After buying the site for $800,000 in March 2024, the new owner of Bayberry Bowling Center in Spencer has put the center back on the market.
Current owner Joshua Sundberg is not interested in selling to a developer and wants to find a new owner who is interested in continuing the site’s use as a candlepin bowling center, according to an announcement posted to the business’ Facebook page on Wednesday.
“It will only be sold to someone committed to the candlepin community,” the post reads. “We will continue to invest in this place and improve it and if everything goes well, stay.”
Sundberg also runs Acton Bowladrome & Arcade. He purchased Bayberry from Bernie Pelletier, who had operated the business since 1975 before retiring in 2024.
The post says the center had run into several problems since March 2024 but did not offer specifics. The post did not include a sale price.
Sundberg didn’t immediately return a voicemail seeking more information about the potential sale.
For now, the post says Bayberry will operate as usual. The center will install a new scoring system and make improvements to the on-site arcade and pool hall.
Invented in Worcester in 1880, candlepin bowling is most commonly found in New England and Atlantic Canada. Facing changing consumer habits, the proliferation of ten-pin bowling in the area, and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a number of candlepin centers have closed in Massachusetts since 2000, with owners often selling to developers.
However, the sport has seen some growth of late, with new candlepin lanes opening in Worcester at American Flatbread in May 2025 and a new owner revitalizing an existing lane in Harvard in 2024.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the real estate and banking & finance industries.
