The sound of bowling and laughter inside Elsie's in northeast Minneapolis on a Thursday morning is music to the ears of Tim and Mike Tuttle. It was just a few years ago when the pandemic turned their businesses upside down.
“We were very worried. We weren’t sure we were going to be able to come out of this,” said Tim Tuttle. “We were actually going to a lot of renovations and had big plans to change things like pin setters, chairs, and we just put a stop to everything.”
The Tuttles come from a long line of bowling business success in the Twin Cities. Their grandfather got his start with Tuttle’s Amusement on Lake Street in 1948. From there, Tim and Mike’s father, Bob, along with his brother Dick, built Stardust and Hiawatha Bowl.
“We’ve been around the bowling alleys our entire lives,” Mike Tuttle said. “In 1991 we got into ownership with our father here at Elsie’s. We expanded from there because we weren’t quite done yet and wanted to find other places. Over 30 years later and here we are still doing it. It’s been great.”
The past few years are likely the toughest they have encountered as business owners.
“It was really tough, really hard,” Tim said. “Working seven days a week for as long as I can remember, it was hard to be closed down. We did get some projects done that we couldn’t do when we were open seven days a week.”
Both Mike and Tim credit their employees and PPP loans for helping them last through the worst of the pandemic.
At the start of the pandemic, the Tuttles employed over 200 people. They were able to pay employees who did not qualify for unemployment.
“Without PPP loans we probably wouldn’t have made it. We did have cash going into St. Patrick’s Day in 2020. At that time we were getting out of our season and headed into the unknown.”
Numbers have slowly started to come back to their bowling alleys including Elsie’s, Tuttle’s in Hopkins, Memory Lanes in south Minneapolis, and Split Rocks in Wyoming.
“We’re close, we’re not quite where we were, but we’re getting close to back to where we were pre-pandemic.”
While league bowler numbers are down, open play numbers are up, which is promising for business.
“There’s a good mix especially at Tuttle’s when we’re full we can have some league and some open lanes which really helps.”
Both Mike and Tim believe that bowling will continue to grow as more people look for social interactions they missed out during the height of the pandemic.
“We’re reasonably priced for a big, nice group activity. You have that social aspect where you can chat with nine or 10 other people. Here it’s all ages. Anyone can do it.”