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THE BEC INTERVIEW

Bill Diamond Is a

BEC’s Best Friend

Applying tenets from other businesses proves to be a recipe

for success for the venues of the Diamond Hospitality Group.

WITH GEORGE McAULIFFE tems, arcades, et cetera. We understand that to stay rel-
evant we need to keep investing, not only in the buildings
Bill Diamond is the co-founder and president of and facilities themselves, but also the business processes
Diamond Properties, a commercial real estate business and technologies we rely upon, including our corporate
located in Mount Kisco, New York, that focuses on the accounting and budgeting programs.
acquisition of commercial properties with potential for
substantial improvement through hands-on property Are bowling, food-and-beverage and arcade the “big three”
management, market repositioning and capital upgrades. at the GPNY and Spins locations?
Today, the entertainment division of Diamond Properties Across the portfolio, bowling activities still make up the
— Diamond Hospitality Group — operates more than 20 majority of revenue, slightly north of 50%, with food-and-
venues in five states, including Spins Bowl locations in New beverage and arcade making up the balance. In some
York, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. of our locations with larger arcades, the gaming revenue
typically surpasses food-and- beverage. By summer, every
You are involved in several other businesses outside of one of our locations will have an arcade, some larger than
bowling. From a business fundamentals standpoint, what others. But gaming is certainly a very important part of
are your favorite aspects of the BEC business? the business. When looking at arcade revenue, it’s impor-
We started Diamond Properties as an owner and devel- tant to note that we compare only to open bowling and
oper of commercial real estate. While we’ve expanded our not league bowling. Typically, our arcade revenue equals
portfolio to roughly $1.4 billion, we’ve roughly 64% of our open bowling rev-
also grown to operate a few different enue. In a few centers, with very large
business classes. These include RV parks, arcades, our arcade revenue even sur-
BECs, an FEC and self-storage facilities. passes our bowling revenue, but typically
While there are positives and negatives it’s in the roughly 64% range.
for each of these verticals, what we love
about the bowling business, in particular, How about the challenge of operations?
is the community engagement and being What should proprietors understand about
able to become an important part of the each of the segments?
local community. We focus on creating Bowling centers have a few challenges,
social and enjoyable atmospheres where of course. Some of these include the sea-
people can come together for fun and sonal fluctuations, changing demograph-
create lasting memories. ics and the growing list of competition,
not just from other classic bowling opera-
In terms of operating the business, have tions but other compelling out-of-home
your priorities shifted over the years? experiential offerings. There is also the
Have the keys to success changed? need to keep layering on technology
We’ve continued to upgrade our cen- so your business can stay competitive.
ters, adding such things as modern scor- All of this — combined with continued
ing, self-ordering kiosks, reservation sys- Bill Diamond increases in cost, especially with the cost

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