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Author Topic: Brunswick is getting out of the Bowling business  (Read 26198 times)

milorafferty

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Brunswick is getting out of the Bowling business
« on: July 17, 2014, 04:40:45 PM »
"If guns kill people, do pencils misspell words?"

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Ratt_bowling

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Re: Brunswick is getting out of the Bowling business
« Reply #61 on: July 19, 2014, 09:07:43 PM »
Might be interesting if ABS bought them and started releasing some of their Japanese recipes here.

Balldoctor

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Re: Brunswick is getting out of the Bowling business
« Reply #62 on: July 20, 2014, 07:40:31 PM »
Hoping for the best for my Friends that work for Brunswick in the ball and capitol equipment side.
 

Jorge300

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Re: Brunswick is getting out of the Bowling business
« Reply #63 on: July 21, 2014, 10:05:29 AM »
This would be a very welcome idea to a lot of bowlers, and center employees. It makes some sense. I have to think that Mr. Shannon knows what is said about him and his company. I am sure they know that many serious bowlers are upset with the changes they have made at centers. This may give them an opportunity to appease these folk.

Obviously, the Bowlmor concept works though, otherwise they wouldn't have had the ability to make this deal. Even if most of the cash comes from loans, the lending establishments must see it as profitable in order to fund this venture. We will have to wait and see I guess.


Says that they're going to keep the Brunswick name and run them separately. 

Possibly run Brunswick as the competitive side and AMF as cosmic land? 
Jorge300

St. Croix

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Re: Brunswick is getting out of the Bowling business
« Reply #64 on: July 21, 2014, 11:13:26 AM »
This would be a very welcome idea to a lot of bowlers, and center employees. It makes some sense. I have to think that Mr. Shannon knows what is said about him and his company. I am sure they know that many serious bowlers are upset with the changes they have made at centers. This may give them an opportunity to appease these folk.

Obviously, the Bowlmor concept works though, otherwise they wouldn't have had the ability to make this deal. Even if most of the cash comes from loans, the lending establishments must see it as profitable in order to fund this venture. We will have to wait and see I guess.


Says that they're going to keep the Brunswick name and run them separately. 

Possibly run Brunswick as the competitive side and AMF as cosmic land? 

Jorge, good advice. On the day after the Brunswick announcement, I spoke with the manager (Judy) of Brunswick Fair Lawn Lanes. A Bowlmor representative told her that there would be "no changes for a year" and that there probably would be "no changes" at all.

I am not buying the "no changes" statement, but we have to wait and see. If Bowlmor carefully evaluates each establishment and implements its plan on a house-by-house basis, well run facilities like Fair Lawn Lanes and Carolier Lanes should be OK. If not, Charlest, several other posters on Ball Reviews, and I will be league bowling in different places in the future.
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Steven

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Re: Brunswick is getting out of the Bowling business
« Reply #65 on: July 21, 2014, 11:42:59 AM »

Jorge, good advice. On the day after the Brunswick announcement, I spoke with the manager (Judy) of Brunswick Fair Lawn Lanes. A Bowlmor representative told her that there would be "no changes for a year" and that there probably would be "no changes" at all.

I am not buying the "no changes" statement, but we have to wait and see. If Bowlmor carefully evaluates each establishment and implements its plan on a house-by-house basis, well run facilities like Fair Lawn Lanes and Carolier Lanes should be OK. If not, Charlest, several other posters on Ball Reviews, and I will be league bowling in different places in the future.

With buyouts, 'wait and see' is always the operative phrase. But you're wise to be wary of the 'no changes' statement. Companies rarely pay top dollar to buy others with the intent of leaving everything as-is. They're either looking for economies of scale by eliminating overlap (management, service, product), or an opportunity to expand the reach of their strategic vision. After watching the full length video of Tom Shannon, I'm guessing it's mostly the later.
 
He appears to be a smart dude who's able to learn from his AMF mistakes. Here's to hoping he sees more value in achieving a healthier balance between recreational and league bowling.

St. Croix

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Re: Brunswick is getting out of the Bowling business
« Reply #66 on: July 21, 2014, 01:44:29 PM »
Steven, I do think that there will be no changes at our local facilities for 6-12 months mainly because Shannon cannot do everything at once. It is the statement of "no changes at all" that I do not believe. I agree with you; Shannon's group would not have spent the $$$ to maintain the status quo.

I hope that Bowlmor tries to maintain the balance that you described. The USBC Masters Tournament has been at Brunswick Carolier Lanes for at least the last 2 years. I attended the Tournament both years and really enjoyed watching the event. I hope that Carolier Lanes will continue to host The Masters for many years.
"I spent half of my money on women, gambling, and booze. I wasted the other half."

W.C. Fields

JustRico

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Re: Brunswick is getting out of the Bowling business
« Reply #67 on: July 21, 2014, 01:47:32 PM »
The status quo for that div was a money maker...it was the primary reason the remainder of the div stayed afloat...it was a cash cow and still is...thus if he's smart he doesn't make any huge changes or he break something that doesn't need to be fixed...plain & simple
The remaining div are a different story tho
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itsallaboutme

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Re: Brunswick is getting out of the Bowling business
« Reply #68 on: July 21, 2014, 02:20:30 PM »
Gee, is someone with former inside knowledge saying that making and selling bowling balls isn't as lucrative as some here would want to believe?

JustRico

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Re: Brunswick is getting out of the Bowling business
« Reply #69 on: July 21, 2014, 04:31:56 PM »
Don't know what you mean...
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bradl

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Re: Brunswick is getting out of the Bowling business
« Reply #70 on: July 21, 2014, 04:46:32 PM »
This house ain't broke, so it does not need a fix. Mr. Shannon can best serve the staff at Brunswick Fair Lawn Lanes and the public by leaving the establishment bowling alone.

Fixed that for you.

BL.

JustRico

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Re: Brunswick is getting out of the Bowling business
« Reply #71 on: July 21, 2014, 05:05:25 PM »
What continues to crack me up is the mentality that Bowl/AMFWick is hurting bowling when the amount of centers owned is less than 10% of centers in North America....bowling is NOT broken...it's the mentality of certain bowlers that make it seem that it is
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spmcgivern

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Re: Brunswick is getting out of the Bowling business
« Reply #72 on: July 22, 2014, 09:58:53 AM »
What continues to crack me up is the mentality that Bowl/AMFWick is hurting bowling when the amount of centers owned is less than 10% of centers in North America....bowling is NOT broken...it's the mentality of certain bowlers that make it seem that it is

I keep saying this to bowlers.  AMF/Bowlmor owns 343 centers now.  There are around 4800 centers in the nation (just over 7%).  If bowlers want competitive bowling to be successful, then they need to take ownership of that goal.  You don't have to have the answer to the national bowling problem.  Start with local and see what happens.

We have bowlers here in Houston all up in arms about AMF/Bowlmor buying these centers and you know what, there isn't a single Brunswick center here.  Go figure.
« Last Edit: July 22, 2014, 10:00:32 AM by spmcgivern »