BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: tommyboy74 on September 01, 2012, 04:38:37 PM
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It's official. In Brad's hometown of Lockport, NY, yesterday was his day to shine as he reopened the former South Transit Lanes as Brad Angelo Lanes. Even though he only had 2 weeks to redo the place, he did a nice job with it.
The good thing is that leagues are already booked solid for the fall. He is also offering new leagues ranging from your social/low average all the way up to highly competitive.
Congrats to Brad and his family on investing in this place and giving it the new ownership it deserves. It was also great to see him loving the moment and chatting with everyone as there were quite a bit of people there on opening night. Definitely more than the old ownership could dream of.
http://lockportjournal.com/sports/x543534477/Brad-Angelo-Lanes-opening-Aug-31/print
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I was lucky to have met Brad and his wife back in 2005. I was lucky enough to talk to both of them a lot that week. I watched brad talk to a couple kids for around 20 minutes a piece. Glad to see Brad do this. Thanks for the story.
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Brad's a stellar guy! I've met and bowled with him several times, cool dude in my book. Good luck to him.
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There was another article about the grand opening in a hometown paper called the Lockport Journal on Saturday. From what he and his wife Michelle mentioned, they want our input (the bowlers) to be a big part of the success.
What a novel concept. Listen to your customers ideas because they can help. Sounds like he's going to do better than the previous owner already.
The previous owner didn't keep consistant hours, let the lanes become run down, had dryers on the returns that would not work, bad racks, etc. From what I have seen, that has been taken care of by Brad in the past 2 weeks prior to reopening.
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Here is an article from day 1 of Brad Angelo Lanes:
http://www.metrowny.com/news/173-Brad_Angelo_Lanes_opens_in_Lockport.html
I can say having been there prior to Brad's ownership, the place sucked. The owners had no clue and just didn't care. I was honestly surprised that the old ownership lasted as long as they did, because they were out of touch.
Now that Brad redid the place in only 2 weeks time, the place did a total 180. First, he got rid of all the previous staff and the pro shop (with the exception of 2 league directors). A new pro shop came in and is 100% better than the prior shop. The snack bar, bathrooms, and the main areas of the house have all been redone. All of the new staff treats us bowlers as if they actually want us there, and go out of their way in providing good service.
The lanes had all mechanical issues fixed as the old ownership let problems with racks missing pins, ball returns with busted air dryers, and approach issues continue. Even the lane mechanics are brand new, and they are actually taking pride in having a good house that will stay in good repair.
Even better- there is finally fresh oil to bowl on, and it's now probably 1 of the 3 or 4 toughest house shots in the area compared to the easiest. It's not the shot the old ownership used to have where you literally had 15 boards of room (if they even oiled the lanes half the time). This is a good thing as I found out Wednesday night on the 1st night of league bowling under the new ownership. It forced even the best bowlers there to be on their A game and pay attention to transitions, which makes it more competitive. The shot reminded me of the Sunset Strip pattern, where certain lanes would play different.
Brad Angelo Lanes also is now on facebook, along with the new Prime Time Pro Shop. Both are reaching out to bowlers and these are 2 of the few places around here that are doing so. Smart move on his part.
Brad has done a good job turning that place around so far. I look forward to seeing what else he will do in the future, and I'm glad I jumped on a team here this year. Plus, it's finally nice to have a good house less than 10 minutes from my house (instead of 20-30 as last year).