New pool room - help with ideas

skipbales

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am looking for ideas to go along with some basic local understanding of what would work. I owned 2 bar/pool/ beer and wine only restaurants 40 years ago, in my 20's. I am now 71.

I live in a small town (8000) with no real surrounding areas to draw from. I am thinking of opening a pool room/bar with my son. He is a Cordon Bleu trained chef but is wheel chair bound. This would be a legacy business he could run after I am gone.

There are no good pool tables at any of the local bars. The best they have is a 6 1/2' Valley with dead rails. There are two active pool leagues which are part of a statewide system that operate out of the local bars. When the players "go to state" they play on 7' Diamonds with Simonis cloth.

There is no place for local kids to hang out.

My basic concept is to have two sides with a common entrance that splits into two sections served by a common horseshoe bar in the center(see attached basic floorplan). One change to the floorplan the tables and bench seating will be replaced with a drink rail and bar stools to take up less space. One side no alcohol, family pool hall with some arcade games. The other side more like a conventional bar.

The wait staff could service both sides and the hours would vary with one side closing earlier than the other.

I plan to buy 8 7' Diamond Smart tables (and add the electronic cc and cash receivers when they are more perfected). All tables would be per game not per hour. 2 tables on each side (front) would be challenge tables the other two could be monopolized by individuals or groups.

A lot of my concepts are based on the competition. There are no 8' or 9' tables in town and the true 7' Diamonds are a serious upgrade. I am also matching the tables they would play on at "state".

The food served would be Pizza from the new TurboChef portable pizza oven. 14" pizza takes 2 1/2 minutes. I might add the TurboChef air cooker so my son would make a variety of appetizers, specialty dishes and so forth. This all requires minimal counter space, no hood or deep fryer, etc. minimal refrigeration.

Things I need help with include:
1. Best sources for buying everything I will need
2. Flooring suggestions. Most use indoor/outdoor carpet but I am thinking resilient vinyl plank flooring.
3. What Beers I should have on tap
4. What my hours for each side should be.
5. Pool table cloth color - planning on 760 Simonis as that is what they use at "State" and it plays fast with a lot of action. 860 plays a little slower and is harder for amateurs to draw with and so forth.
6. Help choosing a name. My name is Skip and my son is Chris. So C&S Billiards and Bar or ...... Looking for better
7. Do I need a walk in cooler or just under counter.
8. Do I need a freezer
9. Should I add the on table around the rail light systems in addition to overhead, instead of overhead, not at all.
10. The 1 million other things I haven't thought of
 

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KCRack'em

I'm not argumentative!!!!
Silver Member
What rooms have you visited that you can borrow ideas from? It would be well worth your time to make some road trips.
 

greyghost

Coast to Coast
Silver Member
I’d do just an under counter not a walk in. The flooring the strand lam bamboo is very strong and highly water resistant (left a chunk submerged in bucket of water for two week....1/8” water line on cut ends (amazingly good). It’s very tough and going to well outlast vinyls.

Don’t blow your wad on arcade games they break.

Ask local stores what kind of beers they sell the most. If you have local micro breweries be sure to have them in the cooler/tap.

Yeah no fried foods it’s a pia to clean up and everyone has issues. Nice scooby do style Sandwiches lol
Pizza sounds cool as well.

Install a water fountain so you don’t have to deal with the free water people.

Lumber liquidators is a good source for flooring .

Skip’n’ sons billiards


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

GoPlayPool

Search. Find. Play.
Gold Member
Silver Member
New business

It might be a bit early. But, when you are operational and doors are open, do let us know and use our system for marketing and listing the info on your room.
We own the listing of all the pool halls and all they have in the US on The GoPlayPool App.
Have a great day and wish you the best in your new venture! :)
 

skipbales

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
What rooms have you visited that you can borrow ideas from? It would be well worth your time to make some road trips.

A lot but when you aren't there to remember or take notice not much sticks. I know I want real clearance around the tables. No asking people to move from their seat or shoot around obstacles like Juke Box.
 

skipbales

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I’d do just an under counter not a walk in. The flooring the strand lam bamboo is very strong and highly water resistant (left a chunk submerged in bucket of water for two week....1/8” water line on cut ends (amazingly good). It’s very tough and going to well outlast vinyls.

Don’t blow your wad on arcade games they break.

Ask local stores what kind of beers they sell the most. If you have local micro breweries be sure to have them in the cooler/tap.

Yeah no fried foods it’s a pia to clean up and everyone has issues. Nice scooby do style Sandwiches lol
Pizza sounds cool as well.

Install a water fountain so you don’t have to deal with the free water people.

Lumber liquidators is a good source for flooring .

Skip’n’ sons billiards


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Great ideas I will add the water fountain for sure. On the family side the self serve soda station will have it but not the bar side. I will add one. Should I put in a paper cup dispenser to eliminate them asking for a glass? or just do a push to drink fountain?

That is 2 votes for putting my name on it so far and none for anything else. My friend suggested Skip's Billards. Since it is mostly for my son I am thinking Chris' Bar and Billiards but that doesn't flow off the tongue since his name ends in an S.

Arcade games - should I just opt for a split revenue instead?
 

skipbales

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It might be a bit early. But, when you are operational and doors are open, do let us know and use our system for marketing and listing the info on your room.
We own the listing of all the pool halls and all they have in the US on The GoPlayPool App.
Have a great day and wish you the best in your new venture! :)

How much does it cost? My concern is we are a small dead end town. I would not expect many out of town visitors. People in Phoenix don't even know where Globe is and every highway sign on US 60 has Globe listed as the Eastern direction. They see that but never actually go there so it doesn't register.
 

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm not a room owner....

I'd link your leagues and weekly tournaments to FargoRate. This way even though you are in a small town, your customers will be connected to pool players everywhere.

Everyone wants wifi these days. Have good free internet for your customers, so they can spend all day playing pool, eating your food and drinks, while playing on their laptops or cell phones.

Check the bathrooms every couple of hours or as you deem necessary to pick up all the piss from the floor. Clean rooms will attract clean customers. Dirty rooms will attract bums.

Don't skimp on AC in the summer. It chases customers out more than the money it will save.

Make the atmosphere fun and lively and not dark and depressing. Get the girls in there. Maybe hire a woman designer to do your colors and decorating. Guys don't care at all about any of that stuff, but colors and decor can be a huge red flag for many women.
 

skipbales

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm not a room owner....

I'd link your leagues and weekly tournaments to FargoRate. This way even though you are in a small town, your customers will be connected to pool players everywhere.

Everyone wants wifi these days. Have good free internet for your customers, so they can spend all day playing pool, eating your food and drinks, while playing on their laptops or cell phones.

Check the bathrooms every couple of hours or as you deem necessary to pick up all the piss from the floor. Clean rooms will attract clean customers. Dirty rooms will attract bums.

Don't skimp on AC in the summer. It chases customers out more than the money it will save.

Make the atmosphere fun and lively and not dark and depressing. Get the girls in there. Maybe hire a woman designer to do your colors and decorating. Guys don't care at all about any of that stuff, but colors and decor can be a huge red flag for many women.
Thank you. All great ideas. I will add them to my list.
 

book collector

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Have you talked to the towns council with your plans , they can make or break you .
40,000 people with no towns close, to draw from, is pretty slim I think.
A lot depends on you and your sons personalities.
Eventually , enough people will stop in to check you out, to make a nice business, if they have a good time.
My experience has been that as soon as you open the place , and it looks like you are making money, at least one and maybe 2 more will open within the first year or 2 .
They won't even consider the tiny market and think it's a gravy train and you will both flounder till one or both goes belly up.
Can you afford to fade that?
I would want the council to agree to no new pool table establishments, for at least 5 years if possible, if I was going to invest that much money.
Once you have that strong foothold , your good reputation will fight anybody else off .
You do have some leverage , you are bringing in revenue and risking your money , I would not want to open one in a town that didn't appreciate that and give me a helping hand.
The youth can make or break you also, if there are problems in the place , you can expect them to pass legislation forbidding anyone under 18 in the place .
Good luck to you and your son.
 

skipbales

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Have you talked to the towns council with your plans , they can make or break you .
40,000 people with no towns close, to draw from, is pretty slim I think.
A lot depends on you and your sons personalities.
Eventually , enough people will stop in to check you out, to make a nice business, if they have a good time.
My experience has been that as soon as you open the place , and it looks like you are making money, at least one and maybe 2 more will open within the first year or 2 .
They won't even consider the tiny market and think it's a gravy train and you will both flounder till one or both goes belly up.
Can you afford to fade that?
I would want the council to agree to no new pool table establishments, for at least 5 years if possible, if I was going to invest that much money.
Once you have that strong foothold , your good reputation will fight anybody else off .
You do have some leverage , you are bringing in revenue and risking your money , I would not want to open one in a town that didn't appreciate that and give me a helping hand.
The youth can make or break you also, if there are problems in the place , you can expect them to pass legislation forbidding anyone under 18 in the place .
Good luck to you and your son.

Great input. I am afraid I so grossly overestimated the pool revenue the idea was invalidated. It is amazing what 40 years can do to your memory.
 

Bbutler

topshots.ca
Silver Member
Receptacles with USB charge ports!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I added these to my room and I'd say they're overrated. They get used the odd time but most people who need a charge have a plug with them.

They're not cheap either.
 

Bbutler

topshots.ca
Silver Member
I see you abandoned the plan, but a few notes.

- I like the name Skip's Billiards, or Skip's Bar and Billiards.

- I wouldn't set the tables to paying by the game, I think it's far better to set it by the hour. The reason being most casual players take a long time to play a game and often if they're there just to chill and have some drinks they spend a lot of time talking and socializing as opposed to actually shooting pool. This makes hourly a much better proposition.

- I feel like your 8,000 person population isn't that bad, seeing as how other bars are probably making it work. If you keep the place clean and have good food and specials you'll attract some really good business. People like coming to a nice place.

- Can't oversell the importance of keeping the tables and the balls clean. Diamond tables in particular are notorious for getting leather residue on the balls from the pockets and thus the balls need to be cleaned fairly regularly. If you don't look after this then the tables will start to look rundown in just a matter of weeks. People's eyes may not even notice this, but their brains will.
 

tucson9ball

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Skip, I see the idea was abandoned. Darn...I was looking forward to stopping in on my way to Roosevelt Lake.
Globe only has 8k people? Seems bigger than that. Miami is right next door.
Anyways, too bad, was looking forward to a new place.
 
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