CHAMPION

THE BANQUET

Highlights from Bowl Expo 2019

Once again, Brunswick was displaying some impressive innovations to the attendees of Bowl Expo last month. Here are just some of the highlights from the show:

Spark

Spark is Brunswick’s new interactive scoring experience. Just what is an interactive scoring experience? Well, in the case of Spark, it’s an immersive experience for the casual bowler like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

It begins with when the guest approaches the Sync tablet and bowlers are presented with new games and 15 animation themes that carry right onto the lanes themselves! Throughout the game, the experience is carried from the scoring tablet to the lanes where Spark brings their favourite Sync games to life. Imagine your guests being able to project their own images onto the lanes, and score points by hitting targets right on the lane! They can do it all, creating Instagram worthy photo ops they’ll share with all their friends and family.

Brunswick has partnered with TouchMagix™ to introduce technology that revolutionizes the on-lane projection experience. Spark’s hardware automation simplifies ongoing management, and advanced laser projection technology lowers total cost of ownership.

Spark’s dynamic content keeps the experience fresh frame after frame. The ever-expanding library of interactive Sync games keeps guest engagement high, increases revenue per visit, and pulls through incremental F&B sales thanks to increased lineage

You can get a taste of what Spark brings to the bowler experience in this video.

To learn more about this amazing innovation from Brunswick, call your Striker Bowling rep at 1.800.232.2369.

Sync Invicta™
Bowl Expo attendees got a close-up look at the new Invicta release of Sync. The largest update since the launch of Sync, this new update takes the experience to a whole new level!

Bowler Experience
The Vision™ User Interface is modelled after leading digital streaming and eCommerce sites like Netflix and facilitates the discovery of new games based on past playing behaviour. It clearly explains game rules and playing time, leading to less staff intervention and a more positive guest experience.

Loyalty
Open Lane®, a mobile app that increases customer loyalty by making it easier for customers to connect with their favourite bowling centre. Users can sign onto waitlists for bowling, restaurants or other attractions, track and share scoring achievements, earn reward points based on spend and activity and access exclusive specials and coupons.

Corporate Events
Rival Rumble™, a team competition, is designed to encourage participation and engagement across all skill levels. Rival Rumble uses high-resolution, engaging content to allow lanes of bowlers to compete as teams against one another.

To create the ultimate team-building experience, the game automatically presents bowlers with fun and creative individual and team awards at the end of the game – saving the centre from having to manually offer awards.

League Management
LeaguePals custom software lets users create leagues, manage rosters, make online payments and automate accounting. Bowling Centres have reported upwards of a 20% increase in bar and concession sales due to bowlers having more “cash” in their pockets from paying online.

To learn more, contact your Striker Bowling rep at 1.800.232.2369.

Why Installation Expertise Matters

Buying the right equipment is only half the battle. In this article, we’ll explain the importance of quality installation, how we ensure quality on every job, and provide 6 questions you should ask to make sure your equipment is installed correctly.

When it comes to modernizing a bowling centre, or building a new one, one of the most important considerations is the quality of the team installing your lanes. Whether you’re installing new lanes, pinsetters, overlays, or scoring systems, quality installation can mean the difference between decades of worry-free performance and nightmares like voided warranties, early breakage, higher maintenance costs, and poor bowler experience.

One of the most critical parts of the installation process is the preparation; what you do before you screw down a single lane panel can mean the difference between decades of trouble-free experience and replacing damages lanes a couple of years down the road, dealing with increasing maintenance costs, and coping with poor bowler experience.

On the extreme side, we’ve seen lane installations that were put down over old foundations without proper preparation and the impact of the balls eventually caved the lanes to point of breaking. Less severe, but equally problematic are shifting lanes, uneven surfaces, and poor bowler experience.

At Striker Bowling, our professional installers will spend up to two days on preparation. This time ensures that your lanes go down on a solid foundation, levelled to a 20,000 tolerance, and meet the requirements of the industries ruling bodies.

When equipment isn’t installed correctly, you’re bound to see issues popping up years down the road. Issues that are going to erode you investment.

We have five foremen across Canada, all certified and thoroughly trained by Brunswick. All of whom have run their own bowling centres. That means they know the business from your side. They know the importance of proper installation, and they take care to always do an exceptional job.

The Striker Installation Difference

  • Our installers do everything: lanes, pinsetters, overlays, scoring systems, monitors. That means they know how to make sure it all works together like it should.
  • We utilize Brunswick Engineers to ensure everything is done right.
  • We meticulously follow Brunswick’s detailed installation guides and Pre-Installation Checklists to guarantee a perfect installation.
  • Our 5 experienced foremen across Canada are all current or former bowling centre owners. They’re supported by a team of 20 experienced installers, keymen, and field engineers.
  • We communicate efficiently and effectively to meet or exceed all installation schedules set for your centre.
  • We’ve completed over 250 installations over the past 10 years and continue complete nearly 30 each year

6 Questions That Will Help You Ensure You Get Quality Installation

You’re putting a lot of trust in the people installing your equipment, but how can you be sure the installation team you’re getting knows their stuff? Here are six questions you can ask that help ensure you make a smart choice, and signal to the company that you know what to look for and keep them on their toes:

  1. How long with the installation take? (Beware of short timelines, it could be a sign corners are being cut)
  2. How many years of experience do the installers who will work on my jobhave?
  3. Does the same team install everything or just part of the job?
  4. What does your pre-installation checklist look like? (Request a copy)
  5. Do your installers work on a project or hourly basis (sometimes installers working on a project basis will cut corners to finish sooner and save their costs)
  6. Ask for references from past job those specific installers have been on

Pay-As-You-Play Financing Program

In March we launched a new “Pay-as-you-Play” financing program to make it easier for proprietors to introduce Brunswick’s industry-leading Sync scoring and management system into their centres.

Our flexible financing program is based on your usage of the system as measured through the Brunswick Cloud (one of the many awesome tools you get as part of Sync). When your traffic slows down and your revenue drops, your payments can drop, too! We can also offer a variety of payment schedules including seasonal, quarterly, and semi-annual.  We’ll do a complete financial review with you to put the parameters of the program in place.

A 24 lane centre would have to raise game prices by only $0.38 per game* to cover costs. A 16 lane centre, just $0.41 per game*! We recommend raising that per game price an additional 30 percent beyond what covers your cost to add to your bottom line. The great thing is, the improved bowler experience means your customers won’t mind paying a little more for all the benefits they get!

The bottom line is that you can get Sync into your centre for pennies a game! Plus create a payment schedule that works for your business! If you have other capital items needing financing, call us to create a program that works for your business.

Call us today for more details or to book a free Sync demo. 1.800.232.2369. ext. 230.