Hard Times Bellflower On the Scene

Patrick Johnson said:
I don't see anything like that in the pool halls I'm familiar with here in Chicago - for them table time is about 40% of gross revenue and close to half of net profit. The owners see food/drinks (especially food, which actually loses money) as necessary amenities for the pool business.

pj
chgo
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At Danny K's, the spot I referenced, they usually always have the seats at the bar full and people go there to eat lunch. They have a very good menu. I'm sure they sell a ton of booze.
 
I made mention of this before. Eddie was served due to lack of rent payments. I believe he had less than 10 days to respond. He did not! He was also given an option to store the tables etc but, didn’t take up the offer. So short story is After Eddie didn’t respond the landlord used his option and locked the place up. Now Eddie has no recourse. The assets inside belong to the landlord. I believe they have already started selling the tables.


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ThinSlice said:
I made mention of this before. Eddie was served due to lack of rent payments. I believe he had less than 10 days to respond. He did not! He was also given an option to store the tables etc but, didn’t take up the offer. So short story is After Eddie didn’t respond the landlord used his option and locked the place up. Now Eddie has no recourse. The assets inside belong to the landlord. I believe they have already started selling the tables.


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Your absolutely right. Eddie is out of the picture. The building owner showed up one day with lawyers, the police and locksmiths and proceeded to change the locks on him. A few days prior Eddie left with the 3 cushion tables and some misc. stuff. He owed over a years worth of rent which is well over 100k. I believe his ex-wife owns the contents of the building (due to a divorce) or the building owner. Either way, the equipment will most likely be auctoned soon. Anyone who thinks Eddie will open another Hard Times with the same tables or a new owner will take over the current location, I want to have what your having, because you must be drinking the good stuff.
 
Lucky John said:
Your absolutely right. Eddie is out of the picture. The building owner showed up one day with lawyers, the police and locksmiths and proceeded to change the locks on him. A few days prior Eddie left with the 3 cushion tables and some misc. stuff. He owed over a years worth of rent which is well over 100k. I believe his ex-wife owns the contents of the building (due to a divorce) or the building owner. Either way, the equipment will most likely be auctoned soon. Anyone who thinks Eddie will open another Hard Times with the same tables or a new owner will take over the current location, I want to have what your having, because you must be drinking the good stuff.
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Maybe Eddie can open up a 3-cushion place .
I guess we're gonna be seeing beat up old Gold Crowns for $500 on Craigslist soon .
Sad. Hollywood Billiards is gone . Hard Times is gone .
Are you missing the 90's yet ?
 
Apparently, the situation is more dire than I had thought. Hard Times is dead. RIP.
 
COVID was the nail in the coffin. The biggest mistake was not to remove the assets. He will probably get served again for back rent and no assets to sell. He is screwed in so many words.


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rexus31 said:
I wish you luck but think you are a little unrealistic in your hopes. I'm almost certain Eddie still owns the equipment that is in there and has probably worked some sort of storage fee with the owner. If the room was unsuccessful with someone running it who has owned and operated many pool rooms over his career, what makes you think you can somehow turn it into a successful, profitable venture? Three key factors will prevent you from doing so: rent is too expensive, utilities are too expensive, the city will not allow a liquor license. I'm sure the property owner doesn't care much if the building is vacant and not generating revenue. I'm sure he owns the whole block outright and that probably isn't the only commercial property he owns. He's not hurting for cash so he can charge fair market value which is not economically feasible for a business with no other revenue source other than table time. If you are wanting to "save" Hard Times for nostalgia purposes, it's an effort in futility and almost a sure fire way to go bust. If your desire is to open a pool room, you'd be better served finding a more affordable location in a city that will allow a liquor license. A full service kitchen with a good menu would be a good starting point as well. If you can afford to buy the building, even better. Danny K's would have suffered the same fate as Hard Times long ago if he did not have a full service kitchen and a full bar. I'd wager food and beverage sales outweigh table time revenue 10 to 1 (at least).
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you must be local if you know danny ks. i just don't like their tables and balls. i don't have fun playing on their equipment. but they are very close. but what choice do I have. danny ks is my only option. Thanks for your thorough reply.
 
rexus31 said:
I wish you luck but think you are a little unrealistic in your hopes. I'm almost certain Eddie still owns the equipment that is in there and has probably worked some sort of storage fee with the owner. If the room was unsuccessful with someone running it who has owned and operated many pool rooms over his career, what makes you think you can somehow turn it into a successful, profitable venture? Three key factors will prevent you from doing so: rent is too expensive, utilities are too expensive, the city will not allow a liquor license. I'm sure the property owner doesn't care much if the building is vacant and not generating revenue. I'm sure he owns the whole block outright and that probably isn't the only commercial property he owns. He's not hurting for cash so he can charge fair market value which is not economically feasible for a business with no other revenue source other than table time. If you are wanting to "save" Hard Times for nostalgia purposes, it's an effort in futility and almost a sure fire way to go bust. If your desire is to open a pool room, you'd be better served finding a more affordable location in a city that will allow a liquor license. A full service kitchen with a good menu would be a good starting point as well. If you can afford to buy the building, even better. Danny K's would have suffered the same fate as Hard Times long ago if he did not have a full service kitchen and a full bar. I'd wager food and beverage sales outweigh table time revenue 10 to 1 (at least).
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I think i will just hang it up. i really did not and do not have the time to talk to the landlord etc. but i was willing to do it. but after your post and other comments i will just keep working and socking away 3 grand a month until further notice. i hate to say it but this covid may have killed my hopes of becoming a player since i have no decent place to play to perfect my game unless i move to fremont or vegas.
 
jjohnson said:
you must be local if you know danny ks. i just don't like their tables and balls. i don't have fun playing on their equipment. but they are very close. but what choice do I have. danny ks is my only option. Thanks for your thorough reply.
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You don't think Danny K's is a decent place to play? They keep the tables in good condition and they don't play bad at all. I've played on much worse. Plus, the last time I was there they had 7' Diamonds in the front room. As for the balls, they bust out the Centennials for the tournaments. At least they used to. Truth be told, I'd rather have a room like Danny K's that has AC (and runs it), offers adult beverages and has a great menu versus a room with awesome equipment but nothing else. They also have several weekly tournaments. Plus, it's in a decent area so you don't have to worry about getting jacked in the parking lot or have your car broken into. I don't want to come off as a Danny K's fan boy. Truth be told, I don't really go there due to proximity and having a properly setup Gold Crown at my house. IMO, it's the nicest room in So Cal right now; Hard Times couldn't hold a candle to it (last 10 years). If I were close and did not have a table at home, I'd be a regular whether I liked the way the tables played or not.
 
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Patrick Johnson said:
That's a good point. Owning the building means not having to worry about rent increases, and you can expect real estate appreciation to be another long term profit source.

I don't see anything like that in the pool halls I'm familiar with here in Chicago - for them table time is about 40% of gross revenue and close to half of net profit. The owners see food/drinks (especially food, which actually loses money) as necessary amenities for the pool business.

pj
chgo
Click to expand...
If they're losing money on food either it sucks or they overcharge. Place i play has a full kitchen and they make $ every mo.
 
ThinSlice said:
I made mention of this before. Eddie was served due to lack of rent payments. I believe he had less than 10 days to respond. He did not! He was also given an option to store the tables etc but, didn’t take up the offer. So short story is After Eddie didn’t respond the landlord used his option and locked the place up. Now Eddie has no recourse. The assets inside belong to the landlord. I believe they have already started selling the tables.


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The good news is that you may soon have a Republican gov in Cal,Larry Elder.
 
ThinSlice said:
COVID was the nail in the coffin. The biggest mistake was not to remove the assets. He will probably get served again for back rent and no assets to sell. He is screwed in so many words.


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Don't blame COVID. The reaction to the flu like virus is to blame. I blame the U.S. bureaucrats , Intel agencies and the CCP for the coordinated effort to sell us all to big pharma.
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
Blame politicians who did not care if little business lived, or died.
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If they be Democrat politicos then they certainly prefer the small businesses to fail. Also they are trying hard to sell drugs for big pharma. Mainly the MRNA COVID treatment that is being referred to as a vaccine. Our politicians get campaign contributions from big tech,big pharma and all the big multi-national corps, in turn they use our tax money to repay the " companies" . In this case our tax money buys the " vaccine" and the politicians and bureaucrats have to convince or coerce us into getting the shots. It goes way beyond campaign contributions these days as the corruption scams have gotten extremely complex.
 
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