WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | 31
LAST CALL
Lisa Moon, owner of Sparetime talks business’ growth Veer Mudambi Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
Lisa Moon didn’t want to own a bowling alley. When her husband, Mark Moon, suggested buying Sparetime bowling alley back in 2019, she was initially skeptical. That changed when it soon became clear the business was on a roll (no pun intended), going from a bowling alley to a full-on entertainment venue including standup comedy, karaoke and an arcade. Then COVID hit. Now, as businesses focus on recovering from the pandemic, Sparetime Recreation is once again gathering momentum, but isn’t quite back to pre-pandemic levels. Lisa Moon sat down with Last Call to talk about where things go from here. How did this get started? My husband and I have been in town for 34 years and the former owner approached my husband about taking over and buying the bowling alley. We had no experience whatsoever — we hadn’t bowled in 30 years. I said, “Eh, I don’t think so,” but we ended up buying the alley and I’m so glad we did. Why did the owner approach you? We own the Summit Lounge in Worcester so my husband was talking to the former owner about buying the smoke eaters for Summit, so they kind of became friends before he suggested selling. Our partners heard about this and said, “Oh my god, you have to do this.” Has it been tough managing two businesses? My three children along with my husband and I all co-own the Summit Lounge. My oldest is actually the general manager of the Summit Lounge, so my husband and I have kind of stepped back. Why were your partners so keen?
Lisa Moon, owner of the Sparetime Recreation Bowling Center, 117 Church St., Whitinsville. PHOTO BY STEVE LANAVA
Our attorney said it sounded like a gold mine! We have to do it. But I said, “I don’t want to own a bowling alley, I don’t want to spray people’s shoes … ” My husband kind of coaxed me saying we could take the concept and run with it. Comedy shows, painting classes, trivia nights — so many things above and beyond. To change the concept from a bowling alley to an entertainment venue — that was the turning point for me and got me intrigued. We still had to do a lot of renovating to bring it into the 21st
century. We were killing it — just got our liquor license and then … the pandemic hit and put the brakes on. It was very frustrating to open up a brand new business and then have to close. So how did you weather the pandemic? In the beginning, it was very rough. We made the best of it and did some more remodeling. When did you reopen? We opened as soon as the governor said we could on July 6. People started trickling in and we started getting busier
and busier. So I think we fared very well, I’m happy to say. Are there any practices that you picked up that you’ll keep? Oh of course — the cleaning. Someone said during karaoke that he couldn’t believe how clean this is — some places that he goes to have just let it go now, and I said that’s not Spare Time. I was fanatic about cleaning, even before the pandemic. Have you been able to replenish your staff ? Still not busy enough to
bring everyone back. Right now it’s just the three of us — my husband and I and one staff member. We can’t aff ord anyone else yet. Plans for the future? Right now we have been continuing with live stand-up comedy and karaoke. In the fall, we have plans that we want to put into motion — trivia and adding more leagues beyond bowling. We want to bring in billiards leagues — we have four pool tables just hankering for leagues — and dart leagues. And — who knew — but we also want to bring in pinball leagues. A number of people gravitate towards the pinball machines and we learned that there’s a pinball league out there. We also have a virtual reality and a video gaming room. I heard there’s a place in Marlboro that did VR and they recently closed, so we got some of that foot traffi c this past weekend. We even started to put in an axe-throwing alley but the liability insurance was too expensive in relation to our foot traffi c. Maybe that could come back in the fall as well. Sounds like bowling is just one of many things you can do there? There’s just so much more than just bowling. If you have some spare time, come to Spare Time. Who would think you would get a live comedy show at a bowling alley, like what the heck, right? I think people still have a stigma of why would I go to a bowling alley for a comedy show or karaoke but we’re doing it and it’s fun. Hoping for a food license — to open up a mini restaurant down the line — but we’re holding steady until we can purchase the building, which we lease right now. For more information about Sparetime Recreation, 117 Church St., Whitinsville, visit https://bowlsparetime.com/
