The Alley is expected to close and be converted into a Target in mid-November following sharp rises in lease rates on Hillsborough Street.
Chris Poole, the tenant of the property, has decided not to renew his eight-year lease. He was unable to negotiate an economical lease rate with his landlord, despite the popularity of his business. Prior to starting The Alley, the bowling alley was known as Western Lanes, a highly popular bowling alley among NC State students. Since opening his lease in 2008, Poole has worked duly to improve the condition of the bowling alley to live up to the fame of Western Lanes.
When Poole first walked into the bowling alley, its condition was deplorable and bleak.
According to Poole, the bowling alley had gained a reputation from past management for being an unclean and unfavorable location for spending leisure time.
“It was in pretty rough shape,” Poole said. “The carpet reeked of cigarette smoke, it was very dimly lit, there was no music, no TVs — just a pretty rough atmosphere. We wanted to flip the script, treat every customer with a smile and be happy.”
Although Poole had no experience prior to leasing the property in the bowling business, he quickly found his footing by catering to student interests. He added a bar, a restaurant and an exciting atmosphere to make The Alley more hospitable to college students.
“We’ve steadily increased sales,” Poole said. “It’s been remarkable to see so many people come back. All in all, we’ll have an hour wait for a lane during a busy season, which is just crazy to pack the place with 200 people from where it was. A big part of that was changing the culture, being more geared toward the customer and customer experience.”
Many alumni, students and community members still enjoy The Alley for recreation, and business has remained strong in the past year, according to Poole. Katie Seymour and Becca Clemmer, recent NC State undergraduate alumnae, frequented The Alley as students and members of the Delta Gamma sorority. The two met up after a summer apart to go bowling.
“This is one of the spots that we’re visiting,” Seymour said. “When we joined our sorority, a group of us came. It was always packed.”
The two felt that The Alley catered to the student population well and that it provided a great location for recreation and socialization.
“You can come during the day and bowl, or you can come at night and have fun,” Clemmer said. “It’s something else to do instead of going downtown to a bar. It brought a lot of different grades together because it’s right here on campus, so even if you’re a freshman, you can still come here.”
Despite his many years of success, Poole felt increasing economic pressure from the rising prices of property on Hillsborough Street. According to Poole, when he had originally acquired the property, he had aspirations of maintaining it for much longer than eight years.
“We were just a tenant; if we owned the building, it would be a much different story, I think,” Poole said. “It’s not like we’re just selling out to move on to bigger and better things. We wanted to keep The Alley forever, but with all Hillsborough Street happening, all the lease rates are skyrocketing. It was the right decision because we couldn’t come to an agreement to lock us in for long-term.”
While it remains unknown as to whether the landlord has signed The Alley’s lease over to a new tenant, Poole expresses confidence that the lease would be signed in the coming week. The landlord did not wish to comment on the matter. Looking forward, Poole remains optimistic despite his inability to continue leasing the property.
“We knew nothing when we took over,” Poole said. “I feel like we achieved our goal of bringing the once historic Western Lanes back to life.”
Rob Horner releases the ball while bowling on Sunday at The Alley, a local bowling alley that will close in November. Horner was bowling in a bowl-a-thon benefit hosted by Biscuits, Whiskey, and Beer, a group led by Charlie Mewshaw that raised money for the nonprofit Residential Services, Inc.
