Editor's Note: These are the top stories Stratford Today posted this year.
What started as a part-time job has now led to ownership for Joe Shaw.
Shaw started working at Mike’s Bowling Lanes fresh out of college, and now he has purchased the business along with his fiance, Pierrette Cassidy.
“I’ve been here for 25 years," said Shaw, “I thought it would be a part-time job but the customers made it so much fun that I asked for full-time hours. I kept enjoying it and I told Len if he was ever willing to sell that I would be interested.”
Despite other offers throughout the years, former owners Len and Debbie Barber decided to sell to their long-time employee.
“I’m so lucky,” said Shaw. “Plenty of places have been sold due to high property value, but Len always turned down any offer he got as he loved five pin so much, and he wanted to keep it going in Stratford.”
Under any new reign comes change, but there are not any immediate on the horizon for Mike's.
“The space is limited, and I have a mortgage to pay,” said Shaw. “That being said, one day it may be nice to expand the restaurant area.”
Many bowling centres around the area have closed down over the last ten years due to low numbers of enrolment. Fortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case for Shaw.
“I am very lucky to have the supportive community that Stratford offers,” he said. “Our numbers have been fairly consistent, and while a number of centres have had to close we have never been in jeopardy of that just because of how well the community supports us.”
Shaw and Cassidy will be working many hours but they are excited to keep the business local, and are already planning for the future.
“My fiance and I will be running the business,” said Shaw. “But our family will be quite involved. Our daughter in-law is really interested in learning how everything works, so it will still be in the family.”
