Host (00:10)
first? Me? Yeah. Are you from Kelowna?

Kevin (00:10)
Go ahead.

Christina (00:12)
No, no, I am originally from Vancouver. No, the Ladner area. Yeah. So like the Delta area. Yeah. We were there till I was about six or so. And then we moved to my dad got transferred to Winnipeg. He was in finance for the banks. And then, yeah, we moved to Winnipeg.

Host (00:16)
like Vancouver proper?

What was he in? Okay.

Christina (00:35)
kind of where I was from like six till about 28 is when I moved back out to BC.

Host (00:41)
What part of VC did you come back What drew you to this?

Christina (00:42)
Kelowna.

Well, I came, I was in insurance, working in Winnipeg, and so I got transferred out here for insurance, and Kevin was back out here.

Host (00:53)
I always find it interesting, why, did you go into insurance because your father was in fine?

Christina (00:58)
No, after high school, I got a job at a chiropractor's office. Yeah. And as a receptionist, you have to do lots of insurance billing. And that's how I got into it. ⁓

Host (01:06)
⁓

that is quite the thing when you're dealing with anything. It's like dental offices, all these things. Pharmacy, everything is all these insurance finance They're a pain to deal with.

Christina (01:14)
Lots of insurance.

They

are pain, which is why I went on the other end of it.

Host (01:22)
Yeah. So were you the person we call when we had an initiative?

Christina (01:25)
Yeah,

all group benefits. So it was good insurance. People liked talking to me. wasn't like life insurance that you pay into and you never see. It was all group benefits. Everything that companies provide to their employees.

Host (01:36)
So that's interesting.

Okay. Yeah, so we were we're kind of in your mid-20s right now then when you move back to Kelowna

Christina (01:46)
I was 28 when I moved back to Kelowna. yeah, so I did insurance in Winnipeg for about 10 years. I think I went straight there from high school, like it was about 18 when I started working in insurance and then yeah then moved out here I was about

Host (02:00)
Okay,

yeah. And then what about yourself, Kevin?

Kevin (02:03)
Born and raised in Winnipeg. Christina and I met in high school.

Host (02:09)
goodness, high school sweetheart.

Kevin (02:10)
Yeah,

yeah. Turns out her mom was a frequent substitute teacher. back, grade two was the first time I sort of remember Eva, Christina's mom. And yeah, I remember picking her up for our first date. So she was in grade 11. I was in grade 12.

And her mom answered the door and it all kind of.

Host (02:36)
So you didn't know, didn't realize her mom had been your substitute teacher. and then hopefully you were a good kid in issue

Christina (02:47)
She called him the class clown.

Kevin (02:49)
So we had a lot of talks and yeah and so we met like I say in high school and started dating just before grad. ⁓ Before my grad and yeah we dated for almost two years and Christina kicked me to the curb and I was all sad and decided to move out to the Okanagan.

Christina (02:58)
for your grad.

Host (03:10)
And had you been out west before?

Kevin (03:12)
Nope, nope, my parents had moved out here previously, when I was in high school. I was in college at the time and Christina and I were dating, we broke up. I ended up dropping out of college and moving out west.

Host (03:28)
Wow. what job did you land when you got out here? Do you have a whirlwind of jobs? This fascinates

Kevin (03:33)
Yeah, lots of it. my first. Well,

I had a diploma in hospitality management, so I applied at every hotel there was couldn't couldn't land a job. So I found a job carrying around cardboard box full of office supplies and useless stuff you don't need. And we went door to door and sold those to businesses that didn't need them. And

Host (04:01)
What decade was this? 1998.

Kevin (04:03)
This was in 98. Yeah, and

we, there was a guy who drove us in his pinto all around the valley and yeah, we would go door to door and.

Host (04:13)
Like cold,

like cold knocking. Yeah.

Christina (04:15)
still.

Kevin (04:16)
Well,

no, we would go into businesses and sell staplers and post it notes.

Host (04:20)
But did they know you were coming or you would just cold knock that just walk in that's right. and

Kevin (04:23)
That's right.

And I got a phone call while I was doing that from the Ramada Lodge Hotel and they offered me a gig so I put my box down and took a cab home from Penticton. Well he wouldn't drive me to the end of the day so...

Host (04:38)
Did you really?

Yeah, I guess I'm quitting on you. you drag me back? How much did a cab do you remember how much that would have cost back in the day?

Christina (04:44)
Yeah.

Kevin (04:44)
Yeah, yeah, exactly.

It was like 60 bucks. It was pretty reasonable. Yeah. Yeah, I was going from Penticton to West Kelowna where I lived at the time. Okay. Or West Bank. Yeah, and worked in hotels for quite some quite some time and that was my first experience in the Okanagan is hospitality and that that lifestyle.

Host (04:58)
Yeah, it would have been West Bank.

You must have learned a lot to be a people person if you're with your sales job though. Door to door, door to business sales job.

Kevin (05:17)
Yeah, I was I've always sort of been in sales, even as a little boy. I was a paper boy and I the newspaper would have me go out in different areas of town in canvas and Okay, I was the cute little nine-year-old who Yeah trying to sell monthly subscriptions for 3.99. I mean who wasn't gonna Who was gonna say no to that? and yeah

Christina (05:31)
kid, you know.

Kevin (05:41)
always been in sales one way or another.

Host (05:43)
Okay, so then you're now in West Bank, you're still in Winnipeg. How did you rekindle?

Kevin (05:49)
Facebook. Yeah. A poke a poke on Facebook.

Host (05:51)
What was it?

So that would have been when Facebook kind of first came out.

Christina (05:56)
Yeah, was very fresh. Facebook was very fresh and new at that time.

Kevin (06:00)
Yeah, so this was, I think, early 08. I was going through a divorce and just at work one day killing time and I thought I'd look up Christina and couldn't find her. She had a different name and I wasn't sure if it was her but it looked close enough to her. Her hair was a lot shorter and I just sent her a poke and didn't...

didn't hear back for a couple days and yeah, it was her and we started chatting and fortunately or fortunate for me, she was going through a divorce.

Host (06:31)
Yes.

Christina (06:31)
We both were at the same time.

Kevin (06:33)
and

Host (06:34)
I

probably gave you something to like connect with too as well, ⁓

Kevin (06:37)
Totally.

Yeah, that was actually a big help going through that tough time and eventually I convinced Christina to move out West and Easy decision from Winnipeg to Kelowna ⁓

Host (06:49)
Did you visit

before you decided to move though?

Christina (06:52)
Yeah, it was like for about five or six months. I would come out every month.

Host (06:57)
Yeah.

Yeah. Well, that's pretty cool. And then were you able to land insurance job in Kelowna? Did you change careers for that? No.

Christina (07:06)
I was actually doing the, ⁓ I was working for Great West Life in Winnipeg and we actually did the insurance for Capri They their insurance providers so I was already having lots of dealings with the owners of Capri out here anyway they were looking, one of the partners of Capri

Host (07:15)
get out.

Christina (07:25)
had just recently lost his wife. So he was looking for an assistant for work and his life. it kind of worked out. It was right at the same time. wow. That they had started kind of asking about it. So it was the perfect time to transfer out. So I stayed right in my same business. actually had coming out here, I got a promotion and it was a step up.

Host (07:48)
Isn't that amazing how so often life things just fall apart? Yeah. you're now talking, you're saying 2008. And then what was the next stage or next step in each of yours, job journey?

Christina (07:51)
All into place?

Kevin (08:03)
uh... will two thousand ten i remember i was open when the pig visiting my dad and

Christina wasn't too keen on the particular person she was working for at the time. And I was doing property management and it was during the boom of property management.

Host (08:20)
This

is after or at the same time of working at the hotel industry

Kevin (08:24)
Oh yeah, yeah, this is well, well after from hotels I went to, became a DJ for a while then.

Host (08:34)
Like a full-time DJ?

Kevin (08:36)
Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. Do you remember the Pier Marina pub? Yeah. Yeah. We we DJed partner and I DJed there for a few years before it mysteriously burnt down. And there was a club out in Vernon we did. We did a lot of weddings in the Okanagan. Yeah, it was it was a lot of fun. And to be in your early to mid 20s, it was interesting. Yeah.

And yeah, after that I got into construction or I did some accounting and then I got into construction and then from construction that led to

Host (09:09)
Wait,

wait, so you went into account, like you did a course at the college or something?

That's what it was in. It was like bookkeeping accounting sort of thing. Yep.

Kevin (09:21)
And so I worked for a company called Oakridge, which is Jimmy Pattinson's accounting firm for magazines and magazine distribution. So I did that for a few years and I was the seventh person hired. First male hired within the company. Wow. And I lasted three and a half years and I was too young and I couldn't be promoted.

Host (09:30)
Okay.

Kevin (09:46)
yeah, and...

Host (09:44)
it kind of got stale.

especially

coming from the DJ life to now. You're trying to adult all of a sudden, ⁓

Kevin (09:51)
⁓ Yeah, it was a...

in

Christina (09:57)
That's

when you have kids, you have to adult. You can't be the kid anymore.

Kevin (10:00)
So yeah, after accounting construction, had a friend who owned a development company and he offered me a job that I wasn't qualified for, but I took it anyway.

Host (10:12)
Was

it like a journeyman type of anything or was it?

Kevin (10:15)
I

was I was assistant site super. was hired as an assistant site super. I remember my job interview. He said, can you swing a hammer? And I said, yeah. He's like, could you could you patch that hole in the wall? And said, eventually. Yeah. And yeah. And basically due to my, I guess, organizational skills, he wanted he had a site super who was the best, the best in the valley, but he just wasn't very organized. So

Host (10:29)
Yeah.

Kevin (10:41)
I was hired to kind of keep him organized. would organize trades and, you know, keep track of expenses and whatnot and submit those to the office.

Host (10:49)
It

like it brings a lot of your traits together. You're dealing with people, your book, your money knowledge, your organized.

Kevin (10:57)
Yeah, yeah, I enjoyed it. I just when it came time to do actual like manual labor, the construction part of construction, I just wasn't very good at it. So, yeah, that same friend, the owner of the development company, he owned a building downtown Kelowna. And he asked me if I wanted to manage it for him.

Host (11:07)
Got it.

Kevin (11:19)
And that's how got into property management. And then I was in it for five, six, seven years. And Christina came out here and she did the insurance thing for a couple of years. But I needed help in property management. She wasn't too keen on working the nine to five

Host (11:20)
Mmm.

Christina (11:38)
in that office, know, having to... Yeah. Yeah, the gentleman that I had come out to work for had... Pretty much he had retired. some life stuff going on. So, yeah, so I got to... I ended up having to work under one of the younger guys who had the insurance...

Kevin (11:45)
retired.

Host (11:57)
Just in vibe the same.

Christina (11:58)
Yeah, yeah. That's a good That's where we're gonna leave it. Did not vibe and yeah it was horrible. I would come home and Kevin's like my gosh.

Host (12:07)
So you were in your mid to late 30s at this point?

Kevin (12:09)
No, no, late 20s.

Christina (12:10)
Late 20s, early 30s. That's right. Yeah.

Host (12:13)
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So

then, so then what did you do after your construction thing or property management supervisor?

Kevin (12:20)
While we're still in property management. ⁓

Host (12:22)
you're

a stud-

Christina (12:23)
I do, yeah, Kevin handles a lot of the bowling club stuff and then I handle all the administration.

Host (12:31)
And

do you work for yourselves now? You got your own business going on.

Christina (12:35)
We're contracted

out and yeah, we're

Kevin (12:37)
We're contracted out for a company out of Vancouver. But yeah, we manage properties from all over the valley to Kamloops.

Host (12:44)
So is this commercial properties? Residential. Residential. Or both? Can you give insight into the world of property management? Like what does that entail? And who are you this for? Is it just a bunch of snowbirds for the most part?

Kevin (12:48)
Resi.

Christina (12:51)
I only do residential.

Kevin (13:04)
No,

no, there's individual owners we have clients All over the world at one point or another Yeah, and they they've invested in the Okanagan a lot of them invested back in the like 2004 five six that's when it's Really

Christina (13:10)
We have clients all over the world.

Host (13:24)
Make it in. ⁓

Christina (13:26)
and then blew

up. Yeah, and they've held them. Yeah, we just

Host (13:29)
We manage them for them full time. does that mean you have to find renters and all that stuff? Yeah. Oh, so you're basically a landlord substitute. Somebody's fridge goes, you're the ones that deal with it. bet. Transferring in and out. And you got to find the tenants too? Yeah. Oh, wow.

Kevin (13:38)
Yeah.

Christina (13:39)
So

we are they pay us

I knew all the listings, the showings, the reference check.

Host (13:51)
And then cleaning and the whole getting it ready for the next person.

Christina (13:55)
Yeah, well that is supposed, I mean a tenant is supposed to do that when they move out. Well, in quotations, let's be serious. Yeah, right? But it is our job to make sure that yes, the... Sometimes they leave stuff behind because they just are like, I didn't want that anymore. I'm like, oh thanks. not your job.

Host (14:03)
You're fully clean. No!

just to manage one tenant, to me, fills me with dread. Wow. So you must have employees then.

Christina (14:16)
We have over 100 properties.

Kevin (14:20)
Just you two? we have trades people that we deal with on a regular basis. have the best cleaner. Restoration companies we deal with.

Christina (14:32)
just have good trades.

Host (14:36)
So

you you've developed a nice network of people. yeah, like an appliance goes You're not the one going in and putting in the new one you call your person

Christina (14:46)
Yeah, I've got a good

network, it's a busy, it's a busy, like you asked, are we busy in the summer at the bowling alley? No, but this is one property.

Host (14:55)
Yeah,

yeah, do you try to take on more long-term rentals?

Christina (15:00)
They're all long. Oh, we do. Oh, we did. We've done a lot of work. It's I feel like I'm a hotel clerk calling me at calling me at two in the morning because they're drunk and they can't find the Wi-Fi password. I'm like, no, no, I can't do this anymore. Long term. I need long term. So, yeah.

Kevin (15:19)
Do your due diligence and you do your reference checks and select the right tenants. if you have, you know, understanding, patient, I guess, good hearted clients, it's a lot of these properties other than doing semi annual inspections, you know.

Host (15:35)
kind of run themselves.

Christina (15:36)
We

do.

Kevin (15:37)
We don't want to be intrusive with our tenants. We just let them be and as long as we know that they're looking after the place inside and out, paying their rent, then it makes our life easy. When in the early days, you know, when I was starving and I would maybe rush the wrong tenant in just to fill a place, that's when you run into trouble.

Christina (15:58)
You pay

for it because you're stuck with them.

Kevin (16:00)
Yeah, yeah, you avoid those kind of types of people. Yeah, but yeah, it's I've been doing property management one way or another since 1999.

Christina (16:04)
I mean, it still happens, but yeah.

Host (16:12)
That's a while, ⁓

Christina (16:13)
Yeah,

and I think I started doing this at the end of 2008, beginning 2009. had had enough of insurance to move on. It had become stagnant.

Host (16:21)
Yeah.

Yeah, the position, the job. was just... Has insurance changed very much from when you started to where you ended? Yeah.

Christina (16:32)
Yeah, was just starting to change when I was going out. Now it's completely different. Insurance companies are very, they really...

Because of all the fires and everything that happened out here, our insurance has become a lot stricter and tighter.

Host (16:46)
Yeah.

Interesting. Okay, so let's let's get to this bowling alley that we all love. Bowling center. What's the difference from bowling alley?

Christina (16:54)
I say

bowling alley all the time too. He corrects me at center or club.

Host (17:00)
didn't realize that the lingo... What's the difference between the two?

Christina (17:03)
Bye then.

Kevin (17:05)
While a bowling center is filled with alleys. But everyone calls it a bowling alley. How's the bowling alley doing?

Host (17:11)
The alley is just the one.

Christina (17:13)
just the one. ⁓ I say bowling lane, right? I know. Everyone has different... ⁓

Host (17:19)
see.

Kevin (17:22)
So yeah, the bowling center was supposed to be sort of a mental release or a mental relief from just the challenges of property management. I was coming home one day after dropping the kids off at school and.

I noticed one of our neighbors at the bottom of the hill was struggling bringing in his garbage bins and recycling bins. And I knew he owned the bowling center at Capri. And I called a mutual friend and I said, hey, do you want to see if Brian is tired of the bowling center and wants to hang him up? And got a call 10 minutes later saying, yeah, he's ready to sell. Here's the number.

Host (18:00)
Now were you much of a bowler before this?

Kevin (18:02)
No.

Christina (18:03)
We literally would just take our kids there for fun. We always go to the one at Capri because it was just that we always liked it there. It has that nostalgia feeling of the bright glow lights and everything that the other ones have. And we would just take our kids there to have family time.

Kevin (18:17)
reminded us of a bowling center back home in Winnipeg. Yeah. But when Christina and I were dating in 90, I guess it have been 96, we came out here to visit my mom and dad and we were we were supposed to meet my mom for lunch.

She left early in the morning. kind of took our times because we took our time. were on we're on holidays. And so we drove to Kelowna from the West side to to meet her for lunch. We're driving everywhere. Can't find this address she gave us. So we I had the the Zach Morris old.

Christina (18:51)
The

brick. ⁓

Host (18:52)
The brick.

Kevin (18:54)
And

I I called her and I'm like, we we can't find this address. Where where are you? And she's like, it's it's right in the middle of the city. Yeah, yeah. Like, have you never been to Penticton? I'm like, well, we're in Kelowna

Christina (19:06)
We're like you work in Penticton?

Host (19:07)
So yeah, this is before Google Maps

Christina (19:10)
We didn't live out here. we didn't really. Yeah. Before Google Maps. Yeah. Yeah, we had a paper map. We had a map. Yeah.

Host (19:14)
A of Cologne in your car?

Kevin (19:18)
And so we decided to just put off lunch to another day. And Christine and I were in Kelowna. So we're like, let's let's find something. And we saw this sign, this small sign that's still there that just says bowl. And ⁓ we we went this met through this metal door and went downstairs and there was this bowling center and the guy was at the counter smoking and

Christina (19:30)
and the under parking.

Kevin (19:41)
We were asked if he was open and he said, yeah. And so we bowled a couple of games and that was the first time we were there. So that was 96. And then, you know, fast forward to 2023.

Host (19:50)
I need to say.

Kevin (19:56)
We had been bringing our kids there for years. yeah, when the previous owner seemed very eager to sell, we jumped all over it.

Host (20:06)
I think it's so cool that this place is staying open because I was telling Kevin when I first met him. So when I was really little, I lived on a road cliff on the time. the oldest I would have been was grade one, so like six. So I was probably, I think I was still in daycare. So I think I probably would have been four or five. Like this is one of those earliest memories.

Our caregivers, we call them Auntie Betty and Uncle Ed, they lived across the street from us. And Uncle Ed, to the day he passed, wore...

He was very tall, long legs, and he wore those old trousers that were kind of pleated with suspenders and the long, dreshed, collared, button-down white shirt with the leather shoes. And he always wore a fedora. And he smoked out of a pipe. He packed his pipe to the day, carried his tobacco in his breast pocket. We'd always steal it and hide it. Uncle Ed, you're not supposed to smoke, you know, little five-year-old, four-year-old brats.

Christina (20:44)
Yeah.

Host (21:07)
go to some bowling league and it was during one of the days during the week yeah because when i was at child care he would go and he would have this like special leather bag and he'd he had his own bowling ball and he'd like polish it up i just thought it was the neatest thing and so you're even watching this as a child for a long time seeing this man go off to this mysterious place and then one year i don't know why

it he took all the kids like all the little kiddos at the daycare we just

ran into their little vehicle and we went to the Capri and I remember the first time ever walking down those stairs it was like majestic it felt like and I think you know I think back in day they smoked right and saw that smoke would kind of like fill the air with this haze but when you walked down the stairs the air was kind of hazy yeah like a dark alley or something yeah and the lights were really low

and then it opened up into just this bowling center. have no memory at all about actually bowling a game or anything, nothing. But I remember going down those stairs and being like, this is so cool.

Kevin (22:21)
We get

that we get that common a lot from people in their late 20s 30s 40s Yeah, well it's been around since 60s 60s Capri was built in 61 and it it was there from there from the start

Christina (22:28)
Yeah.

Host (22:29)
Just the nostalgia. Yeah.

Christina (22:35)
it's built.

Host (22:39)
Yeah,

so take us into when you've now So you own the bowling center. Yeah, and then

What was your game plan into? Because you've definitely made it newer, you've modernized it, but you've done it in such a way that it still has that nostalgia vibe to it. you still go down there and there's still that piece of like, yeah, this is the, you know. So tell us about how you chose to revamp it, refresh it.

Christina (23:08)
That was

key when we decided like Kevin really wanted to, you know, modernize. And I think that was key, though, right, was to keep keep the nostalgia because that is what bowling is. a it's an old sport.

Kevin (23:20)
Yeah, a lot of the changes

we've done didn't sit well with some of the ⁓ league bowlers. for the most part, everyone's sort of on board. And the comment we often get is how clean our bowling center is. So that's always been our number one.

Christina (23:26)
some of our league.

Kevin (23:37)
priority. The previous owners did an excellent job at keeping the place in good shape. If you go to different bowling centers which we have from all over BC, they tend to be a little run down. There's a nice ones. Yeah, And so that's a compliment we get a lot and that's our primary focus. And then as far as the decor, was just

Host (23:51)
Yeah

Kevin (24:01)
just an update you know just it's not like things broken it was just just a little rundown or

Christina (24:10)
I

Host (24:10)
It was a little tired.

Christina (24:11)
wouldn't say run down, yeah, tired. Yeah, just time to, it's the same thing you do in your house every so often.

Host (24:17)
This

Kevin (24:17)
We didn't

have a plan of attack let's say as far as replacing all the lights or redoing the floor or you know making the the party room bigger. We were just offered certain deals by trade.

Christina (24:31)
I

have traits that help We're networking for a proper management.

Host (24:33)
help us through your network.

Kevin (24:37)
And we've traded advertising for a lot of the work that's been done. One of the first things we needed to get done were the sprinkler heads in the party room. Once we removed the tile ceiling, fire department just happened to stop by for the first time in years. And they said, well, you know, now that you've taken this down, your sprinkler heads need to be up.

Christina (24:54)
Yeah, years.

Kevin (25:00)
four feet and you're gonna have to get someone in here to do that. We got quotes in the thousands and thousands and we were like, don't know if we can do this. And then just the right company came along and they're like, this is a two day job. We'll fit it in. We could do it next week. And that help enabled us to basically start everything else we wanted to.

to do in there. I'd love to give them Pacific Western.

Christina (25:23)
Yes,

specific question. They were awesome.

Host (25:28)
Are

they a local company?

Kevin (25:30)
They are. are. And we had dealt with them in through property management through different.

Christina (25:35)
buildings.

Never in this capacity. No, and then there was just like going into check the fire alarm. This was like, and so

Kevin (25:42)
They

came in, I'm not gonna say how much the quotes were that we were getting, but they did it for nothing. And it was amazing. We didn't ask, he just said, know, I know of that place, my kids go there, we'd like to do you guys a solid. And we're gonna throw them a Christmas party later in the year.

Christina (26:02)
but they did it all for nothing.

Host (26:03)
That's that like

cozy local feel to it.

Christina (26:06)
That's how small city should be. We're losing that small city kind of feel here with all this building and stuff going on.

Host (26:14)
So like

it feels like that.

But then what I've discovered in doing this podcast, there's a lot of episodes still, because I'm dropping my review Monday. But the common theme with literally every person who's been on so far is how supportive the little community in Kelowna is. That's good to hear. Like the coffee community is really tight. The microbeering community is really tight. And everybody's got these stories of just people who just check

in and are there for you. So it might not feel in your face, but there's this really beautiful underground network of people, they're there, people got your back. I love these stories because,

Christina (26:55)
That's good, that's good.

Host (26:58)
I feel like there are a lot of good, lot of good people and businesses in this city. we just don't, we're so inundated with negative click bait. It doesn't rise to the surface, right? that's right. Cause you know, a moment like that, sorry to interject, but I feel like a moment like that.

Kevin (27:09)
Yeah, I mean...

Host (27:15)
when you have these quotes coming, you just bought this place and these quotes are coming in and they're, it's a lot of money. that right there could have been a defining moment of well, we can't, we gotta stop. can't take the next, or at least you might've had to wait who knows how long before you could've opened that space up.

Kevin (27:32)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's

Christina (27:35)
It was just great timing. was great.

Kevin (27:35)
Yeah,

was amazing timing. And like I say, it allowed us to move forward. And then from there, we met a guy who does different, different flooring. And he was willing to do it at cost if we you know, through his sign up and

And just yeah going back to property management just the network of trades we have met and become friends with over the years. They've all been very helpful. Restoration company our plumber on day one. Yeah, we walked in there on day one. Yep. And all the toilets were backing up.

Christina (27:59)
Yeah, especially our restoration company.

Host (28:09)
⁓ that's not good.

Kevin (28:11)
and

Christina (28:11)
Yeah, like into the app.

⁓ We have the.

Host (28:13)
It's so important to know a good plumber. They're amazing.

Kevin (28:16)
And we have the best.

A good friend, his name is Ryan Woodman. He owns West Coast Mechanical, part owner of West Coast Mechanical. like I say, day one, he was a phone call away. was there immediately. Unfortunately, the landlord's plumber was basically auguring the wrong toilet. So he was great.

But he just wasn't getting her done and it happening for the first month and keep in mind this is December 23 December is our busiest month. Yeah, and it was constant like women couldn't go into the ladies washroom constant smells

Host (28:54)
business.

Christina (28:56)
Christmas

parties galore and ⁓ and this is happening. It was really bad. It was

Host (29:01)
Yes.

Kevin (29:02)
And the landlord being a commercial property, they were insistent on their plumber. And so we had Ryan come out and work with their plumber to show them plum. And the problem, you know, basically went on for a couple months until we just said, look, let our plumber take it from here and problem solved in a day. And

Christina (29:11)
This is how you do it.

Host (29:13)
my goodness.

Kevin (29:24)
Yeah, it was. I mean, that's been that was 15 months ago. And other than other than existing issues. You know, we haven't had a problem since.

Host (29:36)
Cool. Did you want to talk about a bit about your color scheme and all that that you chose for the reno? Because I think

Christina (29:42)
I'm gonna let Kevin go with that one because I gave him free reign on that. ⁓ I love it.

Host (29:49)
Wait, wait, why did you give him free rain?

Kevin (29:53)
She thought it ⁓

Host (29:58)
You free rein with this and then you got to choose.

Christina (30:00)
I just said, I just said you got, he was throwing all these ideas out and I was like, I want this and I want that. And then I was like, you know what, there's too many. ⁓

ingredients in the mixing bowl, right? So I was like, this is too much, you know, like of my ideas. And it's not like his ideas were bad. I just said, when he told me the colors, I said, just make sure it doesn't look like a bumblebee. That's all I said. That's all I said. And I let him go from there. When he said black and yellow, was like, no bumblebee, right? Like, not too much.

Host (30:21)
Ugh.

So it's not

actually yellow though, is it? It's gold. It's gold.

Kevin (30:32)
Yeah, yeah,

yeah, it's, we were, I was having a tough time figuring out a palette that would make sense and

Host (30:40)
Was there in an original palette?

Christina (30:42)
What they had down there? ⁓ the wall had that yellowish beige color that everyone did.

Kevin (30:44)
No.

Host (30:50)
But

there wasn't a purpose, no color scheme.

Kevin (30:53)
There

is no.

Christina (30:54)
No,

there was no theme. There was just red.

Host (30:56)
a design, there wasn't a purpose design color choice, right? No. OK. Yeah.

Kevin (31:00)
So yeah, my favorite team, my favorite football team is the Pittsburgh Steelers. And so we went with their font. We went with their colors on their logo. They have three stars that represent the medals in Pittsburgh. And so we decided to make them pins and kind of took those colors and ran with it all over the place.

Christina (31:18)
Ran with it. All over the place.

Host (31:23)
How long have you been a diehard Steelers fan for? Does this go back to your childhood? Tell me more about Was your dad a Steelers fan?

Kevin (31:28)
Absolutely. Yeah.

he he wasn't he was a Vikings fan, but he was in Dallas in in the late 70s. I want to say 78. And he was sitting at a pub with my with my uncle. And there were these two women who were sort of complaining that they had to go.

Christina (31:52)
I know, I'm good.

Kevin (31:53)
They had to go to the Super Bowl and my uncle. They were complaining, yeah, they didn't really want to go and so my uncle offered them 100 bucks for two tickets and my dad and my uncle sat on the 50 yard line in the celebrity area and they watched the Pittsburgh Steelers win the Super Bowl. Wow. So.

Host (31:56)
They were complaining.

Kevin (32:14)
That was sort of the start and then you don't you just start following different players and yeah, been diehard ever since I've taken my boys to a couple games in Pittsburgh and one in Santa Clara and yeah, just love the team, love what they stand for and when it when it came time to choose a palette, it was very easy. We've had Steeler fans.

come into the bowling center and immediately they pick it up. Especially with the font and I know the three.

Host (32:44)
It's almost like a little Easter egg because you don't have Pittsburgh Steeler gear or anything, you know? But it's a little Easter egg where when you know, you know. Or when you get it, you get it.

Kevin (32:54)
Well, we have a lot of Prairie folk that come in and think we're diehard Hamilton Tiger Cat fans. Same colour, close to the same colour.

Host (33:00)
⁓ they

Christina (33:03)
What?

Host (33:04)
don't have the red and blue.

Kevin (33:05)
No,

they're black and yellow. Yeah, they don't have the red and blue. So yeah, when we did our walls, when we did the floor in the party room, we it's black with little blue, yellow and red accents. And yeah, looks looks all right. We get a lot of compliments on So yeah, it was just one way to go.

Host (33:24)
And that well, okay, before the party, you got to expand more on the party room because what you've turned it into actually shocked me when I walked into it. was like, holy smokes. I remember it as, I don't know what it was. And then it became, you know, the age when you could have smoking, but it had to be in a confined, like that used to be the smoking room.

Kevin (33:33)
It was very...

Christina (33:35)
It was dated.

yeah,

yeah, well

Host (33:46)
Like

the rest of the people couldn't smell it, I don't understand. this room and then it turned into a little kind of like birthday room, but it was quite small.

Christina (33:48)
Yeah,

Kevin (33:55)
very small and it had mixed match tables.

Christina (33:59)
Well,

yeah, underneath there were lanes. So there was actually there was actually 16 lanes in there. Twenty. Right. There's 16 now. Twenty total. There was there's underneath built over. if you go into the back before we had the floor down, you could see the lanes underneath. Wow. Yeah. And then.

Kevin (34:05)
There was 20 in total. There's 16. More more lanes.

Christina (34:17)
Yeah, and they decided to make it part room. yeah, it was just like you said, it was the smoking room for a little bit. And then it was for kids birthday parties. And it had a mismatch of old McDonald's benches that even the garbage cans, those brown garbage cans that said, thank you. Yeah. In the yellow writing. That's what was in there. And they drove me every time I'd walk in there. I'm like, no, no, no. This needs all to go. I'm not at a McDonald's birthday party in the 80s.

Kevin (34:41)
But yeah, when we were renovating the party room, my son and I were digging up the tile that was in there, the cheap tile, and we found the old wooden lanes underneath.

Host (34:51)
That must have been just amazing, that aha moment of my god.

Kevin (34:56)
Well, I called

the previous owner down at the time down when when we found it and yeah, he kind of kind of took him back because he he he had changed it from a 20 Lane Center to 16 so he could have that that extra room and and Yeah, it was it was quite a find but we we took down that

Christina (35:11)
birthday parties.

Kevin (35:18)
sort of temporary wall that they had up there. Like it didn't go all the way to the ceiling. So that was easy to take out. We condensed the storage area in the back. was just full of nuts and bolts and different things because the previous owner supplied all the bowling centers from Washington to I think Saskatchewan.

Host (35:40)
We had some interesting

Christina (35:40)
There was part in the lore back there that we

no idea any of them were.

Kevin (35:45)
Yeah,

he was so knowledgeable and so very helpful and willing to, drive miles to, help help another bowling center.

Host (35:53)
that community feeling.

Christina (35:55)
Bowling community, like you were saying, the bowling community is very tight knit too. Yeah.

Kevin (35:59)
Yeah, so I unfortunately don't don't know that much about the different parts. You know, we do have staff that that that do and so we will have guys from McCurdy or from BNA just stop by and say, Do you mind if I go go looking through your parts and they'll come up and they're like, What is this worth? And I'm like, What is

Christina (36:20)
What is it called?

When I come here, I'm like, what is it called? That's what I need to know. I just need to what's called.

Kevin (36:27)
Yeah, so, but we were able to just organize that area. So we pushed the back wall back about.

Host (36:28)
That's so cool.

Christina (36:34)
20 feet. there was just a lot of stuff back there that just years and years of, I mean, they owned it for the previous owners, owned it for, so it just everything back there is kind like that. It gets piled on top. They probably had no idea. they probably had no idea. There was people's old bowling shoes back there that league bowlers that didn't want to take their stuff home with them. So they would store them back there that had passed away.

Host (36:47)
kind of like.

Christina (36:59)
like years and years ago when I pulled them out bowling balls like so yeah it was it was free storage for the bowling community really

Host (37:08)
that's so cool. Because right now you man, love playing billiards. Yeah, billiards table back there. And big TVs. Sounds good. place to go watch the game, I bet.

Christina (37:14)
Yeah, we put two billiards tables in.

Kevin (37:21)
Yeah, yeah, we haven't we haven't really marketed. No the the party room quite Yeah

Host (37:26)
It's like a little hidden gem.

Christina (37:28)
It is and everyone's surprised when they walk back there. like, my goodness. So once we start marketing, it'll be better for, you know, Super Bowls, know, great Cup games, Stanley Cup games, like that. It's still kind of fresh in there.

Kevin (37:40)
Well, just through word of mouth, we've gotten a lot of people calling, companies calling, asking if they can rent out the entire place for...

Christina (37:48)
Team building parties.

Kevin (37:49)
building, Christmas parties, 40th birthday parties, 50th birthday parties. It's yeah, it's just very private yeah, I hope you know, once we do start you know, putting out radio ads and more word of mouth, we hope to get some pool leagues and dart leagues and karaoke nights. We just bought a karaoke machine.

Christina (38:10)
Jack karaoke night.

Kevin (38:13)
Yep. And yeah, we hope it's.

Christina (38:16)
We need to use that space before it was only being used for birthday parties, which would be Saturdays and Sundays. And that was it. So we needed to do something so that it's being beautiful.

Host (38:28)
Can you, is it in such a way that you For staff parties and stuff like that, are you able to have a caterer come in and bring food?

Kevin (38:36)
We do.

Christina (38:36)
We

do, we we've partnered with a few different places in the city and they were, it was a huge hit for our Christmas parties last year. That was our test run with Christmas parties last year and yeah, we've got some good restaurants that we use and then yeah, we go pick it up and then we bring it and we set it all up in that room for them. And then yeah, so they can essentially choose as long as that company or that restaurant is willing to work with us.

Host (39:02)
Because you got,

you know, you can bowl games and then you can sit up top. can do darts, can do billiards, you can watch your TV. Like there's so many little places for a lot of people to hang out. You could even have a little band up there where those, where the dart boards are. Some of the front tables, you have a little dance room for your Christmas party. Yeah.

Christina (39:06)
Go in the party room

Yeah, we're in the stage that we built up there.

Yeah, there's lots of bathrooms that work now. Yeah, there's lots of that's and that's what we needed. We need to do something with that space. Yeah. You know.

Host (39:30)
bathrooms that work. Yeah, you're good. ⁓

Kevin (39:34)
Yeah.

When keep in mind we took over in December of 23, which is right in the middle of the league season. No, no. And so come April, that's the end of the league season. All of the leagues would want to do windups and they were going elsewhere. Like they were going to sunset. Paying $60. Yeah.

Host (39:48)
Yeah, haven't. Yeah, it hasn't been that long.

Christina (40:04)
Okay, of course is.

Host (40:07)
plate or head or something.

Kevin (40:09)
And I'm like, well, we can do better than that. I mean, why don't they just stay here? And so this last season, that's what happened. All the windups were catered. Most of them, sorry. I think one of them went back to Sunset, which is a great place. But it was really difficult sending our staff to someone else's establishment to host a windup and having to pay them to do it.

It just didn't sit well.

Host (40:35)
You can see the desire to have a new fresh spot, but then you can still, even if it's your league, you can still make it feel different because it's not a league, you know, it's not that competitive bowling night. You can make it more fun and yeah, use this, utilize the space. So how many, when you talk about league play at the center, what type of leagues are there?

Kevin (40:56)
We plus leagues during the day, Monday to

Friday, there's Friday morning. There's the Friday morning golf ladies, is one of our bigger leagues. And these are just ladies who golf during the summer, during this.

Host (41:10)
You mean like actual golf.

Christina (41:12)
Yeah. okay. So they call themselves that.

Kevin (41:14)
But

they come in in bowl Friday, Friday morning, starting in late September. And they go all the way till April, basically end of golf season to the start of the golf season. And great group of ladies. midday, there's different mixed senior leagues. then Monday to Thursday nights, Monday night Masters.

Host (41:26)
brilliant.

Kevin (41:37)
is sort of the creme de

Christina (41:38)
The

creme de la

Host (41:40)
Bringing their own bowls their own shoes

Kevin (41:42)
Yo, yeah

Christina (41:43)
High scores, yeah.

Kevin (41:45)
Yeah.

Host (41:46)
A

little feisty.

Kevin (41:47)
Yeah. And then Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday is just fun group mixed bowlers.

Christina (41:53)
And then on Saturdays we have youth bowling club as well. That's also a league. That's also a league. And they do tournaments and travel to different

Host (41:57)
Okay.

it

based on age or it based on like golf where you have a handicap or something?

Kevin (42:09)
There is an average that

bowlers sort of achieve or build over time and

Yeah, that's a different category when you go to a tournament. There's the top bowler who just scores the best and then there's pins over average. So I'm a 224 currently. I used to be like a 180. So it's gotten better. A lot of practice time.

And so basically if I go into a tournament and I'm consistently bowling 300 or 350, I'm well above my average. I have a good chance to win. If I'm bowling under average.

Host (42:46)
I see what you're saying. So yeah, you take your average, and then you're basically competing against your average. That's right. Pretty much. bowler is the one who beats their average the best. That's right. OK. So then it's way to equalize the playing field of

Kevin (42:59)
For instance,

during league play we have prizes for bowlers who bowl a hundred pins over their average. Which happens a lot.

Christina (43:07)
Just have a good day, you know?

Kevin (43:10)
You know how there's sandbaggers in golf? Well, the same can be said about some bullers.

Host (43:12)
Yeah.

any sport.

Christina (43:16)
Yeah, well, yeah. Yeah,

average. So I'm going to win that pot tonight.

Host (43:22)
Kind

of like a shark in billiards.

Kevin (43:24)
None of our bowlers are sandbaggers. They're all, they're all.

Host (43:27)
Where does that term come from? Sandbanger... Sandbaggers?

Kevin (43:30)
first time I heard.

Christina (43:31)
No

idea. First time I heard it was golfing, but I have no idea where that term ends.

Host (43:35)
Yeah,

gonna look up that up

Kevin (43:37)
So yeah, the leagues are our bread and butter. They keep us busy from September to the end of April. We do have summer leagues on right now. We've gone from about 15 leagues to three during the summer just because we're not, people would rather be on the beach.

Christina (43:54)
But we did have enough bowlers saying in the summer I'd rather I'd like to have a little leave or something not just come in and bowl and then leave so that's why Kevin decided to start a summer one.

Kevin (44:04)
well. Yeah, so we do we do three, three leagues in the summer two during the day for our seniors and then one one on Monday nights. And yeah, it keeps us afloat during the summer.

Christina (44:16)
The numbers aren't as big for these legs as they are in the winter, but...

Kevin (44:19)
June, a lot of schools in doing their sort of year end party.

Host (44:23)
Mm-hmm.

Do cringe a bit when the kids come in? I love I was thinking of more, I was just thinking of my youngest at that birthday party and the bowling balls flying like 15 feet past the line.

Christina (44:27)
⁓ were.

Kevin (44:28)
I it.

Christina (44:39)
The lobbing

of the balls. Yeah, I mean that's why our staff are there and they're kind used to it. The smaller ones they'll watch more.

Kevin (44:47)
Yeah, I find that as far as schools go, the teachers keep them in line. I always give a spiel when they first come in about the bumpers, about the foul line, not to run down the lane.

Host (45:01)
Well, I yeah, I guess that would be more of like a birthday issue or yeah, I'm gonna drunk an adult

Christina (45:06)
The craziness.

We don't get a lot of drunken adults. No, we don't because a lot of it's a lot of families coming in. So if the parents are they'll have one or two. Yeah, you know what you do get the like on a Friday or a Saturday night, you will get a bunch coming in, but they're coming in before they go downtown. So we're not getting that we're getting them at the beginning when they're starting to prep.

Kevin (45:29)
We're

prepping them for downtown.

Host (45:31)
Got you. So my little fear, the fear of the lob is not.

Christina (45:34)
No,

but that happened. Like Kevin said, that's more birthday parties where, you know, there's kids, parents dropping their kids off and then it's just the two birthday parents in control. Yeah, right.

Host (45:44)
aren't used to controlling them.

Kevin (45:46)
When

we were getting ready to take over, was a long, the purchase process took a long time, but we would still bring our kids there. We were there one day and there were some, I'd say guys in their early twenties. And this one guy threw the ball up, just missed one of the sprinkler heads and it went into the tile ceiling and then came out.

Again, I'm not the owner, but I saw this, it was right next to us and I kind of reacted and I said, use the lane.

Christina (46:20)
We're about to buy this place. No, can't say that, but we're thinking it.

Kevin (46:22)
They were purposely goofing around. think he was trying to hit the sprinkler head because there was a big...

Host (46:28)
insurance claim that would have flooded the place

Kevin (46:31)
That would have ruined-

Christina (46:32)
That would not be covered by insurance because that's on camera of a guy purposely throwing the ball at the sprinkler.

Host (46:38)
We

go around turn on and sue him and he doesn't

Christina (46:43)
That's why I think that our staff watched closely.

Host (46:46)
Are there industrial cages over the sprinkler heads so that

Kevin (46:50)
Well, that's something we've ordered. It's been a while, but it's

Christina (46:51)
something we are.

Host (46:56)
Another thing on the list.

Christina (46:57)
Everything

on the list.

Kevin (46:58)
Yeah.

Host (46:59)
How do you keep the alley or the lane? Is it grease? it oil?

Kevin (47:07)
lane conditioner but essentially

Christina (47:09)
It's oil.

Host (47:10)
Yeah. So how often do you have to, is it polish the right word or condition it?

Kevin (47:15)
I call it dressing the lanes. During the season when we're busy, it's once a week.

Host (47:20)
No, wow. That's a lot.

Kevin (47:22)
and you'll you go to mccurdy or you go to bna and they have these fancy machines that cost between 30 and 40 000 and they condition the lane for you when we purchased the

Host (47:34)
Is

it like a little Roomba

Kevin (47:39)
fits perfectly on the lane it connects to sort of the side of the lane and goes all the way down comes comes back and then they just move it to the next one we don't have

Host (47:43)
and just watch.

wow. How

convenient.

Christina (47:51)
Kevin

does it by hand.

Kevin (47:52)
Yeah, Brian, Brian Sargent, the previous owner, he he gave me a quick tutorial when we took over and spraying conditioner on the lane. There's this big wood block that I pushed down the lane at foam a towel underneath. And yeah, that keeps some keep some shiny.

Host (48:12)
Can a really good bowler tell the difference? Is this kind of like curling?

Kevin (48:16)
Absolutely.

Christina (48:16)
Absolutely.

They will tell him, they'll say, hey, you need to they'll need to dress the lanes or when was the last time the lanes were

Host (48:24)
So does it spin more or less when the when it's been recently dressed the ball?

Kevin (48:29)
I would say spins depends on how fast they Yeah, but we have a lot of Most bowlers will most five pin bowlers will throw straight But there are some bowlers that do for different reasons Put spin on their a lot of spin on the ball where it actually curves down the lane like ten pin And they'll tell you that yeah, if it's oiled properly then it'll spin a little

Christina (48:33)
and how they throw it.

Host (48:53)
and they'll hit their strike if it's a little crop.

Christina (48:55)
just tell. Yeah, they can tell.

Kevin (48:57)
But

you know, you don't want to put too much oil down because then it's and it's just a

Christina (49:03)
a sloppy mess in there. They have to keep cleaning their balls when they come off. But that's the nice thing about doing it by hand is you have complete control over how to do the lanes where those machines do not. They just dump it and go, dump it and go.

Host (49:16)
How long

does it take you to do all the lanes?

Kevin (49:18)
The length of time that it takes to play Dark Side of the Moon. Album.

Host (49:23)
that's hilarious. I'm going to look that up. Yeah, well, you know what? I'll cut this part. Yeah, so you're like, this is how long it takes.

Kevin (49:25)
51 minutes.

Christina (49:29)
an hour.

An hour if you're not getting interrupted. Yeah, which doesn't sometimes heal sometimes he comes home He's like, I only got four lanes stress today. I got half the lanes done. The bowlers are not gonna be happy

Kevin (49:36)
That's right.

Yeah, so

I try to do it every Thursday or every 10 days during the summer. yeah, we don't open till 1130 in the summer. So I tend to get it done in the morning. And yep, yep. And it's so much different than 10 pin. How you oil a lane. You go to a place like McCurdy B &A. And there's just a lot of oil on 10 pin lanes compared to 5 pin.

Host (49:55)
That's nice.

Because of the spin? Or why?

Kevin (50:10)
Yes.

Christina (50:11)
And probably the weight

of the ball they're bought the balls are different, but I would say because of the spin Yeah, they have they gave them a five pin bowlers like Kevin said most balls are thrown extremely straight. Yeah, not with a spin

It helps protect that top layer.

Kevin (50:30)
I would say the purpose is to keep the lanes in good shape. Those lanes we've had have been there for 12 years.

Host (50:39)
So is it what they must use a super hard wood then to put that down? It's like it's

Christina (50:43)
acrylic.

Kevin (50:44)
It's acrylic,

Christina (50:46)
Some

lanes are wood, but ours are wood.

Host (50:48)
Yours are acrylic.

Kevin (50:50)
We were

just my son and I were in Vancouver a couple of months back and we bowled, what was it called? The Emporium. Anyways, I think one of the one of the first bowling centers in in Vancouver and they had their wood lanes and they don't they don't really oil them much anymore. They do. But when we were there, the guy who was working was running down the lanes and I'm like.

Christina (50:57)
Something like that.

Kevin (51:14)
What are you doing? He's like, well, we don't oil this part and.

Christina (51:17)
That's the one on Academy that you went to? Yeah.

Kevin (51:19)
Yeah,

they just condition them differently. And yeah, they it was five pin. there's a big difference between acrylic and.

Christina (51:27)
Yeah, yeah, so those lines are that's where my mom league bowled when I was little so those lanes are still wood there. yeah

Host (51:35)
Do

they get redded over time or is there such a layer on top of it?

Kevin (51:39)
I've never seen it. Yeah, there's certain bowling centers where you can see like they're worn areas. I've never seen like.

Christina (51:46)
Rutted. Yeah, no, me neither. If anything, maybe because the boards are the long thin ones, you know, they get that warp in them over time. yeah. yeah, no, I've never seen rutted because everyone throws the ball differently. Everyone's lob is different. So doesn't they don't always hit the same spot? I'm assuming if you probably had the same bowl or bowling the same lane year after year, day after day, you'd probably have ruts from where they hit it constantly. Yeah.

Host (52:09)
the app.

Kevin (52:12)
Some of our bowlers tell us that our lanes are crooked.

Host (52:14)
⁓ like melt level.

Christina (52:16)
That's just because they don't throw it.

Kevin (52:17)
When they're not scoring well.

Host (52:23)
I guess that

would be very important for,

Christina (52:25)
Yeah

Kevin (52:26)
Yeah, we're blamed often when people don't bowl well. It's either our lanes are tilted or we have the corner pins Velcro down. Yeah, it's really tough to bowl in a league there because anytime someone gets a corner pin, they shoot the owner a dirty look.

Christina (52:35)
Yeah, or something.

Host (52:43)
What does that mean gets a corner like only a corner?

Kevin (52:45)
leave

sleep

Christina (52:46)
leaves

a corner of the mind. Yeah. Oh. doesn't get the full strike. They blame it on it. They blame it on the owner instead. Yeah. yeah, they blame it. You know, it's like never take the blame for yourself.

Kevin (52:52)
Happens all the time.

Host (52:57)
What are those pins made out of?

Christina (52:59)
They're like a rubbery plastic.

Kevin (53:01)
They're a hard plastic.

There's a rubber ring that goes around them and the rubber ring, just another thing that's important to change. It gives the pins the bounce. Like 10 pin doesn't have the rings because there's 10 pins up on the same size lane. Yeah. And those, those pins will sort of explode into each other. And five pin, the ball is at the same height.

those rubber rings maybe a little bit lower depends what kind of base you and those rubber rings will if they're Replaced on a regular basis. They will shoot and knock down the other lanes. We have Yeah, we other pins yeah, we had Experienced bowler in one of our leagues.

Christina (53:29)
Yeah

pins. That's what they're for.

Kevin (53:43)
in her 80s and she was bowling on the lane once one day and she she came up to me and said you know I think the rings on my lane aren't need to be replaced they're not they're not really bouncing very well and yeah I said you know I'll look into that and she was 100 % correct I went back and two of the rings had cracks in them and they weren't getting that same bounce so

easy enough to replace but you gotta you gotta keep up with that kind of maintenance

Host (54:11)
The ring actually kind of projects outward when it's hit hard? is it that it... Or does the pin bounce on the ground to hit the other? I'm just trying to visualize this here.

Christina (54:16)
Just helps bounce.

Kevin (54:20)
No, it's

lot of bowlers will talk about the different bases different bowling centers use. There's a rubber base that'll bring the pin up a little bit and that way if you when your ball hits the pin it'll kind of almost shoot up a little bit and yes it'll shoot into the other pins if hit properly at the right angle and then there's other bowling centers that use the factory plastic bigger base.

which makes it a little bit harder to knock down. So we put the rubber bases on so.

The pins have a harder time staying up if hit. These other ones, the factory bases, you'll hit a pin and it'll literally slide across the lane.

Host (55:01)
experienced

that before.

Christina (55:02)
So that's just

because they're using the factory bottom, so it's wider.

Host (55:06)
Where

was I? And the ball went and it kind of like hit the side of the first one and then the other ones just went

Christina (55:12)
They

just slid

Kevin (55:14)
Kamloops uses the factory bases, does Vernon. And yeah, you just notice the little difference.

Host (55:20)
The joy is hey the joys of ownership.

Kevin (55:23)
Yeah,

yeah. Yeah. there's there's definitely been some challenges. But it's such a good group of people. I mean, you're always going to have characters, but the people who have been bowling there for decades are, you know, you can you can really relate to people when you have, you know, a mutual love of a sport.

I'm a part of a few leagues myself, just just to mingle with with a lot of the bowlers.

Host (55:46)
from an outsider's perspective, you're also nur turing not the right word. What am I trying to say? there's only so many gems of this city from back in the day. And this is one of them. You know the the Flintstones gone, N' Wet's gone, the roller blade, I don't want to call it an alley, center. Remember beside the Flintstones, the roller blade in

Christina (56:09)
I remember the Flintstones because I have a picture of them. But I don't remember the rollers.

Kevin (56:11)
the flinch from 96.

Host (56:13)
I

that

was the rollerblade place and it had an arcade and a DJ would play music and you'd go over with a disco ball like there weren't there's not that many places for kids to go anymore all these cool hangout places have been you know yep they're kind of had their time and you're you're holding on Michael Brooke eventually that one's gonna go cuz it was sold you know all these little places are

Christina (56:41)
that

have been here for a while.

Host (56:43)
So long and you're holding on to one of these,

Kevin (56:46)
Yeah, I moved to West Colona from Winnipeg when Old MacDonald's

Host (56:51)
Old McDonald's.

Christina (56:53)
⁓

my goodness.

Host (56:55)
Remember the big sign on the side of the highway with Old Macdonald with his pitchforks?

Kevin (57:00)
There's been a lot of changes in the last 30 years in the Okanagan. More population but all those places from the 80s that were popular are just no longer. was one of the reasons why we wanted to sort of step up and take on the Bullion Centre. I'm pretty sure the previous owners would have you know...

Christina (57:06)
For sure.

Okay.

Kevin (57:22)
sold privately eventually or just let it go.

Host (57:28)
Yeah, who knows?

Christina (57:28)
I think they were gonna let it go because he was saying that none of his children wanted to take it over or anything like that. They all have their own businesses and whatnot, right? So I have a feeling that they were just gonna...

Host (57:37)
I do.

I do feel like these things are coming like the pendulum swinging swinging back though where these kind of more retro style things are now becoming more popular.

Kevin (57:40)
Let it slide.

Christina (57:50)
Let's Let's hope.

Kevin (57:51)
Since Stranger Things came out.

Host (57:53)
I don't know. think that's Clothing

that's popular now is from the 80s, all that vintage clothes. You'd be selling them for a good price. Yeah, just another reason then you get that big storage. That big storage area. yeah, I feel it'll be really cool to watch how you.

Christina (57:59)
I have kept on my old clothes.

I'd be wearing them.

Host (58:18)
bring it, not back to life, but grow the popularity over the next few years, because I think it can be done. The city's big enough. There's enough kids now.

Kevin (58:26)
have, there's people that move to the Okanagan, move to Kelowna every day. And a lot of them are coming from areas of Edmonton or Calgary where bowling, they were part of a bowling community there and they want to find something else. we're the only all five pin bowling center left in Kelowna.

The

next closest one is I guess would be Vernon. Which just sold. ⁓

Christina (58:50)
which

just sold and it's half, it's small, small in there. So they do have leagues and stuff there too, but they can't hold leagues as big as ours.

Host (58:58)
No, no, it's such a nice place. Well, anything else you want to touch on or talk about while you're here?

Kevin (59:04)
Well,

yeah, just one of the comments that I bothers us the most is people who've lived here all their lives and they walk in and they're like, I had no idea this place was here.

Christina (59:15)
How is that possible?

Host (59:18)
Which is one of the cool parts of it, is this hidden gem.

Kevin (59:22)
It is a hidden gem, but

it's also nice to be busy.

Christina (59:26)
Yeah,

but I always whenever they say it, always think in my head like, have you never walked through Capri Mall before? Yeah, it's most been here forever. Yeah. Did you not wonder what those stairs were? Yeah. You know, well.

Kevin (59:36)
Yeah, people, a lot of people thought that it's just the access to the maintenance office.

Christina (59:41)
no sign.

Host (59:42)
Yeah, it's

true.

Christina (59:43)
Yeah, was the first thing Kevin did was get a big sign put up above those stairs.

Kevin (59:47)
it is a great place and we do we do love having families come out there.

When we have kids come out or when we have classrooms come in and we put the glow bowling on, I mean, to someone in their 20s, 30s, 40s, it may seem cheesy and distracting, but there's always the high pitch scream, which I love. Like it's just, it's the greatest watching. Kids have a good time and families have a good time. And cell phones don't.

necessarily work that great down there. So teenagers have to put their phones down. And we have the greatest staff. Only two or three from the previous owner staff. But the group that we have Sarah, Tammy, Austin, Izzy, Raquel.

Host (1:00:21)
create barricades.

Christina (1:00:22)
Yeah.

Kevin (1:00:37)
goes on and on. Scott. Scott. They just they just love what they do. And, you know, we we appreciate all their their hard work and the effort they put through. we're very we're very fortunate to have.

a good group of people working with us.

Christina (1:00:53)
I want to Eddie and DeAnnie just in case everyone listens. I don't want to miss anybody. We love all of you.

Kevin (1:01:03)
Yeah, our son, one of our sons, Austin is our is our league manager. He also helped build the party room with me were, again, not great in construction. And he and I did all that drywalling. And that was that was a real treat. Working with him and having working with him on a regular basis. It's it's

Host (1:01:08)
cool.

Kevin (1:01:25)
It's interesting working with your kid. You try to separate the home life and the way you talk. He's a rock star. Everyone who comes into that club knows him, loves him. I think that's been the highlight for me, working with him. And then our younger boys, they say they want to earn money.

Christina (1:01:43)
They come and help me do inventory and it's hard for them. They're 11 and 13. they're on.

Kevin (1:01:49)
start charging them rent so they'll they'll want to work. Yeah. ⁓

Christina (1:01:52)
They're

too busy with their sports. One always says I want to come in and want to make some money. I'm like well you have soccer today and tomorrow and the next day. I know how we're gonna do that. It's a lot of soccer they're both playing select.

Host (1:01:55)
Thank

That's a lot of soccer.

OK. Yeah, that's a commitment. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to come on. Yeah. It's so good to hear the story behind that beautiful place and.

Christina (1:02:10)
yeah.

Kevin (1:02:14)
Well, thanks for having us.

there's lots more. Yeah. You might have to have us on again.

Host (1:02:23)
Anytime.

Christina (1:02:24)
Yeah,

we could just do a whole podcast on what we just like what we find during Christmas parties and after Especially that first December that we did it

Host (1:02:30)
I might hold you.

Then

just do a bonus episode and drop it around mid-December.

Christina (1:02:40)
Yeah.

Book your party with us. Yeah. Don't do this though. That's hilarious.

Kevin (1:02:43)
Don't leave this behind.

Host (1:02:47)
yeah, you should totally do that.

Kevin (1:02:49)
It's not

always hilarious in the moment. Nope.

Christina (1:02:51)
Nope. Afterwards, like afterwards we tell our when we sit down with our friends and stuff to tell stories. Yeah, they're like, but during it while we're going through it at two in the morning down there, we're like, no, no, this is not cool.

Host (1:03:03)
too much right now. Yep. Yeah. that's really cool. All right. Well, let's wrap her up. yeah, your open invitation whenever you want to come back. Awesome. Okay. Thank you. Thank

Kevin (1:03:12)
Thank you.