When the County-wide shutdown occurred in mid March, Lunar Bowl General Manager Courtney Garza recalls her first thought was about their customers & employees. “We have a great staff and they’re like family, so they were a huge priority. Our bowlers that bowl 35 weeks out of the year rely on us to be here. Leagues were getting cut, and we just wanted to find a way to make sure our employees and bowlers were taken care of.” 

As a non-essential business, Lunar Bowl was not able to reopen their doors until June 1, when we entered Phase 2 of the Eastern Jackson County Recovery Plan. In the meantime, Garza says they used their down time wisely to ensure they had strategies in place to keep bowlers safe. “All staff and bowlers are required to wear masks at all times. Staff is cleaning high touch areas every 30 minutes and getting temperature checks before every shift. Capacity is limited to 50%, so we’ve removed tables and limited lane usage to accommodate social distancing, and all live entertainment is cancelled for now.” Another precaution Lunar Bowl is taking is having bowlers leave all of their equipment at the lane when they’re finished. “Balls, shoes, screens, everything is completely sanitized when they’re done,” says Garza.

Thanks to investors, Lunar Bowl management was able to continue paying employees throughout the shutdown. “We are very, very lucky to have been able to pay our staff the entire time. They work hard for us all year long, so being able to give them job security and a guarantee that they’d have a job when things got better was a big relief for them.” 

When the time came to begin leagues again, Garza says their number one concern was ensuring bowlers felt comfortable. “We reached out to our bowlers and asked them what they were comfortable with and what they wanted to see happen. We had meetings with each team captain, took their thoughts and concerns into consideration and made sure that we found the best plan for each league. Some decided to push back and start after Labor Day, some wanted to start right away in August - so they did, and some didn’t come back at all. We just wanted to do what was best for everybody” 

Treating customers like family, following county mandates, and adapting day by day to the ever-evolving situation seems to be Lunar Bowl’s formula for success. That and their bowlers. “Our bowlers have been incredible. They continue to show up and support us and have even brought ideas to help us generate revenue. They’ve brought us tournaments, suggested starting a ladies league that now has 7 teams and have really rallied around us.” 

Garza states that it has not been an easy road, but they’ll continue to push forward. “We’re proud to offer our community a place to feel safe and enjoy themselves during all of this. We will be flooring youth leagues and another ladies league in January. And we have also brought back Cosmic sessions on Friday and Saturday nights.” Lunar Bowl is not currently booking birthday parties, however they are open for company holiday parties. For more information and to reserve lanes visit www.lunarbowl.com.

Thank you to the City of Blue Springs, The Examiner, Community Services League Blue Springs, and Downtown Alive for supporting our local small businesses. Together, we are #BlueSpringsStrong!

Photos by Jaime Russell, Anthem Photography