As the Professional Bowlers Association brought its second annual regional qualifying tournament to Utah over the weekend, balls were not only spinning down the lanes, but smelling good as well.
"Just think of it as an added bonus," said Steve Kloempken, technical director of Brigham City-based Storm Products Inc. "It's just like (household) cleaners that have a smell, and we buy those all the time for their scent."
Storm is one of only five bowling ball manufacturers in the world and the only one that manufactures scented bowling balls.
Not all of the balls Storm makes have the industry-coveted scents. Solan said eight of the 20 styles come equipped with various scents such as black cherry, strawberry, chocolate, cinnamon, cherry, peppermint and lemonade. The balls range in color and can cost up to $270 for the top-of-the-line ball. Storm's top-selling ball, the Triple X Factor, comes with a black cherry scent, but Solan said chocolate is his favorite.
"It smells pretty edible," he said. "It makes me hungry when I'm bowling. And if I were on a diet, I couldn't eat the bowling ball."
Sure, a bowling ball is purchased for many reasons often determined by a bowler's rev rate, axis rotation and level of experience or lane conditions.
But like fancy packaging on many products, Bill Chrisman, founder and CEO of Storm Products, has found that adding a scent carries a ball a lot further — in the market, that is. For the past four years, scented bowling balls have been rolling off the shelves at local and national pro shops.
"Most people won't remember the brand name of the ball, but they'll almost always remember the smell," said Ralph Solan, Storm's Northwest regional sales manager.
Solan moved to Utah several years ago just to be a part of the Storm corporation. In 1991, Solan and Kloempken were teammates on TeamUSA, a national amateur team, in the Pan-American Games in Cuba. The team took home a gold medal in the bowling competition.
"I used to bowl in tournaments for my income," Solan said. "I still play, but I've switched my competitive focus from throwing to selling."
The balls are also known to freshen up a car or locker room. The scent is injected into the 2-inch resin coating during production and can permeate when temperatures increase. No ball has ever been returned for losing its scent, which Kloempken said should last at least 10 years.
At any given tournament, Solan has an "arsenal" of eight balls, most of which are scented. He chooses the ball to use based on specific conditions of the lane, hook ratings and surface preparations.
He has nearly 27 years of bowling experience and has just recently moved from amateur to professional status at the regional level. Solan said the competition in junior bowling leagues kept the love of the game alive in him for so long that he just kept going.
Several top bowlers use the fragrant balls, and nine winners of the last 20 PBA events rolled Storm's scented product down the lanes. The product has been showcased on television and newspaper articles throughout the past year, which has really created a buzz for bowling as a sport.
"Adding a smell creates more of an interest for the general public than just the bowler's market," Kloempken said.
The balls definitely pique interest in the market as well. "If you don't have your own ball, bowling is a whole different experience," said Solan.
Storm representatives displayed their product throughout the weekend during the PBA Wild Turkey Bourbon West/Northwest Gus Parks Sierra Mist Open at Denton Lanes in West Valley City. Tournament games, including professional-amateur events, concluded Sunday.
E-mail: wleonard@desnews.com