Another pool room has fallen due to various factors. I have played there and hosted nine ball tournaments there. The former owners, Steve and Jessica Didier, were two of the nicest owners you could hope to meet. Rather than trying to provide the details, I have posted this message from their website:
"We feel as if we did everything possible to remain operating for our customers, for as long as we could hold on. Whatever the reasons may be, pool is just not as popular as it once was and good pool rooms are sinking all around us. In our case, first the neighboring property owner banned our customers from parking in his lot - even though there was no open business on his property. That move relegated our customers to squeeze in to the small lot out back, and many customers were not comfortable parking back there. We were also often sharing parking with Baltimore Martial Arts, whose clients easily overburdened all of the available parking. So - we had a pool room with no parking, and to top it off our landlord refused to assign any dedicated parking for VIP.
At the same time, we learned that there are plans underway for the construction of a new building that will occupy most of the parking area in front and will totally block the view of our building from Rt. 40. No parking, no visibility, no signage = no point in staying. There were some other issues at play as well, such as problems reaching a lease agreement with the landlord and the increased crime in the area.
We realize that by closing VIP we hurt our customers - VIP had become a landmark of sorts and it will be missed by many. We also created a gaping hole in the pool community, as there are few "good" pool rooms still in operation, and certainly none locally. For this we apologize and hope you can forgive us.
We were able to store most of the equipment, at least temporarily and WE DO intend to reopen at another location and probably under a different name. Watch our Facebook Page, VIP Billiards - Catonsville for more information on that. We will miss VIP, our customers, our friends, our tournament directors and Pro players, and everyone else that has made our time with VIP so rewarding.
Steve & Jess"
"We feel as if we did everything possible to remain operating for our customers, for as long as we could hold on. Whatever the reasons may be, pool is just not as popular as it once was and good pool rooms are sinking all around us. In our case, first the neighboring property owner banned our customers from parking in his lot - even though there was no open business on his property. That move relegated our customers to squeeze in to the small lot out back, and many customers were not comfortable parking back there. We were also often sharing parking with Baltimore Martial Arts, whose clients easily overburdened all of the available parking. So - we had a pool room with no parking, and to top it off our landlord refused to assign any dedicated parking for VIP.
At the same time, we learned that there are plans underway for the construction of a new building that will occupy most of the parking area in front and will totally block the view of our building from Rt. 40. No parking, no visibility, no signage = no point in staying. There were some other issues at play as well, such as problems reaching a lease agreement with the landlord and the increased crime in the area.
We realize that by closing VIP we hurt our customers - VIP had become a landmark of sorts and it will be missed by many. We also created a gaping hole in the pool community, as there are few "good" pool rooms still in operation, and certainly none locally. For this we apologize and hope you can forgive us.
We were able to store most of the equipment, at least temporarily and WE DO intend to reopen at another location and probably under a different name. Watch our Facebook Page, VIP Billiards - Catonsville for more information on that. We will miss VIP, our customers, our friends, our tournament directors and Pro players, and everyone else that has made our time with VIP so rewarding.
Steve & Jess"
