During the busy fall and winter season, Greg Peterson helps check in more than a thousand league bowlers a week at Memory Lanes, the 30-lane, retro-themed alley in south Minneapolis.

And yet he's always on the lookout for more bowlers, especially among hipsters in their 20s and 30s who make up much of Memory Lanes' surrounding demographic, thanks to its proximity to a number of college campuses.

"I'm responsible for bringing in the new leagues and trying to recruit the younger bowlers and demystifying it for them," said Peterson, director of operations at Memory Lanes. "They don't take it seriously until they really think they can win some money. Then they hunker down. It's fun to watch."

Peterson began working at Memory Lanes when it opened a little over five years ago, freshly remodeled and rebranded after decades as Stardust Lanes. After the makeover, which included transforming the formerly cave-like bar into the Flashback Cafe and Cocktail Lounge, Memory Lanes soon added live music, trivia and bingo nights.

When he arrived at Memory Lanes, Peterson was making a transition himself from business-to-business sales and running sales groups to a more customer-oriented occupation.

"It was a neat opportunity to be more entrepreneurial and take something that had a good product and turn it into a great product," Peterson said.

Spring and summer leagues, which bowl on Sundays, Tuesday and Wednesdays, are still filling up. Weekends are all about open bowling, when occasional bowlers hit the lanes.

"It turned out our insurance guy was there that day," Peterson said. "He said, 'That's a really cool idea. Don't ever do it again.'"

How often do people belt you with "Big Lebowski" quotes? Nightly. You can tell them they're not being clever when they say, "Over the line!" (Every March, Memory Lanes hosts "A Tribute to the Dude," featuring the Javier Trejo Trio covering the movie soundtrack). It's very well attended. They drank us out of Kahlua, a key ingredient for a White Russian, which is featured prominently in the movie.

What's your average? Right now it's about a 175. I'm now a very average league bowler. Five years ago I would have been thrilled to bowl a 175. We added a pro shop this past summer and Don White is one of the best instructors in the country let alone the state. He's given me some pointers. Repetition is the big thing.

What's the average life span of a pair of bowling shoes? When we reopened as Memory Lanes, all the shoes were new. We've still got some of that original stock. Our pair of size 17s is still here. If you look at the predominant sizes — men are like 10-11, women size 7 — you can get two years out of a pair of shoes.

Live music at a bowling alley? Mondays are punk rock (www.punkbowl.com). Friday is indie rock. Saturday is a catch-all from rockabilly to a burlesque show, which was very well attended. We put them up on a stage on lanes 11 through 14 and people bowl on either side of it. We get a lot of good feedback from the bands.