Alley strikes new owners
LUVERNE — Two accountants from Adrian hope their new purchase will be a strike, after buying the Luverne Lanes bowling alley. “We were just looking for an investment,” said Jeff Runia, who bought the eight-lane facility with Dean Fey.
- Luverne Lanes
LUVERNE — Two accountants from Adrian hope their new purchase will be a strike, after buying the Luverne Lanes bowling alley.
“We were just looking for an investment,” said Jeff Runia, who bought the eight-lane facility with Dean Fey.
“We bowled (here) in the past and we like bowling, so when we saw it, it was just going to be a good fit for us to do it,” Fey added.
The two started on working to buy the alley on Nov. 1 and officially took over from former owners Cory and Lisa Schneekloth on Feb. 1. The transition went well, and the city of Luverne was easy to work with regarding obtaining the liquor license, Fey said.
Luverne Lanes has been around for at least 35 years, and likely more. It started out smaller and lanes have been added from the original two, all the way up to eight. Though the pinsetters and some of the other equipment is fairly old, the Schneekloths kept it in good working order and also maintained the rest of the place well.
The building’s interior is bright, clean and cheerful, featuring lockers for frequent bowlers, plenty of tables and a bar that serves pizza, fried foods and snacks as well as beer.
There are three employees — manager Nikki Brandt, Ryan Behr and Darin Deboer. Runia’s son, Zach, is also helping out with the business.
So far, Fey and Runia haven’t changed anything about the place except its hours, which have been expanded to feature open bowling in the afternoons. They have even started opening Luverne Lanes when school is closed, so students who live in town have something to do.
Open bowling is from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 3 p.m. to midnight Fridays, 1 p.m. to midnight on Saturdays and 1 to 8 p.m. on Sundays. Leagues bowl from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and Fey and Runia hope to start up a morning bowling league in the future. The alley is also open for private parties by arrangement.
So far, Runia said, cosmic bowling from 9 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday nights has been extremely popular with local youths.
“It’s been awesome,” Runia said of his first week of bowling alley ownership with Fey. “I talked to (a customer) on Tuesday night, and they said it’s been awesome.”
To contact Luverne Lanes, call (507) 283-8172 or e-mail luvernebowling@hotmail.com.
Tags: luverne lanes , news, business, bowling, alley
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