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Down a new alley; Bowling centers roll with changes in entertainment landscape.

Article Excerpt
Mark Voight equips his entertainment venues with booming sound systems, sophisticated lighting systems, bright colors and youth-friendly events.

He's not rolling the dice in some high-risk dance-club investment. He's putting his money into one of metro Detroit's entertainment icons: bowling alleys.

The bowling business now relies on events as much as leagues. And despite its smoky, good ol' boy image, it's family-friendly. At more bowling centers, Disney bowling balls and laser lights are becoming more common than cigarettes and beer.

``We host a party every day,'' said Diane Voight, Mark Voight's spouse and the bowling centers' promotion coordinator.

Voight's Livonia-based company owns 22 bowling centers, racking up about $26 million in revenue last year. All but two of the centers make a profit, he said, and the business has grown by about 25 percent over the past two years.

Community Bowling Centers, part of Voight Enterprises Inc., is now the nation's third-largest owner of bowling centers and the largest based in Michigan. The company's growth underscores how a money-savvy entrepreneur can reinvent an aging, declining business by mixing new ideas with tried-and-true customer service.

``Our motto is cleanliness and friendliness,'' Voight said as work crews replaced decades-old lane facades at his Canton Super Bowl center with glow-in-the-dark pastel panels. The work took less than a week and cost about $50,000.

Part of Motown's culture

Bowling has been as much a part of Detroit's cultural heritage as the assembly line. The same families have owned bowling centers for two, three or even four generations.

The nation's most active bowling...