The bowling industry in the US is very closely held for two major
reasons. First, it requires a substantial initial investment
creating a significant barrier to entry in the industry. Second, if
properly executed it offers an excellent ROI leading those with
capital and industry experience to be disinclined to bring in new
faces.
The result is the vast majority of center ownership being
consolidated into two main groups. Multi-generational
family/individual proprietors and large deep pocketed corporations.
The individual proprietors typically have 1 to 5 large footprint
centers that have been acquired over the last 20-60 years and are
married to the outdated league based revenue model that dominated
the industry through its rise in the 20th century.
The large corporations (i.e. Bowlmor, Lucky Strike, Brooklyn Bowl,
Kings Bowl America) have realized the financial benefits of moving
away from leagues and towards a high end open bowling environment
but have continued to focus on large footprint high-cost centers in
urban/densely populated areas where they can price their product at
a premium.
810 is growing corporate locations as quickly as possible with 2
new locations opening in 2018, however to scale the concept as fast
as demand and opportunity warrant we need operating partners to
build out new markets.
Combining a scratch kitchen, high end bar, unique bowling
experience, and gaming all into one full service concept was full
of many logistical hurdles all of which have been navigated and
solved by 810 as we have perfected our model and are ready to scale
it.
Our goal at 810 Franchise Concepts is two-fold. First, we want to
take that big city upscale bowling & dining experience and make it
available to everyone at prices that middle class American's can
afford. To do this we need to bring down the cost of ownership when
compared to a traditional bowling center and present an ROI that is
attractive to potential franchisees. We've accomplished this in 3
ways:
- Diversified Revenue Streams
A traditional bowling center gets 80-90% of its revenue from
bowling and league business with the balance made up of snack bar
and beer sales. 810 aims to generate 25-35% of its revenue from
bowling with the balance made up of restaurant, bar and gaming
sales. This diversification expands our demographic appeal,
increase guest visit durations, increases visit frequency,
increases check averages and positively differentiates 810 from the
traditional bowling experience most Americans have come to expect.
The key to achieving this revenue mix and making it profitable
hinges on the execution of a high-level food service program. To be
clear, 810 Bowling kitchens should offer a higher-quality dining
experience than you will find at any casual-dining or fast casual
chain. Our core menu offerings are brick oven pizza (dough made
from scratch in-house), signature char grilled angus burgers, jumbo
chicken wings, and French fries cut fresh in house. We expect
franchisees or general managers to have years of Food & Beverage
experience, and to employ a full time kitchen manager at each
location.
- Boutique Footprint
By eliminating league play and focusing on the casual open bowling
customer we eliminate the need for 32 or more lanes and can instead
install fewer lane beds with higher end finishes and a focus on
optimizing usage rates and marginal return on investment to
determine the correct number of lanes for a new location. This
reduction in lane beds combined with the inclusion of other smaller
footprint games (billiards, ping - pong, shuffleboard tables,
darts, board games, corn hole) results in a broadening of our
customer base and a smaller total footprint hence reducing our
initial build-out costs
- Exclusive Bowling Supply & Installation
Terms
Most importantly as an initial value proposition to franchisees is
our exclusive pricing terms for supply and installation of new
high-end lanes, equipment and furniture. This agreement allows us
to offer the franchisee a discount on the initial investment of
$600,000 (for a 12 lane location) when compared to the cost of
building a bowling center outside of the 810 network.
Through this 3 pronged approach we converted our first location, a
proof of concept called 710 North Myrtle Beach from a traditional
32 lane league based center to our concept by removing 12 lanes and
renovating the space and nearly tripled revenue as a result (750k
previously to 2mm now)
An Investment for the Long Haul
A natural concern for an investment of this size is longevity. A 2
year payback is nice (our target for a 12 lane center doing 2mm in
revenue with a 700k cash investment) but what about into the
future? We feel 810 offers unique security in that regard. We are
spearheading the evolution from the league based outdated bowling
model to one that is appealing to the millennial demographic. With
a concept focused around physical interaction, social gatherings
and high quality food & beverage we anticipate this concept
maintaining its appeal regardless of advances in technology and
home entertainment that will likely make other entertainment venues
(movie theatres, laser tag, video arcades, etc) obsolete.
In addition to these unique benefits of franchise ownership, the
franchisor will further provide:
- Customized website for each franchisee housed on our corporate
page
- Event Reservation Management & Coordination Centralization - a
major labor saver for franchisees, all party and reservation
inquiries for a given unit will be channeled to our corporate
office where we will handle coordination with the customer and
disseminating reservations and information back to the 810
location
- Site Selection Assistance
- Building Footprint Optimization
- Finishes & Materials specifications
- Furniture & Fixture specifications
- Kitchen & Bar Equipment specifications
- Bowling Equipment Sourcing & Installation (via 3rd party)
- 2 Week training at our corporate facility for all managers
- 2 weeks+ of onsite and grand opening support
- A promise that at a minimum 100% of your general ad fund
contribution will be spent directly on your local market, with the
franchisor providing additional local marketing funds where
possible
- Free set up and maintenance of both our F&B POS system and
our Bowling & Gaming POS system, franchisee needs only purchase the
hardware
- Kitchen & Bar - All menus designed and updated, all recipes
supplied and training on new items provided