Charles City Comet Bowl sold to New Hampton bowling family

Bowlaway Lanes owners share past with  iconic Charles City alley and restaurant

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The New Year marks a new era for the Comet Bowl in Charles City.

On Monday, Jan. 2, longtime Comet Bowl owners Mark Barry and Peggy Sweet turned the bowling alley over to Josh, Laura, and Chad Novak.

Siblings Barry and Sweet have been operating the Comet Bowl in Charles City for 35 years now, taking on the family business from their parents, who had owned it since 1972.

In 2018, Barry and Sweet decided it was time to look into stepping back and put the bowling alley up on the market. They went a few years without any takers before eventually starting discussions with the Novak family in New Hampton.

Josh and Laura Novak own Bowlaway Lanes and Lounge in New Hampton and have now taken on Comet Bowl with Josh’s brother, Chad Novak.

“We knew that the Barrys were ready to sell the Comet Bowl and we knew that Josh’s brother (Chad) wanted to go in on it,” said Laura Novak.

The Novak family itself has a long history in the bowling business and with the Comet Bowl in particular, with several of the Novak family members working at the Comet Bowl since even before the Barry family purchased it in the 70s.

“It’s kind of been their family and ours,” said Barry. “Their family was an integral part of running the place.”

Josh and Chad’s uncles have worked at the Comet Bowl and their parents had a bowling alley of their own while they were growing up. Josh himself was a part owner at Mystic Lanes in Mason City before taking on the New Hampton alley.

“Bowling has been in our background all of our life,” said Chad Novak, who said he is eager to go into business with his brother on the family’s latest bowling venture.

It has taken some time to work out all the arrangements, but now that the deal is done both parties are looking forward to seeing what the future holds.

“We were always looking for someone that would take the ball that we had and run with it,” said Barry. “I think these are the right people to do it.”

Outside of a few cosmetic updates, the Novaks don’t have any major changes planned for the Comet Bowl in the immediate future. They’ve talked about adding some new synthetic lanes in the next couple years and adding some “cosmic” black lights, but otherwise they expect business to operate pretty much as usual.

“There’s a little bit of work that we need to do, but nothing we can’t handle,” said Laura Novak. “They’ve ran a pretty good business for us to come in and take over.”

Barry said that that he and his sister are looking forward to slowing down to spend more time with children and grandchildren, though he intends to keep working at Comet Lanes for as long as the new owners will have him.

“I am extremely confident and happy. I know that they’re the right people to run with it and we’re going to do everything we can to make it a positive transition and help them out as much as we can,” said Barry. “We think they’re the perfect fit for what we were hoping to see after us.”