McPete's Sports Bar & Lanes

Bob McDowall & Eric Peterson, Co-Owners

Your Entertainment Headquarters

Restaurants and bars have a notoriously high failure rate, but McPetes Sports Bar & Lanes beat the statistics and has filled their leagues for bowling, pool, darts, softball, golf, volleyball, horseshoes and bean bags, not to mention their tables and bar stools. McPetes is more than a bowling center and bar; its the entertainment headquarters in Big Lake.

Co-Owners Bob McDowall and Eric Peterson, both lifetime Big Lake residents, played on leagues at the bowling center when it was first built in 1988. Eric worked at the center and learned the business well while he also worked on his family farm. Bob had worked twenty five years for a family-owned heating and air conditioning company and was president when he retired.

In 1998, after watching the business close and reopen several times under a handful of owners, Bob and Eric bought the facility in just two days with a traditional loan from their local bank. They remodeled and opened their doors. Eric knew the key to success was filling their leagues, which he set out to do. In 2004, after a fire threatened their success, they remodeled again adding outside activities: batting cages, a mini golf course, sand volleyball and horseshoe courts all of which offered summer league opportunities.

In 2007, they were bursting at the lanes and needed to expand. With a SBA loan from CMDC, they remodeled, doubled their square footage, added a banquet room for meetings and parties, tripled the size of their kitchen, and added a pro shop and eight lanes in their bowling center.

Bob suggests, Find yourself a good partner. CMDC was a great partner for us. It was a seamless process working with our banker and CMDC. The financing has been the easiest part of owning this business.

McPete's Sports Bar & Lanes
590 East Humboldt Drive, Highway 10
Big Lake, MN 55309
Telephone: 763.263.6556
Fax: 763.263.2743
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.mcpetes.com