Best in Show: Showplace Cinema's addition makes room for bowling

Making "movie magic" a benchmark for your customers' experience is no easy task. Just ask Mick Stieler, CFO and COO of Showplace Cinemas in Newburgh, Indiana, whose family just doubled the size of their cinema with a 30,000-square-foot addition.

"Audience expectations are always changing," said Stieler. "First it was adding Dolby Digital sound, then we watched the standard shift to stadium seating, followed by digital projection with 3D capabilities. One of the newest trends is the reclining seating with food service. We've never had a boring year in the cinema business."

But keeping up with the trends was not the Stieler family's goal. They wanted the Showplace Cinema brand to be ahead of the curve. To do that, the Stielers investigated which complementary anchor attractions could be paired with the cinema's current offerings.

"After talking with another cinema owner who had added bowling at their location, we knew it was an opportunity we needed to take," said Stieler.

After they decided to pursue bowling for their cinema, the Stielers worked with Brunswick New Business Director Jay Saladino to determine how best to leverage bowling for Showplace Cinemas.

"Customer success starts with identifying the needs of the area and gathering all of the necessary research," said Saladino. "We did a market analysis and additional feasibility studies, and I introduced Mick to some of our customers so he could ask questions and learn from their projects. After multiple site tours, sessions with a few of our current proprietors, and seeing the data our third-party vendor compiled, it was clear that this project was ready to take off."

Breaking ground in early 2017, Showplace Cinemas partnered with Paradigm Design and Brunswick Bowling Products, transforming the 21-year-old cinema with a massive renovation and addition project that added a full-service restaurant, mega-arcade, two-story laser tag arena, and 20 state-of-the-art Brunswick lanes—12 of which are available to the general public and eight of which are upscale, boutique lanes.

"We chose Brunswick because they are the leaders in the industry as far as we're concerned. They had a name everyone knew and a team that was there to help us every step of the way," said Stieler. "We always like to deal with the best—and that's what they are."

Within months of opening the addition, Stieler says he's already seeing a difference in the revenue coming through the doors. With the highly profitable nature of bowling and its ability to diversify offerings, the Stieler family is looking forward to more bowling in their future.

"Since opening the expansion, our movie and concession grosses are up about 50%, plus we're seeing the additional revenue the family entertainment center is bringing in," said Stieler. "It makes our destination that much more desirable. There is something for everybody when they visit, plus we're now suited to offer food and drink. We are excited for what the future holds, and if this performance is what we can continue to expect from bowling, we plan on adding more down the road."