When one door closes, another one opens — but in Ryan Burr's case he did that in reverse.
The Owatonna native, along with wife Amanda, is now the new owner of Faribowl, the Faribault bowling alley that has been closed for repairs since last summer. The announcement came only days after Burr closed his downtown Owatonna business, Bridge Street Tavern, that they are now in the process of selling.
Despite his Owatonna roots, Burr is actually returning to familiar territory with this new business venture.
About 15 years ago, Burr stood behind the counter and handed out bowling shoes at J & J Bowling Center in west Faribault. There was no way of knowing that one day he’d purchase the business.
J & J later became Faribowl, the bowling alley attached to Basher’s Sports Bar & Grill that closed for repairs last summer. Those repairs are finally getting done and the bowling alley and restaurant are both being renamed to J-Mo’s Bowl. Burr and his wife officially became the owners Friday — less than a week after closing the Owatonna bar.
“We let our 3-year-old son name the place,” Burr said. “His name is Jameson. We asked him, you know, ‘If you owned a bowling alley, what would you name it?’ His nickname is J-Mo. So we’re going to name the place J-Mo’s Bowl.”
On Wednesday, the volleyball courts behind the business reopened. The restaurant will likely re-open in early- to mid-June, Burr said. He hopes to have the bowling alley up and running by fall. But first, there’s work to be done.
“The last owners just kind of neglected the place,” he said. “It just needs a lot of TLC. So we’re gonna do what we can, where we can, try to get it back. … Trying to get years-worth of neglect picked up after is no easy task.”
A leaky roof that collapsed in the bowling alley is just one of the many parts of the place in disarray. The volleyball courts had 2-inch-diameter trees growing out of the sand.
The volleyball courts have since been cleaned and are ready to reopen Wednesday. Burr plans to utilize an outdoor bar and shack to serve food and drinks outside while the repairs are underway indoors.
He said the restaurant will generally stay the same as it was.
“The ribs are coming back,” he said.
He said the parking lot is getting paved once volleyball wraps up later this year.
Eventually, he said he wants to upgrade the bathroom in the bowling alley, as well as update some of the design.
Prior experience
Burr is no stranger to bowling.
Around the same time he was working the bowling counter at the Faribault bowling alley, he was also bowling competitively. He said he had corporate sponsorships and traveled the country to compete.
He is also no stranger to running a business either, and is in the process of selling the Bridge Street Tavern in Owatonna, a bar he and his wife have owned for a number of years. Originally, they had announced on the bar's Facebook page they would be "closed for a while" as they "do some work on the building," and said they did not have a date set to reopen.
“That was a sad day when we decided we were going to do that,” he said. “So the wife and I are getting out of that and we’re going to come over here. We’re both passionate about bowling and then (we wanted) something more family-oriented because we have kids. We have two little kids. We have a 3.5-year-old and an 8-month-old.”
He said, if his family wants to see more family-oriented things in the community, other families probably do too.
He acknowledges there might be some hesitation about another family from out of town buying the bowling alley.
“When we first started looking at it, there was some negativity from the community,” he said. “Just because kind of how the last owners put a sour taste in their mouth with closing early for volleyball and everything.”
But he hopes that the community recognizes his family’s commitment to the business.
“A lot of the bowlers remember me from when I used to work behind the counter,” he said.”We’re semi-established in the aspect of you know, it’s not like we just decided one day, hey, let’s go buy a bowling alley. …
“The other thing is, you know, we are a family. So it’s going to show that we care a little more than just some guy who’s never been here, sits behind the desk and says the numbers on paper aren’t good."
“Moving forward, this is a part of the family. This is our financial wellbeing. This is our retirement. It doesn’t have another option, other than to be successful.”
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