MOORHEAD — A bowling alley and bar in north Moorhead is saying farewell after more than 20 years in business.
All Star Bowl and The Northsider bar will shut down its lanes and close its doors for good Tuesday, June 30.
“... After that, All Star Bowl & The Northsider will be gone forever. So let’s pack this place for the next 2 weeks. Come say goodbye!” a Facebook post for the “Northsider’s Farewell Party” event said.
Owner Robert Swenson, who bought the business in May of 1999, said it was "just time" to hang up a permanent 'Closed' sign on the building that was built in 1960.
"I’m getting older. The cost of business is getting to be too high, and that’s kind of a factor," Swenson said. "There’s a lot of different things. But basically, I’m ready to move on to bigger and better things."
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Patrons can rent bowling shoes, roll strikes and get a drink at the bar from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily until June 30.
“It’s bittersweet. I’d like to have seen somebody take it over and have ran with it,” Swenson said. “But obviously that didn’t happen. I hate to see it, but I’m in the position where I’m just getting older. Each year it gets a little tougher to keep doing it.”
Swenson said he's tried for about three years to get somebody else in to keep the longtime north Moorhead bowling alley at 309 17th St. N. going, but it "just hasn't happened." However, there have been conversations with neighboring beer and beverage distributor D-S Beverages to purchase, Swenson said.
"We are looking to buy it and plans to be determined," said owner and president of D-S Beverages in Moorhead Doug Restemayer.
For those who want to take a piece of All Star Bowl and The Northside bar with them, Swenson is holding a rummage sale of sorts. People can nab available items with a decent offer, he said.
“There’s a lot of things that people want that have been coming in here for the last 60 years,” Swenson said.
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Everything has to be out by September — all the equipment, bowling lanes, chairs and tables. A lot has been spoken for, but there's still a lot left, Swenson said.
The bowling alley and bar will be open until Tuesday, but Saturday is the final farewell celebration and sendoff.
“Over the last 20 years, the people have been great," Swenson said. "The people of north Moorhead are wonderful.”
