FEATURE
bowling center. He bought the center on December 28, 2012, and the first official day of business was January 16, 2013. In Mike’s opinion, the opening was two days too early — January 18 was his beloved grandmother’s birthday. Mike had never owned a business so there has been a lot to learn. When he turned on the eight machines, only three of them worked. Mike had to establish priorities since money was not abundant. The first year was spent getting the machines running. Year Two was devoted to re-finishing the wood lanes, adding bumpers to six of the lanes, and replacing the wood gutters. Mike was able to get a loan to replace the furnace so his bowlers did not have to bowl wearing their coats. Mike’s hard work and investment in the bowl, which he renamed Northwoods Lanes and Lounge, has paid off, as his numbers have been consistently up. He is proud that he has the most women’s leagues of any center in Wisconsin. He has leagues every day of the week with youth leagues on Saturday. The center is packed on Sundays with $1 per game bowling. He offers cosmic bowling earlier in the day to get the kids involved. The only two employees to keep everything running smoothly are Mike and his manager, Jim Conradson. As time moved on and more money was flowing into the
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IBI
January 2020
business, Mike invested in a sanctioned oiler four years ago to make the lane conditions consistent. The lane consistency has attracted more bowlers from not only Spooner, but other towns up to 50 miles away. Mike says his bowlers know that he will take good care of them and that he is always honest with them. When a bowler in his center shoots an honor score, he presents them with a customized bowling pin. He has learned to be creative with his money; the masking units are repurposed from a center in Madison, WI, and he is figuring out a way to change them to reflect the seasons. His current improvement project is building a pro shop; half of the lockers have been removed to make room for it. He recently completed ball drill training but laughed at the thought of how many bowling balls he might ruin in learning to do it right. Mike has some ideas on how to build his business: he wants to start a pot bowling league; a traveling league; and he would like to coach. He is working with other local businesses cross promoting their restaurants and bars. “We want to work together,” Mike says, “to find a way to get more businesses together, to be Spooner-proud.” The bowl has traditionally not been open in the summer, but Mike plans on it being open in the summer of 2020. He realizes he has to be creative in order to compete with the