PROFILE including bumpers. The Tuckers acquired the bumper bowling part of the business a decade ago from Dallas bowling distributor and former proprietor Phil Kinzer, one of the pioneers of bumper bowling. It took seven truckloads to haul the equipment to the Tulia facility. “We make old things look new,” Daryl said. “We have our own niche. You can kind of say we are a junk dealer for bowling. There’s a real art to selling used parts; whatever anybody wants, we can do it. There have been others like US Bowling and All-American Bowling, but nobody has the warehouse space to keep things today.” Just a few years ago the brothers weren’t sure if there would be anyone to carry on the family legacy. But that changed in August 2017 when they began training nephew Chris Crowley, the son of sister Dianne, to eventually take over the business. That should mean at least another generation of family ownership. “I think he’s found a home,” Daryl said. “He’s used to this type of business, so it’s been a big help to have his expertise.” Back in high school, Chris worked for the family business. After school, he worked for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), then was a manager of a Love’s Truck Stop in Arkansas. Eventually, Chris decided he wanted to be back in a small town. He was always interested in the family business, but the timing had never worked out. Until now. Original owner and Tulia native Dan Tucker owned Post Office Cleaners for 15 years before starting the Dan Tucker Bowling Equipment Company in 1958. Like today, it specialized in buying, selling, and installing bowling equipment around the world. About the same time, he and 13 partners built Tulia Bowl, a 12-laner that originally remained open to the public until 1962 when a skating rink and sewing factory occupied the space. It reopened for bowling in the mid-1970s and closed again in 2010. Daryl and Danny have spent what little time they have available renovating the old center with the hope of re-opening it at some point. When it does come back, it likely will have only six lanes with the other six possibly replaced by their bumper bowling manufacturing operations now located in their main shop. When Dan Sr. started in the bowling business, it seemed as if every town in Texas and Oklahoma had a small AMF alley. In ensuing years, he added several to his portfolio, as many as ten centers at one time. Among them was Big Texan Lanes, a 74-lane house in Houston with Jamie Brooks.
Tucker also co-owned the former 54-lane Showplace and 24-lane San Pedro Bowl facilities in San Antonio. “He was considered the King of Bowling years ago. Everyone knew Dan Tucker,” said Daryl. Dan Sr. was a charter member of the former National Association of Independent Resurfacers (NAIR). “Back 30 or 40 years ago, there was no doubt who Dan Tucker was.” In the company’s hey-day in the 1980s, it employed 20-25 people available 24/7 for many years. They would rebuild equipment in the winters and put in lanes in the summers. Now there are only eight total employees including the brothers. The brothers now hire outside installers and crew, as they’ve backed off installing lanes themselves. Having worked in the business for so long, the Tucker brothers rarely come across a situation they haven’t done before. They’ve built lanes in the basements of private homes, churches, farmers’ barns, dude ranches, the 10th floor of one building, and even some outside locations. They also were instrumental in the bowling installations at the first nine Main Event Entertainment Centers in Texas. “You name it, and we have put it in,” Daryl said. “There’s no telling how many lanes we’ve pulled out and put back.” One example is in Snyder, TX, where they removed the machines, then refurbished and put them back. Another time in West Virginia they removed lanes at one center and placed them in another center three and half hours away. They installed the 16 regular lanes and eight others that utilize pin boys at Turner Club near San Antonio, and provided parts a few years back to help reopen Cactus Bowl in Midland, TX — since renamed Midway Lanes. Most often, they buy parts and equipment from closed or damaged centers or those upgrading their facilities and sell to centers both directly and through the internet. For example: a former center in Sherman, TX, didn’t reopen after an ice storm collapsed the roof, so the Tuckers picked up the remnants. And once, they bought the remains of a 16-lane center in Kentucky. They’ve needed up to17 truckloads to bring the parts back to
IBI
November 2020
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