Robert Quinn Jr. and his wife, Jaime, are definitely “on the ball” when it comes to bowling, Â reopening Robert Quinn Sr.”™s former Middletown Lanes and christening it Quinnz Pinz with a whole new look and outlook on the sport.
The Railroad Avenue bowling alley has been a Middletown fixture for nearly four decades, with Quinn Sr. adding to his original space and enlarging and upgrading it as the years went by. Now that his son and daughter-in-law have taken over the family business, he left the next renovation up to them. “I”™m here strictly as a greeter,” smiled Quinn Sr. at the new sports bar, complete with Wi-Fi and 12 flat-screen TVs with a complete menu of sports for fans. “It was their turn to do the remodeling.”
The next generation of Quinns have definitely kicked it up more than a few notches, visiting several bowling lanes around the region and in other states to see the latest innovations and what”™s drawing the public to the sport before they made remodeling decisions. “People want more than just a place to bowl,” Quinn said. “They want entertainment, a place for their kids to play, and are looking for the upscale, not the bowling alleys we grew up with as kids.”
Quinnz Pinz spared no expense in remodeling the complex, but it took nearly four years to go from bowling alley to bowling experience. The Quinns worked with HSBC Bank in Middletown and obtained an SBA loan, working with Cedric Carter at New Business Development Corp. to secure the $1 million needed for the renovations.
“It was a long process,” said Quinn, “and I”™m thrilled with the results, but working with the SBA requires a lot of patience and a lot of paperwork. Luckily, Cedric helped us work through the process and was very supportive, as was Harry Frank at HSBC.”
With 20 new lanes, each with its own 50-inch flat-screen TV over the pins that play music videos, it also offers a private four-lane suite, Brendyn”™s Bar & Grille with a complete menu and seating area, as well as a snack bar in the bowling area.
The sports bar has a spacious nook for music, standup comedy or karaoke, which it plans to offer on weekends. A new arcade and birthday party center are nearly completed and expected to open by mid-April.
The Quinns also reused much of the former lanes”™ wood, restaining and buffing it to make counters throughout the building. “We even rebuilt the check-in counter with it,” Quinn said. “It was a great reuse of the wood; it would have been a shame to toss it after we installed the new lanes.”
“We”™re very busy during the week,” Quinn said. “We have several leagues and are a destination on weekends, but we wanted to become more than that. We”™ve seen many companies using the new bowling/sports bars as a place to hold mixers and corporate meetings, or to use them for team-building, and we”™re looking to grow that end of our business.”
Quinn”™s father has no doubt his son is going to make it happen. “He”™s worked as a stockbroker, so he knows the odds … and he”™s been very successful at everything he”™s done. He”™s worked here since he was 17, so he knows this business inside and out. It”™s great to see what he and Jaime have done to the place; I wouldn”™t recognize it.”
The hardest part was keeping business moving while the renovations were under way, the younger Quinn said. “We weren”™t going to close while it was going on, so we”™ve been working since August 2010 to do the makeover. We are 90 percent done, just working to finish the arcade and party room. We”™ll have a ”˜complete menu”™ of activities and options for our patrons and hopefully become a destination for the entire area. Bowling is still a very popular sport, but people want more than just a lane and a stack of pins … they want a comfortable, modern and club-like atmosphere to enjoy ”“ and that”™s exactly what we”™ve built.”
