New look keeps Bel Mateo Bowl thriving

Since that time, Leong has spent around $1 million in renovations to stay competitive and bring in a new generation of customers for the bowling alley just north of the Belmont border in San Mateo.

Bowling alleys across the United States have had trouble staying in business in recent years. According to a report from Sandy Hansell and Associates, a Michigan-based bowling center broker, there were approximately 4,700 bowling centers in the United States, down from 5,498 in 2007 reported by White Hutchinson Leisure and Learning Group. AMF Moonlight Lanes in Santa Clara and Serra Bowl in Daly City closed in the past few years because of a rise in lease pricing and bowling alley upkeep.

Leong decided he needed to change from the traditional bowling alley of the 1950s and instead move forward with a new way of engaging bowlers. Since 2013, Bel Mateo has installed new televisions above the lanes, smoke machines, a sound system, LED lights and a kid-friendly scoring machine system. Friday and Saturday nights after 9 p.m. often look more like a party than the traditional bowling alley it was a few years ago.

Bel Mateo has also made changes to the entertainment section available for bowlers. They recently installed a game room for kids and a bar for adults. The bar has a fireplace, lots of seating and multiple TV screens so people can watch sports while waiting to bowl. Leong even has plans to renovate the bistro so customers will have a wider variety of food options.

“I think, like any business, if you don’t evolve, update and improve than you’re going to go under,” Leong said.

Leong’s business plan is part of an overall shift he’s witnessed in the bowling industry in the last five years. Owners are now opening boutique bowling centers instead of traditional bowling alleys. Boutique bowling centers have a limited number of lanes and use the extra space for restaurants, bars, and party rooms. Boutique bowling centers are usually in metropolitan areas with a lot of foot traffic. Leong is operating what he calls a hybrid between the traditional bowling alley and the boutique bowling centers now popping up in malls. Leong says that the new model is five times more profitable than a traditional bowling alley.

“Knowing that’s what your return on investment is, no one is building a traditional bowling center. That is what’s happening. Profit-wise it doesn’t make any sense; it only makes sense to build a boutique center that has food and beverage,” Leong said.

The changes are also part of a big push to bring in a younger generation of bowlers. He decided to make Bel Mateo more active on social media and change parts of the color-scheme inside after he consulted and received suggestions from a college student on his staff. He quickly realized that 20-year-olds did not want the same thing as 60-year-olds.

Leong wasn’t just satisfied with changing the entertainment options. He also retrained the staff to stop thinking of Bel Mateo Bowl as a smoky, dirty place and instead think of it as a high-end business on the same level as an IBM or Facebook. To reinforce the image, Bel Mateo Bowl installed new restrooms, carpets, chairs and walls to transform people’s perception of what a bowling alley should look like. They also upgraded the color scheme and used a new graphic design to decorate the interior.

Sara Lewinstein, hired by Leong last year as general manager, believes the changes have helped bring in people who wouldn’t have come a few years ago.

“We are getting bowlers who haven’t bowled for 10, 20 years because they love something new. We are getting kids who love the games down here,” Lewinstein said.

Bel Mateo Bowl has also seen an increase in business from open play and in overall business since the changes. Much of the increased business comes from younger people and families like all the changes. Joel Lurie comes to Bel Mateo Bowl every few months with his family and is impressed by all the different upgrades.

“We come here with grandkids, and it’s so much nicer than it used to be,” Lurie said.

Adam Schembri is a college student who has come to Bel Mateo Bowl since he was a little kid. The new TVs mean he no longer has to choose between watching the Warriors and Giants games at home or bowling with his friends. He has also noticed that the changes have improved the atmosphere and brought in more people.

“Sometimes I can’t even come on the weekends because it is going to be so booked. I see a lot more kids’ parties just because of how fun it looks. A ton of companies, a ton of adults, are coming here,” Schembri said.

Despite all the changes he has made, Leong is a traditionalist who still believes it’s important to cater to those who want a traditional bowling alley. There are still recreational leagues every day for those more devoted to the game.

“I still have a deep commitment to the sport of bowling and want to keep the sport of bowling alive. I don’t just cater to the party end of it, even if that means so much more money,” Leong said.