Brunswick is, and always has been, synonymous with the amusement industry. Ahead of this month's IAAPA show, Helen Fletcher discovers how bowling and coin-op continue to bring that all-important entertainment factor to a location
The relationship between bowling venues and arcades/redemption has witnessed significant growth over the last five years for family entertainment centre investments.
And as bowling business models transform to FECs or hybrids, arcade/redemption has become part of the business and makes significant contributions to the profitability of the venue.
"For the existing bowling customer base the transition has been slower due to the physical limitations of the facility to accommodate larger venues and the large investment involved," said Brunswick’s spokesperson. "For those customers moving from a traditional bowling venue to an FEC retail operation, a large arcade with redemption is an excellent idea and while it varies greatly from country to country, there is a greater presences of arcade games in European centres."
The European business model, according to Brunswick, is heavier on the entertainment side with casual bowlers being the vast majority of the customers. Coin-op has always been very strong in central and southern Europe but in northern Europe arcade redemption is not as popular due to cultural differences and local regulations where bowling is seen more as a competitive sport. Bowling and coin-op complement each other and have proven to provide profitable results for centres. Coin-op has changed toward redemption in many areas and bowling is a great venue to combine with an arcade area.
The importance of including coin-op amusement product in the mix of entertainment offerings is, without doubt, increasingly important for bowling centres and for Brunswick, as the business mix migrates to more casual play, consumers will seek out entertainment venues that offer multiple attractions, which complement bowling under one business umbrella.
"Arcades/redemption are a good complement to bowling and can be enjoyed by the entire family. It plays an important role in the strategic focus of an FEC/hybrid and makes a considerable contribution to the profitability of these new bowling venue business models."
Further evidence of the strong relationship between bowling and coin-op - redemption games in particular comes in the form of Brunswick’s Virtual Bowling product. Brunswick was one of the first in the industry to offer a ticket dispenser for redemption at the lanes and it has seen great success.
"Our real bowling lane customers have, however, been cautious about adding the redemption concept to the traditional lanes," said the spokesperson. "There’s a different clientele and a very different profitability model. It’s a difficult decision for the proprietor to choose between putting kids on the bowling lanes collecting tickets versus keeping them in the arcade where they spend more money. While on the other hand, teens and adults spend a lot more on food and beverage at the lanes."
There is currently just one FEC in the US with redemption ticket dispensers at the lanes, according to Brunswick and they are only turned on for children’s birthday parties or pre-planned party packages where they also sell arcade tokens, in order to ensure they capture customers in both venues.
Despite the growing strength of combining coin-op and bowling, neither sector can escape the grip of recession, but having them work together could help in their survival. According to Brunswick, its current growth plans have slowed down due to the economic conditions but it is positioned for future growth as the economy recovers.
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Unfortunately, the economic situation is also affecting emerging markets but the good news for Brunswick is that although there’s been less worldwide investment in construction of new facilities, the company has remained healthy - mainly because when there is a new project, investors want to work with a company that has been doing it for over 150 years and one that has first-hand expertise to create a profitable operation, even in a tough economy.
"Over the years we have witnessed many downturns in the business environment and we have always stood by and supported our most valuable asset - our customers," continued Brunswick. "Our values are simple - empower our customers with information to make good business decisions; address risk while maximising profitability for a customer’s business; provide goods and services that afford our customers a competitive advantage and make our customers’ lives easier."
Brunswick aims to meet all of these values by providing the support and more advanced operations models that customers need through advanced bowling equipment.
"We also provide a multitude of advanced operational systems to help a centre run more efficiently including POS, credit card integration, labour management, customer loyalty and marketing programmes, maintenance management software tools, game card and alcohol control integration, online reservations and live online scoring, digital signage and complete event management tools."
Looking forward there is the opportunity for coin-op and bowling to continue to move forward together and continued growth. As a company Brunswick told InterGame it believes it is vital for entertainment companies to work collectively for the betterment of the customer and bowling proprietors.
"Over the years we have developed great business alliances within the arcade/redemption industry and currently enjoy great working relationships while serving our customer base. Our vision remains in helping customers provide the most enjoyable venues for entertainment for their customers, whether it is bowling, billiards, food and beverage, music and video entertainment, arcades and redemption.
First published November, 2009
