To the casual bowler -- you know, the type that uses the house ball and rents a pair of shoes -- running a neighborhood alley seems pretty straightforward. Oil up the lanes occasionally and make sure some machine picks up the pins when they're knocked down.
But if it were that easy, there would be more successful houses around Milwaukee. Because even in the town that's home to the American Bowling Congress, family-owned, neighborhood lanes are on the decline. Fortunately, one such alley is doing just fine, thanks to the hard work of the family that owns Bay View Bowl.
BVB, as the regulars call it (2416 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.), is part of a renaissance, both in the area and in the business of running a successful bowling alley. For Mike Kosinski and his sister Sandy Higgins, who grew up around the sport, it seemed perfectly natural to pounce on the opportunity to buy the alley that was practically in their own backyard.
"We grew up in Bay View, went to Bay View High School," says Sandy, who likes the progress she sees in the neighborhood. "They're doing a lot of redevelopment on KK, and it's all for the better. It's exciting to be a part of it."
Mike and his wife Andrea, and Sandy with her husband Dave, bought the alley in the summer of 1999, but they already had a head start on knowing what it takes to build a successful bowling center. Impressive bowling skills aside, Mike had always worked, in some capacity, at an alley. Dave, a pretty good bowler in his own right, remembers what BVB was like in the old days, and used that frame of reference (no pun intended) to improve upon a business that's been around for a long time.
"This place is very unique to me because I used to watch my dad, who passed away in 1957, bowl here 45 years ago," says Dave. "I used to live two blocks away. One of these days, I'll see my dad walking down the alley. But I remember what it used to look like -- the bar was so small they had pool tables in that room."
With BVB's history fresh in their minds, they four new business owners began by cleaning up the dilapidated alley, first just making sure the bathrooms worked. They then recarpeted and rebuilt the ceiling.
"I know there's exactly 437 tiles," adds Dave.
But the biggest changes happened last summer, when they replaced the manual scoring with a state-of-the-art automatic system.
"There are a lot of people who stay out of bowling because they don't know how to score, but the new scoring brings a lot of people back in," says Sandy.
Mike and Andrea live upstairs from their business, so it's even more important to them to run a lane that's clean, modern and inviting.
"I care about my customers, and that's what I've based my whole business on," says Mike, who practically eats, sleeps and breathes bowling these days. "It took us three years to get this place up and running, but we did all the work ourselves."
"I'm very proud of what this has become," says Sandy. "I'm proud of all the comments that come back to us telling us people are happy with how the look has changed and how the clientele has changed. We brought it back up."
As BVB moved forward with its improvements, it also kept its regulars -- and made new ones. With leagues of varying skills rolling almost every day of the week, Mike and Andrea can honestly say they have hundreds of friends.
Stop by the Wednesday night men's "910 league," for example, and you'll see about 60 bowlers who meet every week -- for nine months straight. There are no breaks for Christmas or Thanksgiving. You wouldn't know it from the smiles, belly laughs and beer consumed by Jimbo, Kingpin, Slicer, Doc, Buzzy or the other characters who show up, but bowling is serious stuff. A bowler in a 910 league is expected to maintain a 182 average.
Thursday's 1000 league means bowlers should average 200. And that's much harder than you might imagine after a couple of cocktails. Seasoned veteran Jimbo summed it up one Wednesday: "I'm a drinker with a bowling problem."
Mike and Andrea double as full-time bartenders, while Sandy and Dave are the not-so-silent partners who work other jobs, but still find themselves hanging out -- and bowling -- at their own alley. The bar, one of the area's better-kept secrets, does brisk business in its own right.
How many taverns (that you'd want to visit, anyway) offer $1.25 frosty mugs of beer all the time and loads of free food during Packers games? It's probably due to the bargain prices, and their neighborhood camaraderie, that brings the bowlers and others back to the bar even on their off nights. BVB also hosts private parties for a number of groups in their back banquet room.
"We still do martinis, wine and our famous Bloody Marys," says Andrea. "But, oh, the Packers games, they are wonderful here."
{INSERT_RELATED}Adds Andrea, "It's wonderful that people enjoy coming here. The business has been built up because more bowlers know that this is a cleaner place. It's really important that people know that. People who bowl in a league still come in here on the weekends, to practice with the kids. It's a great family sport, too."
So, while BVB isn't doing much to further the Bay View arts scene, it is serving as an anchor on the new Kinnickinnic and to the future of bowling in Milwaukee.
Mike notes, "There used to be 128 bowling centers in Wisconsin, and now were down to 50 something. That's because they don't promote and make it fun for the kids. Kids are the future of bowling."
From Saturday night glow bowl, to the numerous kids' charities the alley sponsors, to the hard-drinking, hard-bowling league nights, BVB is keeping a blue-collar Milwaukee tradition alive.
"It's outstanding," says Mike. "And it's my dream come true."
For more information about open bowling or joining a league, call Bay View Bowl at (414) 483-0950.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
