Love at first strike
Couple seek to put their spin on southside bowling center
A shared love for the sport of bowling led to the introduction of Tim and Kim Denny, and the continued love for the sport is leading the now-married couple into a new business venture in Oklahoma City.
The Dennys recently purchased Holiday Lanes Bowling Center at 44 SE 44. The couple are working to restore some former glory to the nearly 60-year-old bowling center, relying on their business expertise and love for the game.
“As I walk through the facility, I had to walk through it in a different way — outside of a bowler,” Tim Denny said. “Now as (owners), we took a more in-depth look and putting together the framework on what improvements needed to be done, and more importantly show the bowling community we were serious about this and we were going to make improvements, and make improvements immediately.”
They are starting with significant facility improvements. The Dennys closed on the sale of the bowling center May 29, buying the facility from the original owners, and plan to replace half the lanes in the center with a new synthetic surface — a more standard material in bowling centers today.
The other half of the center will retain its wood lanes, and materials from the replaced lanes will be used to improve the functionality of the older lanes. Additionally, the Dennys are working on plans to convert a pro shop into a lounge, changed the food menu, ordered 100 new pairs of shoes and 50 new bowling balls, with more to be ordered when the new lanes are installed and reopened.
Combining business and bowling
Tim Denny built a career in central Oklahoma, spending 18 years working for Chesapeake Energy Corp., and currently working as chief administrative officer at Bob Moore Auto Group.
“For me, because I have a business background and a bowler’s perspective, I feel like that allows a good mix for us to run something successful,” he said. “I’ve been in those roles and managed successful departments and businesses, and it gave us the level of confidence that we can apply some of those principles into the bowling center.”
But it isn’t all dollars and cents for the Dennys. They view their bowling center as a
place to give back to their community. There is a Tuesday night league for young adults and adults with special needs or disabilities.
“It’s really important to me that we help and give back to the community,” Tim Denny said. “I see us being that source for nonprofit bowl-athons to raise money.
“In life today we are all busier than we’ve ever been, but the help that is needed in a nonprofit community is larger than it ever has been,” he said. “I feel like we are blessed in a lot of ways and we should be able to do our part and help where we can.”
Bowling brought them together
It’s fitting the couple look to use their bowling center to make a difference in the lives of others, as it played so significant a role in their own. The two bowled at different alleys in Oklahoma City and Edmond growing up, Kim Denny said, but they ended up meeting while competing in the same youth league.
“That’s how I met him, kind of liked him and that’s how it started,” Kim Denny said.
“We got married when we were 19,” Tim Denny said. “Went out to Vegas to get married and had our reception at a bowling center in Edmond.”
Time spent bowling was harder to come by as they raised a family, Tim Denny said. Time is still a valuable commodity for the couple as they balance their new business with other work and volunteer responsibilities. It isn’t diminishing their excitement.
“It’s exciting,” Kim Denny said. “It’s a lot of work right now but it’s going to pay off. It’s fun.”
“If we can own and operate a business that has the opportunity to make money and help a lot of people along the way, I’ll sign up for those all day long,” Tim Denny said. “That’s what keeps me excited and motivated.”