Zones - Matthews, NC

Zones was an expansion of Carolina Lanes which opened in the mid 1990s in the Charlotte area of North Carolina. The idea was the combine the winning aspects of several family entertainment centers of the time into a single operation - taking the successful indoor play area of Discovery Zone and combining it with the birthday party area and animatronic showroom of other successful chains. It was only in operation for a few short years before the show was removed, though the bowling alley it was attached to survives to this day.

History / Background

Carolina Lanes opened up at 11210 Brigman Road in Mathews (Charlotte), North Carolina in January of 1994. It was owned by Charan Industries, a company that operated many bowling and entertainment centers, such as the nearby University Lanes. Just over a year after the bowling center opened, the expansion area called Zones opened in June of 1995. Name dropping the similar Discovery Zone and Celebration Station in its ads, Zones aimed to be the one stop family entertainment center of the Charlotte area, combining food, activities, and an animatronic show all under one roof. They advertised their animated stage show with “Billy Bob Bear & his friends” right from the start.

Not much is known about the show itself. It was a classic three stage Rock-afire Explosion, purchased directly from Creative Engineering. In an old photo taken at Creative Engineering, a whiteboard is shown with some customers and what their show operated with, Zones in shown as being run off of reels. One video exists showing the band performing "Little Red Riding Hood", "Louisiana", and "Mr. Jones", and they had a Show Selector.

Zones is mentioned throughout the next couple years in advertisements, with its final mention being in 1999. The bowling alley that housed Zones changed its name to AMF Carolina Lanes in the late 90s, before eventually being renamed to Bowlero in 2020. No sign of the show has ever been seen since, no auction advertisement was created, and its whereabouts are completely unknown. The show was most likely sold back to Creative Engineering, as the image of the whitebord lists that the Show Selector equipment was returned.

Information & Details

Zones
11210 Brigman Rd
Matthews, NC 28105

Opening Date: June 17, 1995
Closing Date: 1998

Fate of the show: Likely returned to Creative Engineering