The local institution, located at 5008 S Dale Mabry, is now on the market for $4.5 million.
Co-owner James “Corky” Herritt tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that he and his business partners, Javier Torrealday and his brother Bobby Herritt, are ready to move on from the bowling business and instead focus on family and other matters.
“Javier has two daughters. And they have kids now and he wants to spend time with his family,” says Herritt. “He’s been really great for me, and because of him I’ve had a lot of success. So if he wants to go, then I’m leaving.”
Herritt and Torrealday met each other playing jai alai professionally across the street, at Tampa Jai Alai Fronton—where a Home Depot now stands—until the venue closed in 1998. That same year they bought Pinarama, which at the time was a pool hall called Legends.
“We used to go in there at like 12:30 in the morning after we got done playing, and I got to know the owner and he said the pool hall wasn’t doing as well as expected. So I said, ‘What do you need to do?’ and he said, ‘We need to put bowling back in here, but we don’t have the money,” explains Herritt.
Over the years the 16,304-square-foot building has had many identities. According to Herritt, the space started out as a bowling alley in 1953. The owner then leased it out as a skating rink in the ‘90s, and when that didn’t work out, it was converted into a pool hall in 1994.
Herritt says the pandemic wasn’t too hard on the business, though it did close for a couple months in 2020, but bowlers slowly started coming back. “The business is stronger than it’s ever been in the last 22 years, the leagues are back, the weekends are back, it’s really been great,” says Herritt.
Tampa has lost a few iconic spots over the past couple years, including Kojak’s House of Ribs and Q-Zar laser tag, but Herritt is hopeful that whoever purchases the space will continue to keep it as a bowling alley.
“I hope it does stay as a bowling center,” says Herritt. “But you know, we can’t stay here just so that happens. You know what I mean? But I do have that hope that someone comes along and wants to continue this success. It might not end up that way, but now we’re moving on to the later parts of our lives with great memories.”
Besides a turn-key business with 16 lanes, billiards, an arcade room, and a snack bar, whoever buys it will also acquire a full liquor license because of a state law that says any bowling alley with 12 lanes or more automatically gets a liquor license.
Herritt also adds that it’s just nice to have a business that creates great memories for other people.
“Some of my fondest memories of this place involve the longtime league bowlers, the employees, and also the people who’ve had their fifth birthday parties here, and then they come here as teens, and then later bring their own kids, and say ‘Hey, remember me?’,” Herritt says. “It’s just great to know that Pinarama had such a big impact on people, and I hope it continues to in the future.”
This article appears in Mar 3-9, 2022.