Issue 3, Casino Gambling in the State of Ohio

The biggest thing I hear about Issue 3 that it is about time for Casino gaming in the State of Ohio. The problem is people do not understand what Issue 3 means to local small businesses. We are competing for entertainment dollars, and Casinos will dramatically affect the money people have to spend in small businesses, like local bowling alleys, restaurants and bars. It will massively decrease Ohio Lottery play affecting funding for the State, and it will funnel new dollars into our Counties instead of the State, which will cut into the education dollars mandated and provided by the State of Ohio.

So is Freeway Lanes against Gambling coming to Ohio? Absolutely not. Governor Strickland and the Ohio State Legislature had a wonderful chance to bring gambling to Ohio in a fair and equitable manner. Many states that surround Ohio have produced fair models that provided lots of revenue to the State and local business, but we chose to ignore this. Governor Strickland was too busy posturing to the far right and hiding behind the fact that Ohioans had turned down bad gambling initiatives 4 times in this State. What really was happening is Ohioans were too smart to let the mega rich get mega richer and monopolize on this piece of commerce.  We voted against it because it was not fair, not because we morally oppose gambling. Poles about gambling in Ohio prove this time and time again.

For the past year I have been going to the Statehouse regularly. The only consistent thing I ever heard was the Governor was not going to let gambling in the State of Ohio. For months and months when a strong gambling plan to produce badly needed revenue to the State should have been explored and negotiated, the Governor chose to listen to the wrong people on what is right for the State. We sat here and watched billions of dollars flow out of our State and into others, while we acutally watched Ohio border cities spend money to build better infrastructure so theses people could leave to gamble.  Does this sound right?

If Issue 3 passes the small businesses in this State will not get a shot at this lucrative market. The out of State big gaming companies and local billionaires did not invent this product, they should have no exclusive rights to market this product in our economy. Gambling should be offered and regulated through the Ohio Lottery and spread out evenly across the state. Why would we channel all these dollars to such a few individuals who will take our money out of the State, while local businesses suffer at home trying to compete with a product we are not legally entitled to?

We need to VOTE NO on Issue 3, and then write and convince our legislators to put a bill through the House and the Senate that legalizes gambling that make sense for everyone.  If Issue 3 passes you will see multi national gaming companies, billionaires and soon to follow Indian Casinos have an exclusive on gambling . It is difficult enough to do business in the State of Ohio and to create this unlevel playing field in the entertainment industry is just not fair.

VOTE NO on Issue 3, and you are voting yes for local Ohio businesses!

Calling All League Bowlers!

The league bowlers are such an important and appreciated part of the Freeway Lanes business.   Many of our leagues have grown over the past few years, and we hope to continue this positive trend as we try to improve facilities and make you a better place to bowl.  Over the past few weeks we have been calling and emailing league bowlers to reach out and keep in touch with you this summer. 

 As part of our appreciation we are offering FREE bowling to league bowlers every Monday night from 5 to 10 p.m., except in Warren where it is on Tuesday nights.  We also are offering a deep discounted price per game for friends and family members to come in with you.  Get together your team, your league or anyone who is thinking about the bowling league here and enjoy a few games on us.  You can also look for a couple of specials in the lounge and kitchen to even entice you more to come in!

 Soon we will be announcing dates for our league officer parties.  This party is a way for us to bring the league officers all together and tell you what is going on for the upcoming season.  Each party includes a nice spread of food, beverages and some fun rainbow bowling .  This is a tradition we started over 16 years ago in Parma, and have kept it up as our way of getting the season going again.  We know all the hard work that goes into running the leagues every year, and we thank you for your service and dedication.    It is hard to believe but we have a few leagues that have been bowling with us for almost 50 years!

 My Wife and I have personally been making some calls to the league bowlers and have enjoyed speaking to you.   As you can imagine we cannot call all of you personally, and that is why I invite you to call me at 440-585-5800 to discuss whatever is on your mind.  If you have a complaint, a suggestion or even a compliment  please do not hesitate to call me personally.  Hope to see you around the center on Monday nights, or at the league officer parties, and most of all bowling with us this fall!

 

Regards,
Glenn E. Gable

CEO

Freeway Lanes Bowling Group

Recession Busters!

Let’s hope we are near the bottom of this recession. Bowling is proving to be a cheap alternative, but like everyone Freeway Lanes is tightening its belt wherever we can. Our hope it is to weather this recession and still provide an enjoyable place to work and bowl. We have created many specials to help our customers and to bring in what business. We are prepared for a long summer and will do our best to keep making improvements in the centers.

Summer leagues went off with a smashing success this year. This is the largest amount of summer leagues ever established in the Freeway Lanes chain. Special thanks to Kevin and his staff at Wickliffe for putting together our largest summer league ever on Wednesday nights. The sport shot leagues have proven to be a great success in short season format. Fall league schedules will be coming out by July 1, and we hope you continue to bowl with us in the regular season.

More than ever we are all looking at cheaper ways to entertain ourselves. Freeway Lanes is here to help with recession busting pricing! Don’t let the economy get you way down, come in and enjoy our specials. The same as last year, we are happy to present Kidsbowlfree.com. Go to this web site and register for free bowling each and every day of the summer! That is right, free! To get an entire outing with the family we are offering a special discount on Pizza, Pins and Pop for only $39.95. Every Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon you can enjoy this reduced price for 2 hours bowling, rental shoes, a one item pizza and pitcher of pop! Go out and enjoy the time with the family! We make it easy for you.

Office Hours

We are pleased to announce office hours for the CEO and President of Freeway Lanes. Each Friday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. we will be in the corporate offices inside Freeway Lanes of Wickliffe behind lane 96. Wickliffe. I invite anyone to email me for a time slot to come by and discuss what is on your mind. Employees and customers alike are welcome. If you have an idea for a promotion, a suggestion for an improvement, or if you just want to come by and get to know us better, please email us a time you can be there and we will confirm a meeting. We look forward to your input, and hope to see you soon!

Employee Health and Wellness

We are continually trying to improve our benefits to our employees. In order to make an effort to encourage a healthy lifestyle, Freeway Lanes is announcing that we will cover up to $15/month for any health membership as long as the employee is using it. We hope that employees will take advantage of this, and we hope if you ever considered coming to work for us it encourages you to put in an application. You can go online to www.freewaylanes and put in an application at any time.

Enjoy the summer and time with the Family!

Best,

Glenn E. Gable
CEO
Freeway Lanes Bowling Group

Making progress!

My Wife Suzy and I after the Big Ride Last year!  Everyone should try this!

It is hard to believe a year has passed since the last time I blogged about the Leukemia/Lymphoma (LLS)Society and our efforts to support them through Team and Training(TNT). Long after we made our goal and ride last year, donations kept coming in. All in all we raised over $13,000 last year for the event, our largest fund raising year ever! With the help of the bowling community through 50/50 raffles, friends giving donations, and businesses supporting us we are still making a difference.

Why are we so committed to this cause? It started out on a very personal note to us. We had a friend that had lymphoma and it was the treatment partially funded by TNT that helped save her life. Then Sue’s Father came down with lymphoma. TNT is making progress on a daily basis to battle leukemia and lymphoma. You do not have to look far to find some that has had their life touched by these terrible diseases. Besides personal connections, our team each year gets a team honoree.

Our Team Honoree this year is 2 year old Ryley Avon. She was diagnosed on August 28, 2008 with ALL, a form of leukemia. With a lot of help from LLS/TNT she has a 90% chance of being completely cured from this leukemia. That’s right, 90%! Hopefully little Ryley Avon will be another success story for our organization.

It is estimated in 2008 that 138,530 people in the United States will be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. An estimated 894,530 people are living with one of these diseases in the US. That means about 1 in 300 people are affected by these diseases! With these numbers it is not hard to believe that we all are touched by it at one point in our lives.

Not only are successful cures being developed, through major contributions to research and helping families TNT is making a difference! The 5-year survival rate is almost 4 times higher for leukemia, 2 times higher than Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and 3 times higher for myeloma! For people under 45 years old there is now a 91.6% 5 year survival rate for lymphoma patients! Progress is being made, and you can help us make more progress!
Please make a donation to help fund the development of treatments, help for families and some day a cure!

You can make a donation two ways:
Mail a check payable to Leukemia/Lymphoma Society and mail to:
Freeway Lanes of Wickliffe
28801 Euclid Ave.
Wickliffe, Ohio 44092

Or go to our web site with a credit card: http://pages.teamintraining.org/noh/ambbr09/ggable

Post Holiday

February 12, 2009

The busy holiday season is past and Freeway Lanes is thankful to all its customers’ for the patronage this year. We are also thankful of the hard work of all the employees’ that helped us have a successful holiday season. Even though we had many company events cancel or not book at all, we did have full support of our league bowler’s and open play customers. I don’t think there are too many companies that can look back on 2008 and claim a great year, but we are thankful for what we had and look forward to building the most out of 2009.

Generally speaking Americans’ have to learn to do more with less. Freeway Lanes is no different than anyone else. We are asking our management and salaried employees for that extra shift a week to make ends meet. We want to keep as many as our valued employees as we can, and make sure the productive ones still have opportunity within the organization. The main corporate objective is to keep our company healthy so everyone can continue to have employment by us. The only way we do this is through service to our customers. Please always keep the customer first!

Even though times are tough, Freeway Lanes is happy to announce a larger match on its 401k for employees. I know 401k balances are hard to swallow right now, but remember, that means your purchasing power has been radically increased. Now is the time to up your contributions to retirements and make up for buying stocks at all time highs with purchasing at all time lows! A turn around is imminent, and the more you stash away now the bigger you will win in the long term.

Yesterday was the Anniversary of my Father and our founder’s death, Robert W. Gable. It is a time to remember him for the person he was. He knew everyone at Solon and was a friend of everyone. He taught us to respect everyone, enjoy life and most of all be honest to others and yourself! In his memorial we will have the first annual Robert W. Gable Tournament on Sunday, March 29th at 11 a.m. Watch the web site for details and come help our company honor this wonderful person.

Please never hesitate to contact us at Freeway Lanes. Just the other day I found out through an internet blog site that we had a pricing error over the Martin Luther King Holiday. No one ever contacted me or the management of Freeway Lanes. We welcome and would love any input you ever have. I hope to make my blog postings every month. Thank you for all the traffic whenever I post.

Sincerely,

Glenn E. Gable
CEO
Freeway Lanes Bowling Group

Fall is upon us!

Kids are going back to school, it is getting darker a little earlier, and bowling season is around the corner.  Freeway Lanes has made some great improvements over the summer.  All these improvement are made with all bowler’s in mind.  We look forward to welcoming you back with bright and clean facilities.

 

Over the summer we had a new Food and Beverage director start with us.  He comes from a long established career from a local country club, and has come up with some great food ideas.  His name is Steve Rebarchik and he will be personally visiting all the leagues.  Also, on select nights we will be sampling some of the menu items during league.  So try the food and join us for dinner.  Steve joins our great existing F and B team of Bill Paulie, Brian Mita and Carol Patz. 

 

Is your company planning a holiday event?  Please call us!  You can Call Claudine at Solon, Mary and Lisa at Wickliffe, Carol at Parma, or Nadine at Mentor.  We have great packages that range from the standard pizza buffet all the way to chef manned carving station with beef tenderloin.  Call the party hot line at 440-585-1294, they will direct your call to which ever facility you are interested in.  Do something different this year, build the team, and enjoy one of our centers!  You can also view our packages at www.freewaylanes.com.

 

Fall league are coming in strong this year.  Do not forget to get your team signed up for anyone of our great leagues.  As always you get league appreciation gifts, discounts on food and great service.  Please call 440-585-5800 if you are interested, we know you will have a good time.

 

Freeway Lanes as a group has drastically improved its safety record with customers and employees.  If you see anything in our centers that is a potential hazard, please let a manager know.  Our goal is to be accident free, and every year we get closer to that goal.

 

As well as the Freeway is always helping out with causes, a group is having a bowling event here.  The name of the event is S.O.S., Striking out Sickle Cell.  The date of the event is September 30th.  Get out and help others with their cause!  You can register by going to www.ascaa.org and click on S.O.S.  We applaud their efforts to make a difference, and appreciate any support you can give this group.

 

Enjoy the end of your summer, and you can always email me directly at Glenn@freewaylanes.com.

 

Sincerely,

 

Glenn E. Gable

CEO

Freeway Lanes Bowling Group

The Freeway helps with Free Bowling!

Gas prices are rising, food is soaring, and we all are feeling the pinch of tougher economic times.  No matter who you are, money is becoming tighter and we need ways to keep ourselves entertained.  Freeway Lanes is proud to present it Kids Bowl Free Program this summer.

 

By going to www. kidsbowlfree.com parents can register their kids to get two free games of bowling per day, all summer long!  There will be many hours each day that your child can come in and get two Free games of bowling.  What about the parents?  Well they can register for a family pack.  For only $19.95 the parents can also get two games free….Every day!!!!

 

This is our way of giving back to our loyal customers that have supported us through the years.  We hope the community takes part in this program and comes into bowl!  No strings attached, we just want you to come our centers!

 

Thanks to the Bowler’s and employees for contributing to the Leukemia/Lymphoma society fundraising efforts.  My Wife and I have exceeded $10,000 before our own personal contribution of $1500 and we are still going!  The support has been overwhelming for this cause, and we really appreciate all the support.  If the Freeway can ever help you raise money for your personal cause, please contact us and we will do anything we can.  We continue to support all kinds of charities in the community, and feel it is part of our obligation as an organization.

 

Look for great new food items, fun summer leagues, and a lot of nice upgrades to the centers.  By June 1 we will have 8 new high definition projection screens in Solon!  These screens are huge and provide a great picture.  We will be offering a family pack that included Shoes, Bowling, Sliders, Pizza and all the pop you can drink during every Tribe game.  The sound will be loud, the picture will be clear, and the atmosphere will be exciting!

 

The Mentor renovation is really shaping up.  We hope to start construction sometime in the next 4 months.  It will be a beautiful facility that will service all our current customers better, and better serve the Mentor market.  Larry Demoss is the new general manager.  He is a friendly, genuine person that really cares about your experience.  Stop in and say hi, and see why he has the company nick name, the Silver Fox!

 

The Freeway is always happy to see its customers.  You are important to us.  Whether you are a league bowler, open bowler, party goer, or even a bar patron, we know you are what keeps us going, and we appreciate it.  You can always email me directly at glenn@freewaylanes.com if you have complaints, compliments, or just want to say “hey.”  I am always happy to hear from you.

 

Be Safe!  Be Well!  Go Bowling!  Now!

 

Glenn E. Gable

CEO

Freeway Lanes Bowling Group

 

The Freeway is Helping! Help us help others!

Last year we road Seattle to Portland for Team in Training which was 204 miles total.  This is my good friend Spike and me at Mile marker 100 of 112 miles that day eating creamsicles.  This is a local delicacy made in the middle of nowhere Oregon!  I crashed at mile 70, hence the bandages, ouch!

 

Over the next few months Freeway Lanes is mobilized to raise money for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society. I represent Freeway Lanes in Team in Training, a division of the society. I participate in team sporting events that support each other, and help spread the commitment to the cause. My Wife and I are both riding our bicycles 100 miles around Lake Tahoe, and with five of our friends we are committed to raising over $25,000!

Freeway Lanes staff does their part by offering a 50/50 raffle to each of the nightly leagues. This year, there will not only be the 50% of the pot prize, but great prizes awarded at the end of the drive. Every time you buy a 50/50 you get a chance at other great prizes. The prizes will be announced shortly, but please help us by supporting this raffle. Each time you do 50% of your money goes to finding a cure against blood born cancers and lymphomas.

 My Wife will also be hosting a ladies wine tasting and shopping party at Freeway Lanes of Solon. Details will soon be posted on this site, and around the bowling center.

I am also hosting a Texas Holdem tournament at the beautiful Pine Lake Trout Club. $200 gets you an entrance into the tournament, a dinner, and beverages. It is a great setting and the top prize is always something to be proud of. Last year we had over 40 participants.

 I feel it is important to make personal commitments to help others. I am proud of all the organizations the Freeway Community helps. We made donations of money or services to over 40 different organizations last year! The bowlers, the employees, and owner’s all work together to make a difference in our own way. If you would like to make your own donation directly to the cause, please follow the following link:

 www.active.com/donate/tntnoh/tntnohgablesmcgee

Thank you for all your support, and God Bless you for your efforts.

Times Continue To Change

Everyone had heard that the only thing constant in business is Change, and the bowling business is certainly not immune to that. 2007 had been a year of big change at Freeway Lanes. We had the no smoking law come into effect and we logged one of the nicest summer’s on the books that we ever had. This combination created a revenue dip that was felt across the State.

It has been tough making changes to the company so that we could survive. The work force was reduced by over 11% and overall expenses have been reduced by 12%. It has not been easy, but we now see light at the end of the tunnel. Our reductions in revenue are smaller, and our reductions in expenses have started to help.

Now it is time to figure out how to get the business back on the growth track. Our next projects are at Wickliffe and Solon. Wickliffe, on December 7, we begin the installation of 84 lanes of new synthetics accompanied by 12 lanes of high end furniture on the wood lanes that are left. This will accommodate our party business in the 12 lanes, while accommodating the league bowler’s with a consistent surface. This will start on December 7, 2008. Solon is having the first 24 lanes replaced as well as a major TV upgrade in the bar.

Recently all 425 employees where given a questionnaire on what could be done better at Freeway Lanes. We had many good suggestions, and we are taking many action to correct problems identified by the employees. We are listening, and we try to fit these improvements into the model to make a better place for our entire community. Thanks for taking the time to fill these out, we will be doing it again next September. If any customer or employee has a direct suggestion you can email or call me directly, I always have an ear for improvements for the company.

The 10 weeks of free bowling for new bowler’s at Wickliffe and Solon was a smashing success. We attracted over 460 new bowler’s between the centers! This promotion will not be run next year, but we may see it back for 2009-10 season. Thank you for all the bowler’s that signed up and the employee’s who supported it. We saw a lot of people who had left us return, as well as a lot of new faces.

Our safety record across the chain has improved dramatically. The efforts we have made to reduce accidents is really showing up, and this helps us over all in reputation, cost savings and most importantly, LESS PEOPLE HURT! Thanks for the continued efforts of all the people of Freeway Lanes!

Remember to talk to our customers, find out their needs, and give them the service they deserve. The holidays are around the corner, and it is a great time to really go the extra mile and show everyone we care. Look for our new customer service statement to be unveiled in December, and be sure that the more turbulent times are behind us. Happy Holidays to all, and God Bless you and your loved ones.

No Smoking on the Freeway

The smoking laws have been with us since December 7 of 2006.  The enforcement of the smoking laws has only started in past two weeks.  We have very mixed feelings about the smoking ban as a company.  We are here to serve you, the customer, and not letting our customer’s smoke inside has proved to be an inconvenience, and hard on our business.  For the first quarter of 2007 we were down 818 cases of just Bud Light!!!!  To do the math for you that is almost a $50,000 decrease in sales in one beer alone!  It has been tough, but as we begin to construct our new patios and have warm weather, it has brought some customers back in.  April was our first sign of life in a slight increase in bar business.

 For all the smoker’s out there, we apoligize for this massive, forced inconvenience.  We appreciate your business and are trying to plan other ways to accomodate you. 

While we may not agree with the smoking ban, the one positive outcome is a cleaner environment for our employees and patrons.  We can only hope there will be some positive fall out from this in the medium and long term of the business.

In the mean time the down turn in business has presented us with some tough choices.  We have had to scale back on employees while spending capital to make improvements to accomodate this new law.  It is the first time in 11 years the Freeway has had a negative growth quarter, and we are adjusting as fast as we can.

 I throw this out there to explain to everyone a large problem that you might not have known even existed.  Many thought the smoking ban would be healthy for the business, but as for now it has negatively affected all us on the Freeway.  Sometimes I get emails and calls asking “Why the heck would you do that?”  This blog lets me reach more people and explain our reasoning.  If you would like to email directly please do so at the address below.  Be Safe, Enjoy the nice weather, and check out our ‘Smokin” new patio at Solon, soon to be at Parma, and then Wickliffe!

Cheers!

Glenn E. Gable

Glenn@freewaylanes.com