Tenpin alleys boom as Britain is bowled over by retro vibes of 1950s America | Business

Tenpin alleys boom as Britain is bowled over by retro vibes of 1950s America | Business

In the 1951 film adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire, Marlon Brando’s character, Stanley Kowalski, famously went bowling to blow off steam. The bowling alley also proved a refuge from responsibility for Jeff Bridges’s cinematic slacker, the Dude, in The Big Lebowski.

Both would find the lanes of 21st-century Britain considerably less to their liking. The smoke-filled halls and cheap beer are long gone as tenpin bowling has gone both mass and upmarket, offering VIP lanes and cocktails by night, and children’s parties and gourmet burgers by day.

Given up for dead after the smoking ban came into effect a decade ago, tenpin bowling is now one of the UK’s fastest-growing leisure activities. Last year almost a third of all Britons are said to have gone bowling, lifting turnover to the highest level on record, according to market research firm Mintel. In total, we spent £285m notching up strikes and spares, an annual increase of 7%. Spending this year will top £300m.

“Bowling has shifted a long way from its blue-collar male roots in postwar America, and is appealing to a much wider group of people,” said Mintel senior analyst John Worthington. “There’s a much bigger family focus now, as well as the office night-out crowd.”

That rather odd mix of suits and buggies is in evidence at the Hollywood Bowl in Brighton, one of the country’s growing number of refurbished bowling alleys. It’s early evening on a Wednesday and toddlers, teenagers and parents line up alongside a group of “bonding” office workers and some college students. Further down, a gaggle of women on a hen party squeal with delight. The clatter of balls hitting pins echoes in the air.

“We’ve got 160 bookings tonight â€" completely full,” said Harry, the VIP-lane waiter, who is showing a young family how to engage the ramps and the bumpers so that three-year-old Jesse has a decent chance of beating his dad.

Punters using the VIP lanes get waiter service, charge points for mobiles and a camera that replays their strikes. It might be a million miles from the rough and tumble of bowling alleys in 1950s America, but nostalgia for that world is everywhere â€" from the faux leather dining booths to the “washroom” pictures of rockabilly stars.

Steve Buscemi and John Goodman go bowling in The Big Lebowski. Photograph: Allstar/Gramercy Pictures/Sportsphoto

“The VIP lanes are a shameless rip-off of what they’ve done in the cinemas â€" a slightly nicer environment, with nicer seating,” admits Steve Burns, CEO of the Hollywood Bowl Group, the UK’s largest tenpin bowling operator. Burns’s firm bought into the business in 2010 and now runs 57 venues up and down the country.

“All we’ve done is brought bowling into the 21st century. This is an era when people are buying experiences rather than things, and bowling is pretty unique in that anyone can do it. It doesn’t matter if you’re 92 or two,” he said.

Helen Tamblyn of the British Tenpin Bowling Association agrees. “Bowling is really on trend at the moment â€" it’s one of those things that everyone can do and can do together. It’s social and it’s fun.”

Membership of the BTBA, which represents bowlers who play in leagues, has shot up 20% in the last two years. This rise in the sport’s popularity has not gone unnoticed by the fashion industry.

“We’ve been receiving a lot of inquiries from brands asking if we have any bowlers who could model their bowling shirts,” Tamblyn said.

Streetwear labels Supreme and Grind London have both introduced their own retro bowling shirt, with its elbow-length sleeve and spread-collar.

“The bowling shirt has been gaining traction for the last couple of seasons,” said Karinna Nobbs, a lecturer at the London college of fashion. “Fifties America has long been associated with the birth of the teenager and a postwar good vibe. Wearing clothes associated with that period cheers people up â€" and it’s easily merchandised in store.”

Mark Wilson, who runs Bloomsbury Lanes, an independent bowling alley built on a former car park in central London, believes bowling is surging in popularity because “people want to do activities rather than just going out for a beer or something to eat. They come in, bowl, get the highs and lows of a strike or a zero, then go and do some karaoke, play pool or table tennis, have a bite to eat and a drink â€" often they stay the whole day or night. They’re ‘doing something’ and that’s the pull.”

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