Another Mom & Pop Closing

In a sad case of serendipity, I took my family bowling last Saturday night to Airport Bowl in Richfield for the first time ever, and then found out this week they are closing this summer. I have driven by the 12-lane house probably a couple hundred times at least, and finally tried it out for the first time ever.

The owners are literally Mom & Pop (but not mine), having run the business for 25 years. Their son reports that they haven't drawn a salary in two years, and because of the declining nature of the business of bowling (at least in small houses not tricked up with lasers and black lights), plus rising real estate costs, selling isn't even an option. They will simply vacate when the lease is up.

The good news is the couple will get some much-deserved rest and relaxation, and they are not hurting financially for their retirement years. My wife, who is horrified to think of how I am getting my four-and-two-year-olds hooked on the game, even mentioned when we were there, "We should buy a bowling alley like this."

"That would be a dream," I thought, although now I'm re-thinking that with this news. I do love small houses like the Airport Bowl. You don't see too many more in the Twin Cities. Saint Bernards', Country Club, and Ran-Ham come to mind. Falcon Bowl closed a few years ago to development, as did the Stahl House, just to name a couple.

Sadly, at least to a reborn bowling geek like me, this is less a statement of big corporations taking over the Mom & Pops than it is a sorry statement of the state of bowling. There are a lot of ideas out there, but I honestly don't know what can be done to grow the sport back to at least a semblance of what it was 20-30 years ago.

I'm glad I at least got to contribute some $60+ to the couple's retirement the other night (there were eight of us including a friend, plus we had drinks). I'll be stopping by at least one more time before it closes to pay my last respects, and hopefully help make the couple's golden years a little better, if ever so slightly.