I'm in the final stages of opening a pool room and now I'm starting to second guess myself.
The area I live in is very unique. People in his area identify themselves primarily by what side of the river they live on. Most people only cross the river if they have no choice. There are 2 pool rooms on the other side of the river and none on my side. This county has the highest growth rate in our state and is mostly all Mid-high income residents.
Population: 277,000
Median Age: 40
Diversity: White 83.5/Asian 7.6/African American 5.9%
Median Income: $87,500 Macro to the township and neighbor median: $115,000
The closest competitor on the other side of the river opened 3 years ago with 15 tables. The place is a converted auto shop, roughly put together, and a bare bones kitchen. They started out with no liquor license. Last year they bought one and now server drinks. As of late '25 they bought a former restaurant near their current location. They plan to expand to 20 tables when the move.
Bars in my area do not put tables in their rooms. There are only 2 bars with tables. One allows smoking and the other hosts leagues limiting casual player access.
I've reached out to the local APA operator and he's excited about the idea and will be pushing to get teams setup in my location as soon as it opens. I haven't yet reached out to the other leagues in the area yet until I know the financing and a location are in place.
Why am I second guessing? I won't have a liquor license, and I don't want to put over $100k into renovations of a space and have to move in 2 years so I'm looking at a larger space 12,000 sq ft, and my kitchen will be limited at first due to costs. My budget includes 10 7' Rasson tables and 4 tables for Black ball, and 2 soft tip and 2 steel tip dart boards.
Current startup costs: $260k
My plan is to have a family friendly atmosphere with a focus on attracting new youth players. Pushing the message to parents that this is NOT a bar... we will allow BYOB alcohol in the evenings. I have a certified instructor who wants to run a youth academy program out of the place. On top of that I plan to host an in house youth league and have commitments from 2 national youth tours to host events at the location. There is a very large senior living community 5 mins away so there is the possibility of a daytime player base.
I'm not settled on how to charge for tables... per player per hour or flat rate. my business partners say per table per hour and they are the ones that have been involved with pool halls in the past... I just don't know if the revenue will be there.
I have an opportunity to apply for a grant for around $85,000 which I will use to fill out the rest of the room with an additional 10-13 tables. Through my business partner we are getting wholesale pricing on all the tables and pro shop supplies and will be the local Rasson dealer so that will be nice. So there is the possibility that we will open with 20 7' 3 9' and 4 Black ball tables.
I'm also concerned about the kitchen. I just got a quote for the vent hood for $43,000... that is NOT in my budget. Without it though I won't be able to have fryers, oven, or a flat top. I plan to focus my menu on smoked meats which will be done outside so that isn't a problem but damn... the standard stuff is just so expensive to setup.
Am I making a mistake here?
Thanks,
WSBC
