The right crowd?

I frequent a new pool hall here in colorado owned by a guy who has 3 rooms. I won't go to one of the 3 due to the crowd there. Mostly younger kids and alot of gangbangers/wantabes. The new place has 18 and up age limit after 10 and a dress code of sorts. No backwards hats or any gang attire. The doorman is good about keeping the wrong people out. They sweat any people who start getting loud or causing trouble. I havent seen one fight there in 2 years. The other location has to hire off duty cops to be there all the time. They have also had shootings in the parking lot.
I have seen alot of people come in and leave right away after being told they have to turn their hat around or remove offensive shirts, hats ect.. The dress code alone seems to save them alot of trouble. Chris.

Lots of monitoring

After reading your post and thinking a bit. There is no simple answer. You have to babysit the crowd everynight no matter what age they are. Age is not a big of a problem as their background. Everything from dress codes to music selected on the jukebox will affect who hangs out there and who does not. What snacks you put in the candy machine. Even appetizers or snacks...If you have sushi as an appetizer versus chicken wings...this will attract or repel certain people. Same with expensive energy drinks and coffees vs having all fruit sodas and junk drinks. Dont be afraid to go poll people on your own. Go to a nice university and PAY kids for 10 minutes of their time. Ask what music or food they like. ALL of that will determine who hangs out there. It will be a mostly trial and error process to determine the mix of people you have there. We have been catering to kids for 40 years and usually only have problems with the kids when we have poor employees. Its not the kids fault. They just need guidance and discipline that parents refuse to give them. If you let them run free like animals...guess what...they will act like animals. Try everything. Keep what works...eliminate what doesnt. Give the kids and adults that you like coupons to keep them coming. They will also give to the coupons to their friends. Chances are high that if they behave well...the friends will too!. Good luck.

Edit...Also wanted to add...BRIGHT LIGHTING. You will be shocked how much more crime and bad behavior you have in a darkly lit place. Add more lights and the cockroaches will scurry back to the place they came from. Certain "types" feel uncomfortable in brightly lit places...because people can SEE them. Tells you a lot about a person I think.

Hiring a Bouncer wouldn't be a bad idea also have a customed sign somewhere with a list of rules; ie, no hats, no jerseys or whatever. The poolhall I hang out at has a dress code; No shorts, jerseys or cutoff, except during major sporting events like the playoffs and stuff. Just a suggestion.

djkx1 said:

A friend is opening a pool room/cafe and needs to go to a council hearing. They want to know what measures he will take to keep it from becoming a hangout for undesirables. What plan of action would you suggest to keep out the kids that don't spend money, and the drug dealing type etc.

He intends on having a couple of coin-op tables with the rest being hourly rentals. This may change since the coin-op's may tend to bring in the people who play one game and then feel they have earned the right to hang out for hours. On the flip side they are good for leagues, although there will likely only be an in-house league.

It will not have a liqour licence, however an age limit could be imposed by the owner anyway. I have some ideas for him, but would value any input from room owners that have successfully managed to keep their room free from this unwanted crowd.
Thanks in advance.

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The crowd you have in your pool is a direct reflection of the room owners business philosophy.

You can not expect your employees to handle problems that occur in the same manner that you would.

I opened my room two years ago, sell Beer and food and I have only had one problem during that time. I had an individual using my business to sell drugs. This individual would always rent a table for the entire evening, was never a problem in any, and was always respectful.
He always came alone or with the same female, the only thing that seemed out of place was whether he was alone or not he never played much pool.

He would also constantly receive cell phone calls and then step outside for 5 or 10 minutes at a time.
I have surveillance inside my establishment, but I had not installed anything outside my business yet.

Within days I finished the installation of unknown surveillance outside, and I the caught the entire situation on tape.I did not call the police, I handled the situation myself, and since that day the word was on the street about me and my business.

I let people know that I was not afraid to deal with my problems myself. The actions taken are not the issue here the fact that I dealt with the trouble myself put the word on the street. There was never any retaliation due my actions, my point was under stood very very clearly and without any doubt.

I have never had another problem with this type of situation since, I do not have any fights, I do not have my customers cars being broken into or any other related problems that deal with crime in my establishment.

I have made it very clear that this is a gang free zone, I treat all my customers with respect, as long as they treat each other and me the same way on my property and in my business.

My business has been very very successful with out bouncers, without dress codes, and without being selective about who I will let in and who is not welcome.

I think the key to success is to establish rules, ENFORCE the exact rules you set, insure that everyone knows the rules, by posting signs or by verbally explaining the rules to individuals or groups whenever necessary, and by treating everyone "exactly" the same with respect at all times. By making people clearly aware that you will keep things safe so that they can enjoy themselves and so that they do not have to take actions themselves they will allow you to handle situations that could become out of hand.

If you set rules that keep everyone safe, and stand behind what you say the word will be put on the street and the wrong crowds will not gravitate to your location.

There are to many other places were they can control the establishment through intimidation and fear to bother with your place.

Even people who you would not expect too, will follow your rules when they see that they are fair, unbiased, and fully enforced by the management.

If the owner of the business is not directly involved, the business will fail, because employees will in 90% of the given situations that can occur not follow the rules as outlined because they have less of stake in things and because of either a lack of dedication or because they are afraid to act.

If you are not a true people person, that takes the necessary time to know all of your customers, or if you are afraid to handle situations yourself, you should find another business to open, because you will not run your business, your customers will, and that will ruin your credibility with the community where your business is located.

If you follow these guidelines City Hall, the Police, and all other forms government will support you completely so if you ever have a problem or need help you will receive it no questions asked.
Again, the Owner is the one who will make or break a business!!!

Good Luck to your friend and if he would like to talk PM me I will send my phone number.

Manwon

cueandcushion and manwon are very smart businessmen and their advice is excellent.
One thing I have found is if you treat young people with respect 95% of the time you will get it in return. Young people are the future of our business and they will grow up, and they eventually will be able to afford more and perhaps it will be at your poolroom. They will remember how they were treated and if you take the time to educate them you shouldn't have problems.
My poolroom does not have an age limit. We encourage people to bring their kids here to teach them the sport of pool. We also have teenagers who like to play pool and some of their hang around friends--but, we try to educate them about consideration of the money players and people in general. Manwon is correct that the business owner must be on the premisis to keep an eye on his business. We would all like to make money and never show up on the job....but, it isn't realistic.
Good luck! It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
Tracy

One thing I did not mention above, is that in Washington State, you can sell Beer and still have an all ages pool room.

My room is also all ages!!!

Manwon

Manwon, After 14 years of being in this business, I am looking into applying for a liquor license. I have run my business very much like you described above over that period of time with the same results.

However, I have a major concern. How do you keep a 21 and older individual, for example, from serving his under aged friend or family member? Thanks.

Gene

Cuedog said:

Manwon, After 14 years of being in this business, I am looking into applying for a liquor license. I have run my business very much like you described above over that period of time with the same results.

However, I have a major concern. How do you keep a 21 and older individual, for example, from serving his under aged friend or family member? Thanks.

Gene

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Gene, it's all about setting rules. When you suspect that someone under 21 is in a group of people who are of age, you must in a politically correct way tell them your rules when they make the purchase of alcoholic beverages.

Then you must insure that you and your hired help are alert in a unobtrusive manner, and handle the situation according to your policies that are posted for all to see.

Some individuals may test you in the beginning, however, after you take action and show them that you intend to enforce the rules you have set, people will get the general idea.

My policy is simple, if you do not want to follow the rules set by me in my establishment, the first time, you will receive a warning and you will also be asked to leave for the rest of the evening. The next time the individual will be permanently banned.

From my point of view, if someone is not going to follow my rules, they become a liability to my other customers and me personally. Lets face it the rules set are designed to give your customers a sense of security, and for their general safety in the first place, I do not need the business of anyone who has no consideration for others, much less acts in a disrespectful manner toward me and my establishment.

In Washington State, they have recently also changed the laws concerning this very situation. If some one supplies alcohol to an under aged individual and a under cover liquor control agent is in your establishment, they will be charged and fined $500 for the offense not the owner of the establishment. My responsibility is check every person who comes to the counter to purchase beer. I will not allow one person to bring up ID cards for the group, each person must be checked individually, once I have done that and only served those of drinking age, the ball is in their court.

To date, I have only had to warn two individuals, and I have not had to ban anyone because of this problem.

Like I said in my first post the owner has to be involved, and make certain that all rules are being followed as outlined, and fully enforced, you can not be afraid to lose a customer because they choose to do their own thing at that point they are a liability to you personally and your other customers.

Manwon