I worked for AMF Bowling Centers from March 2003 to May 2012. In my 9 years working there I never seen a company so messed up. Before Bowlmor took over, the district managers made the pro shop at my center move the take out the candy he was selling in his vending machine because it competed with AAA's vending machines. I've also heard things that employees at the front counter (my job was to stock the bar) were sometimes telling customers the guy in the pro shop was not there.
Well it seems after Bowlmor's take over, things have not changed. The bowling center I worked at closed last April. The pro shop moved to a nearby AMF center. I went in there last weekend and the owner of the pro shop was complaining the new district manager (I think they've had almost 10 of them since 2003) made them take the sign down on the ceiling where it points customers where the pro shop is. Then the same thing employees at the desk saying there's nobody at the pro shop when there really is. The father who sold the shop to his son got a call from a customer wondering why he wasn't at the shop. The father called angry at his son asking him why he wasn't at the shop. The son said he is at the shop.
The thing is I really like Qubica and feel much more comfortable bowling in bowling centers that have AMF than Brunswick, but their bowling center operating is a complete laughing stock. It's asinine and that word gets over used. I can't believe this because Bowlmor believe in spending money and marketing.
The other thing is Tom Shannon believes AMF followed the traditional bowling model. What they really did was follow everybody else. They spent a lot of money on their bowling centers on things that didn't need to be replaced. Carpeting, trim on the outside walls, new signs that don't let you put a message like "now hiring" or "karaoke on Saturday night." If you look at well respected bowling centers in the Twin Cities area they spend money on the bowling part and put crap like that secondary. The thing is the aesthetics didn't even look any better because they replaced crap that didn't need to be replaced. What happened was they cut the budgets to fix machines, order new pins, replace lane panels, but yet they had enough money to do all that other crap.
Bowlers can be categorized into these categories: league bowlers, open bowlers, tournament bowlers, and company party bowlers. I don't see how AMF did that well for any of them. It shouldn't be hard to try to attract all those crowds because corporate parties are not going to come in to your bowling center on Monday through Thursday.
