Garden Bowl on Woodward celebrates 80 years of business
Garden Bowl celebrates 90 years of family ownership
The Garden Bowl on Woodward in Midtown Detroit has been on a roll since it first opened in 1913. But it’s been owned by the Zainea family for a triumphant 80 years now. These days, David Zainea has the reins.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - A Detroit staple is celebrating 80 years of family ownership while providing timeless fun for the community.
Garden Bowl on Woodward has been a popular hangout for everything from bowling to sharing a few slices of pizza while checking out a concert or two.
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The Garden Bowl on Woodward in Midtown Detroit has been on a roll since it first opened in 1913. But it’s been owned by the Zainea family for 80 years now.
These days, David Zainea has the reins.
"It feels great. It’s wonderful. It’s a great celebration and, more importantly, it’s a celebration for the community and my employees and honoring my dad and his brothers and my grandfather, who started it in 1946," said Zainea. "Three generations. Still kicking. Hopefully it will be a fourth with my kids. I don’t know yet. Stay tuned on that one. I’m trying to convince them, but they are still young and in college. It’s a legacy, you know? It’s been good to us. Paid for our tuition and just to continue what my grandfather wanted to see this place to become."
A striking spot for both competitive and friendly games, it’s considered the oldest continuously operating commercial bowling alley in the nation.
It looks exactly the same to Dennis Talbert.
"Man, I’ve been coming to Garden Bowl since the 80s," said Talbert. "I was a youth pastor at Rosedale Park Baptist Church and Garden Bowl would receive our kids. I think a dollar a bowl. I don’t even think it was a dollar a bowl back in the 80s."
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Meanwhile, for staffers like Zoe Hecker, it’s become a family tradition of her own.
"The business really touched me as a young kid. My mom used to do her punk fitness class upstairs, Julie Hecker, and I would run around here all the time every Saturday morning, so now, 20 years later, I’m here working. I’m excited to be here. I hear all the stories of people in, for going to shows when a concert is coming in on Woodward telling me all the history of like everybody who came all the years, they used to bowl. It’s just really phenomenal," said Hecker. "Be a part of something that’s so much bigger than me."
This part of Woodward has seen massive growth in recent years, with an explosion of development. But after 80 years in the Zainea family, it’s nice to know some things remain the same.
"Oh man. Midtown has come a long ways," said Zainea. "My dad had the vision when I got out of college. I don’t know if I could keep doing this, and he said, nope, Woodward Ave was going to be the Avenue. And he was right. He has good vision, and we stuck it out and we persevered. That’s really the key word."
Garden Bowl is celebrating by helping 80 local charities throughout the year in their fundraising, even offering free bowling for some of those organizations.
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The Source: FOX 2 talked with owner David Zainea for information on this report.