Bowling to anchor family fun

A Raleigh entrepreneur is investing millions of dollars in a new bowling-themed entertainment center in Mebane that will open in the spring.

Roger Camp has spent a career as the head of Piedmont Center Investments, a Raleigh real estate development firm that manages shopping centers.

But his Z-Bowl family entertainment center is a major step into a different kind of business.

A 50,000-square-foot enterprise at East Washington and Fifth streets in downtown Mebane, Z-Bowl will feature a 6,000-square-foot arcade, 18 state-of-the-art bowling lanes, private party rooms, and a bar and restaurant. It is expected to employ 50 people.

In all, it will cost $6 million to $7 million to open. With banks hesitant to lend to entrepreneurs right now, that's money that Camp is mostly paying himself. But he said he's willing to take the risk.

"I'm sort of an entrepreneurial guy," Camp said. "There's sort of an itch."

Despite the down economy, Camp said he looks to the movie business for assurance that he's got a good idea.

"Even with a spate of not-very-good movies, [the theater] business is up 19 percent year-to-year," he said. "People still want to get out with their families."

Z-Bowl will open this spring and could be the first of a franchise. If it is successful, Camp said locations in Raleigh and Greenville could follow.

Mebane was a good choice for the first site, Camp said, because Piedmont Center Investments already owned the building and "it's a marketplace with a lot of families. What we have there is lots of families who almost exactly fit the demographics for a family entertainment center."

Camp may indeed be plugging into a growing trend in the family entertainment market.

Large chains such as Dave & Buster's have made the large entertainment format popular, and smaller places like Frankie's Fun Park in Raleigh and the Rush Hour go-kart track in Garner are big regional draws.

On average, there are 20 to 25 new family entertainment centers each year, said Ben Jones, family entertainment specialist for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

The idea of the family entertainment center dates back about 30 years, finding its roots in chains like the Hard Rock Café and the Rain Forest Café that merged entertainment with a higher quality restaurant, he said.

Bowling-themed parks are growing in popularity now as center operators are finding a new audience for bowling.

"Before, the demographic profile might have said, 'Hey, bowling centers are for bowling leagues and the 40-, 50-, 60-year-old crowd," Jones said. "[Now] people are saying, 'No, wait a second.' New bowling centers are bright, they're full of life. We can make it a date night again, a family outing again. ... The dynamics have changed in terms of who thinks of going there."