February 21, 2008
Bowling redefined by hipsters in Williamsburg
The Journal has a piece this morning on the rise of bowling (indoor 10-pin bowling, not the outdoor sort played by Sir Francis Drake). It has become a kind of hipster retro outing for people who enjoy its fake-suburban appeal.
Coincidentally, there is an article in the New York Times pointing out that golf has been in slow decline for some time. Men are apparently finding it harder to justify spending half a day on the golf course (or a Saturday excursion, as Jack Welch used to insist upon for GE executives).
I am not sure hipster bowling is new. I remember going to a bowling alley in Philadelphia 15 years ago where many youngsters used to venture. Now, a bowling alley has recently opened in Williamsburg, which is a trendy neighbourhood in Brooklyn.
Still, it does demonstrate that there is no sport or game that is not capable of revival in an ironic, retro kind of way. All kinds of board games that I used to play in childhood seem to be popping up again.
Incidentally, I would argue that the coming game in Brooklyn is not bowling but bocce, which is a pétanque-related version of indoor bowls played in at least two bars, to my knowledge. But that is neither here nor there.
There is some sort of lesson here for private equity. All kinds of entertainment brands can lie dormant or be in decline for a long time before the right demographic happens along to revive it again, ironically or just out of plain nostalgia.
