his bowling centers, Fun Bowl Fayetteville and Fun Bowl of Henry County. “Back in my day,” Brown said, “we had wooden lanes and no computers. Now we have a generation that doesn’t know how to keep score! Another major change in our business was [taking] out smoking in our centers two years ago; [that] created a whole different environment. To a great extent we changed the way the model looked. I feel better about our future than I [have] felt in many years because of all the ‘toys’ that we have now.” Once the centers were updated, the business focus has been on the whole family, hence the transition to an FEC model: both 32-lane centers received new furniture from Brunswick and QubicaAMF; each center transformed their simple game rooms into redemption centers and installed the Embed card system. Brown is a realist, a businessman, and a family man. “In this age 22
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COVER STORY of the modern bowling center, you have to have all the revenue instead of sharing it with other vendors. For forty years, I shared the game revenues. It was time to buy the games outright. My son, Matt, headed up the remodeling project. But he didn’t realize that he would be buying all these games for our company. We had to make some significant changes to compete in the marketplace. So we made the decision to go all in.” Going back to the family’s original Fun Center dynasty, Brown said, “We had five centers at one time around Atlanta but [we] sold three of them; we didn’t own the real estate at those three. But we did in Fayetteville and Henry County — the best tenant is yourself.” The two Brown-owned centers do not share the same business model. Fayetteville was built in the 1980s, and Brown says, “The footprint was smaller, whereas Henry County has a bigger footprint spanning more land, so we are able to do more there. Fun Bowl of Henry County has outdoor miniature golf, billiards, bowling, laser tag, and games galore.” One exceptional purchase at Bowl Expo for the Henry County location was Hologate by Creative Works. Hologate is a virtual reality attraction featuring nine games of up to four people. “Instead of just playing the game,” Brown explained, “you are inside the game playing with three other people.” The annual Bowl Expo is where Brown and Matt have gone faithfully over the years. “I try to look for a nugget every year,” says Brown. “I am not ashamed to say I still learn a lot.” Keith Padgett from Zone Company, Inc. put in the Henry County laser tag equipment. David Capilouto from Betson Enterprises designed, consulted, built, and outfitted the redemption center. The Browns ended up with 40 games at Fun Bowl of Henry County, and
BETSON ENTERPRISES David Capilouto is regional vice president for Betson Enterprises, the family entertainment center specialists. But he is more than that; he is a friend of Steve Brown and the Brown family. Capilouto and Brown met when Brown managed centers in the Atlanta market around 1987. Capilouto had been in the distribution end since 1975. While it took Brown and his son, Matt, four years to meticulously research how to remodel and update their two bowling centers, Capilouto was not surprised at the length of time it took them to decide what was best for their businesses. “This happens often when someone is making a large investment and making this type of transition,” says Capilouto. “Steve has always been very thorough in his decisionmaking, and, once he realized that his son, Matt, was very capable, it was time for the transition and to build his business to a new level. Owning his games has helped him reach that goal.” Was it renovation or remodeling? “It was remodeling that was fairly extensive throughout the bowling center(s), but very limited remodeling in the game room. He had games and an operator all the years that he has been in business. So, some electrical work was done, and in one of his locations we removed a wall to extend a party area which turned out to be a nice move.” It sounds as if it would have taken weeks or maybe months, but Capilouto proudly says, “We were on the property on Monday and out by Friday at both locations. This is very normal for Betson.” “I’ve been in the industry for over 44 years,” says Capilouto, “and the reason I continue to love what I do is some of the relationships that I have fostered over that [time]. It gives me great pride and pleasure to work with people who not only take my advice, but also make decisions that are based on our relationship. The Browns, both Steve and Matt, have given me that pleasure, and we at Betson are truly blessed to have them as partners on this journey together.”
Matt (left) with father Steve Brown
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COVER STORY 20 games at the Fayetteville location. The game ratio is 70% redemption, 20% video games, and 5% merchandisers. The process of obtaining funding to grow his business was a great experience for Brown. “I have to give credit to Doug Kilroy from the Smart Biz Company. He did the leg work for me to get a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan. Tom Zernick from First Home Bank did all of the financing for the remodeling,” says Brown. Upgrades or renovations won’t stop here, though. Brown says that they are always looking to improve. “It’s about growing the revenues. I learned this: expenses never go down. Your revenues have to grow with the expenses. You need a net profit to stay
viable. One of the biggest assets for me and my wife, Jackie, is that we have a son in the business. I’m excited because we have a younger generation that spends money differently from the older generation. It’s important to have
someone [younger] on our team to [understand] the changes, and that person happens to be our son. One change over the years is the evolution of the charge card machine; now we swipe the cards and have the money by 6 p.m. We do about 78% of our business with debit and charge cards. It helps us to reach the younger families today because they don’t carry cash anymore.”
Brown worked in bowling centers early on as a youth bowler. “I started 26
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COVER STORY non-league. So what we have is fun for everybody. We have to be many things to many people.”
working in a bowling center in 1969 when I was 12 years old, picking up the trash in the parking lot and then getting promoted to cleaning the bathrooms. My brother, Mike, and I started working there together. We bowled there as well; I won Youth Bowler of the Year in Atlanta in 1974 and [Mike] won in 1973. We enjoyed bowling together. He has since passed on, but we grew up in this business together. I stayed with it in Atlanta, running pinsetters, being a mechanic and then in 1976 managing centers. I still love the game and running centers even more today than back then.” So with Jackie, Matt, and Steve all involved in the business, is there any time for outside hobbies? Brown laughed, “Golf. I love golf. It’s a good thing, too, because I once had occasion to bowl in front of Bowling Hall of Fame coach Fred Borden at one of our clinics. He asked me to throw a couple of shots, and then two more. I asked how I did, and he advised me to take up golf.” Brown has set a good example for center owners who might want or need to remodel. “Go to other centers,” he said. “About every other year we look at other centers, see what they are doing, and get more information as far as traffic flows and patterns go. I would suggest lining yourself up with a vendor or vendors who have been in the bowling side of business for many years. When people tell me they want to get into this business, I challenge them to work for six months in a bowling center, especially weekends. It’s different owning something versus enjoying something; it’s a long-term investment.” With all of the innovations and updates in the bowling business, Brown still relies on old school customer relations methods. “I was trained by some good, independent bowling centers in Atlanta,” explains Brown. “We had to go from one end of the center to the other and speak to everybody. I was told, ‘The office doesn’t make any money. The money is where the people are — out on the lanes.’ It’s good advice even today. In today’s environment, most centers can’t depend on the league bowler; 88% of our business is 28
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While daughter, Katie, is an insurance underwriter, son, Matt, is a lifer in the bowling business. “He has been in the business since he was six years old,” Brown said. Brown’s wife, Jackie, is ensconced in the accounting end of the business; she is training daughterin-law, Lucy, in all aspects of the centers’ accounting department. Even Brown’s mother, Mary Lilquist, 79, comes in seven days a week and processes the daily reports. “If something happens to me, I know the centers will keep [going] on. They have sustainability as small businesses, largely because I made Matt an equal partner.” Brown is subliminally grooming the next generation of customers, as his five grandchildren,
ages 12 down to one, frequent the centers to play the games. Well played, sir, well played. ❖
Joan Taylor is a multi-award winning bowling writer based in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.