RETURN TO HALL OF FAME MAIN MENU
Widely known across Canada, and holding claim to being the largest Fivepin bowling centre in the world, throughout its nearly 4 decades of operation the only constant at NEB’s is change, courtesy of the dynamic duo at the helm of the family operation…. our inductees Tom and Maria England. But NEB’s is not where the story begins.
The England family’s involvement in bowling begins with Tom’s father Bruce England back in 1961. Originally a newspaper pressman, Bruce decided to invest in the bowling industry which was hitting its stride at the time. He bought in to ownership at Motor City Bowl in Oshawa, joining existing partners, and brothers, Matt and Alfred Kotelko. By 1970, the trio’s success led them to expand and they jointly invested in Ayren Links Golf Course in Bowmanville, assembling a sporting empire in Durham region. But the partnership was not to last. Sadly, Matt passed away suddenly, and brother Alfred found he no longer had interest in the business. A year later Bruce found himself as the sole owner of Motor City Bowl.
Around this time, his young son Tom was showing signs of things to come. By age ten Tom had developed a 100 foot, four lane slot car track for his personal enjoyment. By age thirteen, he was following in his dad’s entrepreneurial footprints by starting his own Disc Jockey business, supplying the music for his grade 8 Graduation… and before long he expanded by hiring two employees as his DJ service grew.
Through Bruce, however, bowling was already in Tom’s blood. Tom took over the main floor as Manager at Motor City Bowl in 1977, and was not shy to instigate change. Tom opened a bar in the basement at Motor City, and while doing so he invented an automated beer and spirits dispenser that allowed alcohol to be sold on both upper floors, which had 16 lanes each. And Bruce wasn’t standing still either. He took over a 24 lane operation in the Oshawa Shopping Centre, all while he was adding 8 more lanes at Motor City in the basement. The England family now had a two-centre chain offering 64 lanes of bowling to the Oshawa community. But it became clear that things were about to change when in the early 1980’s the mall signalled it would not renew the lease.
The City of Oshawa continued to grow, however, and Bruce sensed that opportunity would be found in the north end of town. To keep things moving forward he purchased land on Wilson Rd. N. in 1983 and began putting together a plan to open one large bowling centre on the property.
Around this time Tom was bowling with Maria’s dad Elio. And dad Bruce, perhaps sensing the chemistry between them, hired Maria to work at Motor City. The couple soon became inseparable and Maria and Tom married in 1983, forming a great and lasting partnership.
Development of the new building began in 1986, and by summer of 1988, with opening day approaching, sadly, Bruce passed away. Tom and Maria jointly took over the operation which would come to be known simply by it’s acronym…. NEB’s.
While Tom managed the bowling centre, Maria handled the hospitality side of the business, along with much of the administration as the operation grew to 60 employees. All the while promoting to the community through participation in the Fiesta Parade, and other initiatives.
And within their walls their entrepreneurial spirit never waned. Reaching for their goal of continued growth, they added a large games room becoming early adopters in the redemption centre business. They then added bumper cars and select rides and attractions including go-karts. Obviously NEB’s had now grown to be more than a bowling centre.
With so many guests passing though the facility each week, they felt it was imperative that the guest experience be a positive one. To that end, they’ve introduced a vast number of innovations which include some of Tom’s many brain-children; high speed ball returns… aids to assist special needs customers learn to bowl… convertible pinsetters to offer both 5pin and 10pin as needed… a mobile bar named the “Spare Time Express” which was a customized Golf Cart refitted to roam the concourse and sate the thirst of customers across the 52 lane centre. They developed new foul line detectors… and a new bumper system… and more recently they tested and inspired the adoption of 17” centres for the 5pin game. They designed self-serve rental shoe stations… auto check-in kiosks for customers… utilized text messaging to let customers know when food orders were ready… an audible tangle alert system… and the list goes on, with lots more to come.
Innovation, yes. Meaningful? Absolutely. Their average customer stay is nearly twice that of the industry average.
With all this going on at NEB’s one would wonder if they have a life outside its walls. And they certainly do.
A Black Belt in Karate, and a 2nd degree Black Belt in his preferred Taekwondo, Tom spent 26 years as an instructor in Martial Arts. When he and son Jeff, also a Black Belt, would go do their martial arts together, Maria and daughter Christy would go to dance.
Fast approaching their 40th Anniversary, Maria will tell you it’s become a real family affair. Jeff and Christy have grown into the business and added their own energies to the mix, representing a 3rd generation of Englands in the industry. With a background in computers Jeff developed a new scoring system called Tri Vista, along with many upgrades, controlling the entire operation with his iPad from anywhere…. while Christie, who majored in Human Resources at Durham College, joined her mom on the hospitality and administration side of the business. And their children are poised to be Gen 4 of the empire.
Maria’s brother Santo Chiodo is General Manager at NEB’s with responsibility for operations overall including the redemption centre. And still finds time to coach YBC, a program that has always been near to sister Maria’s heart.
For 29 consecutive years NEB’s claimed the highest YBC registrations in the country. A phenomenal statistic. When Kids Bowl Free came north of the border, NEB’s was recognized as the highest participation centre in Canada in year 1, and the following year they were ranked highest in North America.
They firmly believe that bowling is the best entertainment value for the dollar and consider it THE anchor for their multi-faceted entertainment facility. Today, the go-karts are being replaced by mini-put and the Redemption Centre just continues to expand and fill the extension on the building, with a grand entryway and the latest and greatest in attractions.
They’ve hosted every major event at Neb’s and always do it in style and with care. They were named Proprietors of the Year by O5PBA in 2002 and Tom was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2015. In 2009 they received the Business Excellence Award from the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce and in 2012 were honoured by the Government of Ontario for their dedication to our sport.
They’ve hosted the YBC Nationals 4 times (2009, 2015, 2019 and 2022), bringing all the divisions together under one roof… something that’s not been done in decades. They are members of the select group F2FEC, and have just been invited into membership of Attractions Ontario, hosting its annual meeting a few weeks ago at NEBS. Tom has conducted seminars on diversification at our Annual Meeting, has contributed several articles over the years to Nexus, typically aimed at getting the industry to recognize opportunities beyond the game of bowling itself.
They believe in constant forward motion, and will tell you that a bowling centre needs to upgrade and get a makeover BEFORE the customer tells you it’s needed. For example… they’ve redone their redemption centre 6 times.
Today we recognize Maria and Tom for all of the above and for always being quick to share their knowledge and experience in hopes of making the industry and sport as strong as it can be for all, inspiring and enticing the rest of us in the business to follow along at our own pace.