THOUGHTS FROM CAREY…

Looking ahead to a post-pandemic future

The Bowling Rebound is on!

For those centers who are actively working their Facebook & Instagram pages, and keeping their website fresh, business is really good.

Some History:

As a big fan of history, I did some reading on the last big pandemic – the Spanish Flu of 1918-19. While that virus was much more severe than the current one, with 50 million dead and 1/3 of the planet infected, it does teach us some lessons. One of which is that the pandemic was followed by the Roaring 20’s, a time when people got out and celebrated! It was not a coincidence that this followed a pandemic, so we can expect the same kind of response from the public once the virus has passed thru the population, or the vaccine is widely  distributed. Humans are by nature a social species. Locking us in our homes cannot be sustained for long periods as it is simply not in our genetic makeup. The time will come when people are going to be ready to get out and socialize – and bowling is a great place for that!  So get ready for a boom in leisure activity and sports participation as we all learn to live with this pandemic.

I encourage you to re-evaluate your operation for those pricing, operational, or system changes you had been contemplating, as the consumer is expecting that the rules will change at every business they visit. Have you been thinking about per game vs hourly rental? Is opening before noon really viable? Should you raise your party package prices? This is the time for those changes. Have you been thinking about online reservations? This is CERTAINLY the time to get that started.

The good news is that many centers ae reporting big numbers. They are also promoting their center to achieve those results.

While the Bowling Rebound is certainly underway, you must continually drive home the Bowling is Back message to keep your traffic up. The most cost-effective way to do this is using your email list regularly, keep your website current, and use targeted Facebook/Instagram ads. Over the past 10+ years, we have proven that these targeted ads can reach thousands of people every day with your message – and marketing your business today is more critical than ever. There is a huge opportunity to grow your business to revenue levels ABOVE where you were pre-pandemic.

I am very optimistic about the bowling business on the other side of this pandemic!

Be Well.

Carey Tosello
founder, eBowl.biz & BowlRx.com