We're making progress!

It’s been a while since we blogged, primarily because we have been very busy fine-tuning our operations so that we can offer our patrons a full service bowling center. We had many glitches to smooth out, but now things are moving forward. We’d like to thank all of our patrons for their patience, and good humor.

While we were unprepared for the amount of work it would take to rebuild the bowling center, after six months we have made significant progress.

Our leagues have been running smoothly, and we will soon begin signup for mid-season leagues. Contact Scott at 262.255.BOWL for more information.

The meeting room has been refurbished and is now available for rental.

We are about to begin installation of the kitchen equipment, and that should be up and running very soon. Next is menu planning. Right now, we are considering an appetizer, pizza and sandwich menu. We are also looking at several candidates for the cooking staff. Once the kitchen is up and running, we will begin offering party packages for everything from birthdays to retirement celebrations!

We are also about to begin the installation of the electronics for “moonlight bowling.” That feature will further the entertainment options available at the center.

Stay tuned as we continue to grow, and offer an increasing variety of entertainment!

Win a bowling party!

Enter our month-long drawing for a free bowling party! If you win, your package includes:

. Up to 10 guests
. Up to three games per guest
. Free shoe rental

Your party must take place Fridays after 4 p.m. or noon to close Sunday throughout the 2009-2010 bowling season. Advance reservations are required at 262.255.BOWL.

To enter, send an e-mail to Greg at gjkaiser@sbcglobal.net and put “Free bowling party” in the subject line. You’ll be notified via e-mail if you win.

The work continues. . .

Now that our lanes and the bar are up running, work has begun on other areas.

The murals surrounding the lanes are almost completed. We are also prepping the kitchen area for the installation of the work stations, sinks, stoves, grills, and refrigerators, and will soon begin work on the meeting room.

Time-Warner is due to wire the center soon, so we can get our televisions and other electronics online. We are finding that scheduling such services takes time, and “immediately” is not in some vendors’ vocabulary!

We continue to work on our packages for birthday parties, fundraisers, and special events, and plan to offer them as soon as the kitchen is operational. We have also begun finalizing our menu, recognizing, of course, that our kitchen staff, when hired, will have to have some input.

While bowlers are rolling their balls, much work continues behind the scenes. Soon you will have a state-of-the-art, full service bowling center.

Let's bowl!

The bowling center is up and running! We have been busy working out the "kinks," while hosting a full week of bowling leagues. Everything is going well and we look forward to the rest of the season.

Below is the news release we sent out on Tuesday.

CLASSIC LANES-MENOMONEE FALLS OPENS FOR BUSINESS!

Classic Lanes-Menomonee Falls is now open.

The new bowling center, N85W15900 Appleton Ave., Menomonee Falls, is located in the North Hills Plaza shopping center. The 24-lane facility will be open Sunday through Friday from 10 to 2 a.m., and Saturdays from 8 to 2 a.m.

Classic Lanes-Menomonee Falls is owned and operated by two well-known Wisconsin championship bowlers, Gary Daroszewski and Greg Kaiser. Daroszewski, who bowls competitively at a national level, currently owns and operates Classic Lanes, a bowling center in Greenfield, WI, and GD Bowling and Equipment. Kaiser, a former Wisconsin junior bowling champion, has been in the hospitality industry for more than 20 years, and also owns Custom Auto Interiors, Franklin, WI.

“The center offers league bowling, as well as bowling for individuals, families, youth, and seniors,” said co-owner Greg Kaiser. “We encourage area residents to turn off their televisions, cell phones, and computers, and join friends, families, and colleagues for an hour or two of affordable, all-American entertainment!”

In addition to the bowling lanes, the bar is up and running. Construction continues on the kitchen and restaurant, a meeting room, and a party area. “We expect construction to be completed in the next month or so, “Kaiser said. “Once everything is finished, packages will be available for birthday parties, fundraisers, and special events.”

Kaiser encourages area residents to visit Classic Lanes-Menomonee Falls, and view the progress that has been made since June. “We built this center from the ground up, and we have employed state-of- the-art technology in every way possible,” he said. “Our goal is to offer the ultimate entertainment experience.”

We are rapidly approaching the finish line!

We haven't posted in the past week, simply because we have been working 24/7 on completely millions of details at our bowling center! Our digital camera is also on the blink, which has prevented us from posting any photos. But we have made progress, and our facility actually looks like a bowling center!

Rest assured, the work is getting done, and we are confident we will be open for business Tuesday, Sept.8. We still have a lot of work to do, but the lanes will be operational--which was our goal. Of course, we expect a lot of opening day glitches, so bear with us as we introduce our kind of bowling to Menomonee Falls!

Although our kitchen is not yet open, we will have snacks and information available for visitors. So stop by!

Back to work!

The pressure is on. . .

This week, the race to the finish began!

Every worker at the bowling center has an assignment. We are finishing up the installation of gutters, pin setters, and ball returns. We will begin installing lanes this week.

The plasterers are completing the stucco work on the walls. Work continues on the floors. We are awaiting the arrival of supplies that will allow us to complete renovation of the restrooms.

Our bowling murals have begun to take shape, and we are eagerly anticipating their completion. The murals are not silk-screened wallpaper. They are being created freehand by a local artist.

Work has begun in the bar area. In addition to painting and general clean up, we are awaiting the installation of bar equipment, such as soda guns and beer taps. Vendors are scheduled to complete that work this week, and then we can start building our inventory. In addition, we have begun recovering the bar stools.

Once the kitchen is installed, we plan to serve food next to the lanes, and in the bar area, where tables and stools will be available. Meanwhile, we have begun to finalize our menu. Right now, we are considering pizza, sandwiches, and some appetizers.

We are also finalizing packages for parties, special events, and fundraisers. In addition, the party supplies bearing our logo have begun to arrive, including balloons and temporary tattoos.

So the pressure is on, and once again we find ourselves needing 32 hours in every day. Sleep will have to wait until after our Labor Day opening! YAAAWWWN!

We get noticed!

An article in yesterday's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel features our bowling center!

To view it, copy and paste the following address in your browser:

http://www.jsonline.com/business/53360267.html

It's beginning to look like a bowling center!

This week, we made real progress!

The foundation for the lanes has been completed, and we have begun to install the pin setters, ball returns, gutters, and automatic scoring machines. The lanes will be placed after that work has been completed, hopefully sometime next week.

Meanwhile, pins, balls, and shoes have been ordered, and should arrive shortly. Once everything has been installed, we will begin testing the lanes and equipment with live bowlers to ensure everything works!

At every turn, we are employing new technology. Black lighting has been installed in the ceiling over the lanes, and will reflect off of a wide variety of glow fixtures. The Internet jukebox is a computer that accesses a website after a song has been selected. (We kind of miss the old style jukebox, but they are hard to maintain.)

Our bar area is extremely large, but thankfully little work will be required to get it up and running. The bar and rails are intact, so after a major cleaning and some painting, all that will be required is restocking of inventory and the recovering of 40 stools.

Two events highlighted our week. First, we began meeting with league secretaries, who got a chance to see our progress and ask questions about our operations. We are still signing up leagues, and we always have room for more! Contact Scott at 262.255.BOWL.

Second, we met with a reporter from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Given the economy, he was a little surprised at the scope of project we have undertaken. But even when the economy stinks, people need affordable entertainment! The interview is scheduled to appear in the business section of that publication sometime in the next few weeks. Watch for it!

While the work on the lanes is almost completed, we still have much work to do in other areas of the facility. Our restrooms are awaiting final installation of plumbing fixtures and flooring, and our meeting room requires some work. As I mentioned earlier, we expect our kitchen to be operational sometime this fall.

But our priority has always been to get the lanes up and running for our leagues. Once that is done, we can work at a (somewhat) more leisurely pace to complete the rest of the renovation. Soon Classic Lanes-Menomonee Falls will be the “go to” place not only for league bowling, but also for birthday parties, fundraisers, special events, and more!

Get your bowling groove on!

Work continued this week on building the foundation for the lanes.

Right now, the lanes are a vast sea of floor boards. The sound of nail guns fills the air. The dust is flying. Materials are piled every where! Frankly, it looks like a mess.

But there is a method to this madness. We have every task carefully planned and scheduled. Soon we will be able to lay down the lanes, and install the pin setters, the ball returns, the automatic scoring system, and the sofas and tables. A bowling center will emerge! Then the race to the finish begins.

Visitors to our facility have been surprised at its size. At approximately 26,000 square feet, it is big. But when we are done building, every inch will be utilized.

The entrance to our bowling center is through a 100-car underground parking structure. Even in the worst of weather, you will have a cleared, dry parking space waiting for you. And if it’s raining, you won’t even need an umbrella! To ensure your safety, the structure will be well-lit and monitored.

This week, we began taking estimates for building out our kitchen. While we have been surprised at how much equipment prices have gone up (no doubt a result of our faltering economy), we are determined to have a full-service, state-of-the-art kitchen. As we said earlier, it won’t be finished on opening day (Labor Day Weekend), but we hope it will be open before the snow falls to serve all of our customers.

So get your bowling groove on. Soon you’ll be nailing those strikes and spares at Classic Lanes-Menomonee Falls!

Sometimes, we have time to promote!

Even as our bowling center is under construction, we are promoting! Below is a news release sent out to local media. We believe it reflects our philosophy!

IN TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES, PEOPLE BOWL!
Menomonee Falls, WI--When the economy is in the dumper, people bowl, according to the owner of a new bowling center in Menomonee Falls.

“The natural reaction in tough economic times is to tighten the purse strings, and cut back on entertainment expenses,” said Gregory J. Kaiser, co-owner of Classic Lanes-Menomonee Falls, set to open Labor Day weekend. “But bowling is such an inexpensive activity—only a few dollars a game—that it offers one of the few affordable opportunities to relieve the stresses of everyday life, and have fun.

“It is truly cheap, but rewarding, entertainment,” he said.

The cost of spectator sports has risen rapidly in recent years, making them unaffordable for many people. “But bowling offers the opportunity to socialize, exercise, and just have fun,” said Kaiser. “And at the end of the day, our customers go home with change in their pockets. Their budgets are not wiped out by bowling.”

Bowling also offers an alternative to what Kaiser calls “electronic gadget addiction.”

“How many kids do you see constantly texting on their cell phones, never looking up and acknowledging those around them?” he asked. “How many people spend hours at home on their computers, e-mailing and instant messaging their friends, families, and colleagues?”

Bowling not only gets people off their phones and their computers, it gets them off the couch and out of their homes. “Bowling is a game that requires skill and concentration,” Kaiser said. “You can’t bowl while texting on your phone. You need to turn off the phone, put it away, and focus on delivering the ball to the pins.

“And if you break another bowler’s concentration with a ringing cell phone, there will be consequences,” he adds with a chuckle.

For families, bowling provides the opportunity to strengthen relationships.

“Remember the old saying, ‘The family that plays together, stays together?’” Kaiser asked. “I would take it one step further, and say, ‘The family that bowls together, thrives!’ When you bowl as a family, the focus is not only on the game, but on other family members. You communicate. You enjoy each other’s company. You have fun together. And because bowling is so cost-effective, you can have family nights often!”

Bowling also provides senior citizens an opportunity to stay active.

“Studies show an active senior has an active mind,” Kaiser said. “I know many seniors are on fixed incomes, and they have to make every penny count. But it is also important for seniors to get out of the house, and socialize with their peers. For many, bowling is not only affordable entertainment, but also an outlet for exercising the mind and body.”

Kaiser has no predictions for when the economy will improve. “During Prohibition, the bowling business grew simply because even if people couldn’t drink, they wanted some form of entertainment,” he said. “I believe that in these tough economic times, people need entertainment. They will flock to entertainment that is affordable, such as bowling.”

Classic Lanes-Menomonee Falls, owned by Classic Falls Bowling, Inc., is rebuilding the former AMF Lanes, located at N85W15900 Appleton Avenue. The facility will have 24 bowling lanes, a bar and restaurant, and a small hall for parties, meetings, and other gatherings. The corporation is led by Gary Daroszewski and Greg Kaiser, two well-known Wisconsin championship bowlers. The center is scheduled to open Labor Day weekend. For more information, or to monitor the construction process, visit the bowling center’s blog at www.classiclanesmf.blogspot.com.

Work continues. . .

Wow! We have had an overwhelming reaction to our blog. Thank you for all of your kind comments! It is nice to know we have so much support out in the bowling community.

This week, more work was done on the lane beds. We need to make sure the lanes are on a solid foundation, and that requires some intricate work. Not only does the foundation have to be strong—able to support hundreds of pounds of materials and people—but it also has to be level. (Essential to good ball delivery.) That means we do a lot of measuring, and calculating!

We completely overhauled the women’s restroom this week, tiling the floors, wainscoting the walls, and finishing everything off with a fresh coat of paint. All plumbing and light fixtures are also being replaced. Next we move on to the men’s room.

Two of our walls are also being prepped for the bowling murals. We hope the artist will begin work next week.

While the community response to our new bowling center has been overwhelmingly positive, we don’t want to take anything for granted. So we are attempting to get out into the community, participate in local events, and meet as many area business owners and bowlers as we can. Many have already stopped by to view our progress, and our league sign up continues to grow.

At the end of every long day, we are exhausted. But we are seeing progress from our hard work, and that is the most rewarding result of all.

(Photos to be posted soon!)

We need forty hours in every day!

Years (a year for Greg) of stripping down other bowling centers, and installing lanes and electronic scoring equipment, are starting to pay off.

It’s an advantage to have that experience when doing the work at our own facility! We actually know what we are doing! This week, we continued to install the foundation for the lanes.

The electricians and plumbers have been busy inspecting, installing, and upgrading wiring and plumbing. The restrooms are getting a complete facelift, starting this coming week. When running a facility with lots of traffic, there is nothing more important than working lights and electricity, and flushing toilets!

Meanwhile, the outdated carpeted walls have been covered with drywall. Part of those walls will be covered with a bowling mural.

The original bar was enclosed, cut off from the rest of the bowling center. To achieve our planned open design concept , we have removed the offending walls, so the bar is now out in the open. That will provide easier access for customers, and greater visibility for managers and employees. We’ll be better able to spot customers in need, whether on the lanes or throughout the facility.

Our full service bar will house stools at the rail, and tables and stools in the surrounding area. It will be a great spot to enjoy a drink, a sandwich, or a pizza--before or after bowling, or while simply seeking a respite from your busy day.

As we race toward our Labor Day opening, we are still in the process of designing our kitchen and planning menus. Our priority is getting the lanes up and running for our fall leagues. That means the kitchen may not open until sometime after Labor Day.

Unfortunately, we need 40 hours in every day! There is still so much to be done. But we are working extremely hard and are confident we will meet our deadline. The excitement of our impending opening drives us. We can’t wait to throw that first ball!

Good-bye purple!

The purple walls are gone! Last week, they were primed and painted a soft white. That provides us with some good options for future redecorating. On one wall, for example, we plan to have a bowling mural painted. The white wall will provide a great canvas.

Last week, the phones were installed. We are now operating with the phone number 262.255.BOWL. We have a fax machine installed, and are waiting for a number to be assigned.

We are currently studying our site options. For example, we are considering building a stage that can be set up over several of the lanes, and used for live entertainment. Of course, the lineup will include our rocking teenage sons, Justin and J.J.

We will be installing accordion doors, allowing us to close off space for parties. The problem is the noise from the lanes. We have to find doors with soundproofing capabilities.

Meanwhile, menu planning is underway. We are looking at a pizza and simple sandwich menu. That way, we can produce good food, even if the cook doesn’t show up. (Don’t worry, we will have someone on call.) We are also developing packages for birthday parties, and special events. All of these will be posted on this blog when finalized. We are now taking reservations for events. Our calendar is filling up fast!

Our league sign up is coming along extremely well. If you are interested in a league at our bowling center, contact our manager Scott soon.

Scott and some of his colleagues will be at Falls Fest next weekend, distributing cards for a free game of bowling when the center opens. They’ll be dressed in brightly colored tie-died shirts. Look for them!

If you have any questions about our reconstruction, or operations, please post them in the comments section of the blog. We will respond in our next post.

Yes, we still have a lot of work to do, but much has already been accomplished. Remember: Bowlers rule!

Photos of our progress appear below.

The journey begins

We have a lot of work to do in the next few months.

Formally AMF Lanes, the facility we purchased has been totally stripped, and we must now reinstall all lanes and equipment. We are literally starting from ground zero.

While construction is underway, we must also get busy promoting Classic Lanes-Menomonee Falls--signing up post-opening bowling leagues, and scheduling special events. The task is daunting, but we are up to it!

We are very excited by this new opportunity, and are more than ready to dig in!

Some photos of what we're dealing with appear below. Stay tuned!