Pride And Profits Grow With Modernization By Brunswick

When you take a look around your center, are you proud of what you see? If not, it might be time to modernize.

“If you’re going to sell your product, and ask your staff to sell it, you need to be proud of what you see each and every day,” said Noel Taylor, general manager of West Ridge Lanes and Family Fun Center in Topeka, Kansas. The 34,000-square-foot family entertainment center (FEC), which also boasts outdoor mini-golf and go-karts, recently modernized with the help of Brunswick Bowling. West Ridge upgraded with Brunswick’s Sync scoring and management system, masking units, and Frameworx™ seating and tabletops. The center also added new flat-screen overhead scoring monitors.

“We decided to modernize because we knew it would allow us to better market the center,” said Taylor. “We believe in keeping things current so customers have the best experience available. If you don’t stay current, your repeat customers will see the same thing over and over, and will look elsewhere to spend their entertainment dollar. Things can become stale, no matter how good your customer service is. Since we’ve modernized, our staff is excited each day, and that carries over to our customers.”

Customers are praising the modernization on social media.

“We’ve had folks who haven’t been here in years coming in to see the changes,” said Taylor. “Our social media response has been great. We’ve had a great number of customers ‘share’ pictures with their friends.”

West Ridge staff and customers alike are especially happy with the Sync scoring and management system.

“Sync operates everything within our center and offers so many social media features and interactions for our customers that it was our only choice from the start,” said Taylor. “Sync handles everything from the back office and reporting to point-of-sale (POS) operation and the bowler experience. And it’s all simple and easy to use. Sync not only lets our customers keep track of how they’re doing, but also makes it easy for them to instantly share the experience with their friends, and that’s important in today’s world. Games like pinpix and Angry Birds Bowling are relevant in today’s market, and have been a big hit with our customers.”

To proprietors considering modernization, Taylor suggests taking a 360-degree look around their centers.

“Write down five to 10 things that would improve what you see,” said Taylor. “Take that list and get some rough numbers on cost. And remember that while cost is very important, you want to do the things that will grow the business. Review your pricing, because if you’re behind in remodeling, you may be behind in your pricing. You can consider different rates for prime time, and so on.”

Modernizing isn’t without challenges, but they can be managed.

“Brunswick and local distributor Jayhawk Bowling were a great help in keeping us moving through the process,” said Taylor. “The biggest challenge for us was coordinating the construction work without giving up days of business, which they helped us do.”

_The leader in the bowling industry for over 125 years, Brunswick Bowling provides products, services and industry expertise for the development and renovation of new and existing bowling centers and mixed-use facilities across the entertainment industry. Brunswick is the only full-line supplier of bowling center equipment, supplies and consumer bowling products. For more information, visit www.brunswickbowling.com.
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