ALMOST, had a spot for a new Pool Room but.......

M

MikeJanis

Banned
Yep, I found what I thought was a very good place to open a billiard room/restaurant/sports bar but.................

The owner of the strip mall was very open to and happy that I would be putting a billiard room in his location along with a sports bar and restaurant in the location. We talked in great detail about the plans and I was ready to sign a lease when he threw a piece of paper in front of me to sign regarding the locations NO ON PREMISE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AGREEMENT. HUH ?


Yep, I spent a ton of time negotiating the deal with the owner and he never mentioned anything like this to me in any of our conversations. I asked him what he thought a sports bar was ? He said he doesn't have a problem with the sale of alcohol especially since the grocery store in that same mall sells it, its just that because he is soo involved with the church that he has a problem with people consuming it. ?????? He whent on to state that the Chinese restaurant in the same mall does well without alcohol sales.

Anyway, this was a deal breaker and now I'm searching for a new location but WTF did he think I was going to do with a Sports Bar where you cant drink ?

To say the least, it would have been a very sweet deal ( 6,800 sq ft for $3,800 including cam per mo) + they would have built it out to my specs at ZERO extra cost and 3 FREE months rent to get started. I sure hope I can find another deal like that again soon in this area.

The only good news is that where I live here in rural GA is that they are not against pool rooms opening up.

Rant over.........
 
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A sports bar where you can buy but not drink?

That guy needs to lay off the meds.

Better luck next time Mike.
 
Sports Bar

MikeJanis said:
Yep, I found what I thought was a very good place to open a billiard room/restaurant/sports bar but.................

The owner of the strip mall was very open to and happy that I would be putting a billiard room in his location along with a sports bar and restaurant in the location. We talked in great detail about the plans and I was ready to sign a lease when he threw a piece of paper in front of me to sign regarding the locations NO ON PREMISE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AGREEMENT. HUH ?


Yep, I spent a ton of time negotiating the deal with the owner and he never mentioned anything like this to me in any of our conversations. I asked him what he thought a sports bar was ? He said he doesn't have a problem with the sale of alcohol especially since the grocery store in that same mall sells it, its just that because he is soo involved with the church that he has a problem with people consuming it. ?????? He whent on to state that the Chinese restaurant in the same mall does well without alcohol sales.

Anyway, this was a deal breaker and now I'm searching for a new location but WTF did he think I was going to do with a Sports Bar where you cant drink ?

To say the least, it would have been a very sweet deal ( 6,800 sq ft for $3,800 including cam per mo) + they would have built it out to my specs at ZERO extra cost and 3 FREE months rent to get started. I sure hope I can find another deal like that again soon in this area.

The only good news is that where I live here in rural GA is that they are not against pool rooms opening up.

Rant over.........
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Don't you'all know, It's a Sports Juice Bar in most of the civilized world! :)

Ray

Ps Good luck with your search Mike.
 
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Hollywood billiards Only just got a licence here in Mesa AZ. I have no idea how it happened but they either were rejected in applying for the license of they forgot I have no idea. I went in there to play and I left once I found out I could not have a Bud while playing. The place was empty except for a few kids playing. This is classic, up behind the bar where you would usually see Patron, Jack D, Vodka etc on glass shelves they had cup o noodles all arranged really nice in order of flavor. I couldn't help but laugh at it. Anyway it was very obvious that on a Friday night there were maybe 5 people in a really big place and that without beer you got nothing. I'm glad this wasn't hid from you and you didn't find out until it was too late.
 
It's a good idea to check out the zoning for the community beforehand. In 1996, I wanted to change locations because my room was nestled between a topless bar, and two other adult book stores. I figured ithat if I moved to a better area, that I would get better business - business that currently would not think of stepping foot in my parking lot.

I got involved with a deal just like yours. They had closed down a large video store in a strip mall, and the space was perfect. The property owner/manager that I was working with said that he would help me to obtain licensing from the city, because the same strip mall contained a after school tutoring center. He said that it was city ordinance to keep places where alcohol was consumed away from schools and learning institutions. When we went to city council, their attorney was a no-show and our request was shot down by people that wanted to keep the pool hall out of their area.

A few months later, a daycare opened up in the same space I was trying to obtain. Years later I found out that the property owner's daughter was the owner of the day care and that he never had any intention of working with me in the first place. What he did was create some extra press interest in his properties - and by purposely helping to prevent me move my business there, he made some political ties within the system. Eventually I ended up staying where I was at. The day care is still there.
 
Mike not sure what part of town your looking at,but you may want to look at locations off of Ga20 between Lawrenceville and Buford.Minor league baseball stadium moving in in 2009 and know place now to ahve a beer and shoot a game of pool.Taco Mac is the only place to go.Just a suggestion....Good Luck
 
Location for Pool Room

Mike,

Would Charleston, SC be a place you might be interested in. We have the City of Charleston, North Charleston, Goose Creek, Mt. Pleasant, and Summerville all together in our area and we don't have a descent pool room. The only place that resembles a pool room is a place called Player's Place and it's set up primarily to accomodate the APA pool league (mostly 7' tables). There are a number of unoccupied good sized stores that would make a great pool room, but I don't know what kind of deal you might get on a lease. There are a lot of pool players in this area and it may be an area you might want to consider.

James
 
MikeJanis said:
Yep, I found what I thought was a very good place to open a billiard room/restaurant/sports bar but.................

The owner of the strip mall was very open to and happy that I would be putting a billiard room in his location along with a sports bar and restaurant in the location. We talked in great detail about the plans and I was ready to sign a lease when he threw a piece of paper in front of me to sign regarding the locations NO ON PREMISE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AGREEMENT. HUH ?


Yep, I spent a ton of time negotiating the deal with the owner and he never mentioned anything like this to me in any of our conversations. I asked him what he thought a sports bar was ? He said he doesn't have a problem with the sale of alcohol especially since the grocery store in that same mall sells it, its just that because he is soo involved with the church that he has a problem with people consuming it. ?????? He whent on to state that the Chinese restaurant in the same mall does well without alcohol sales.

Anyway, this was a deal breaker and now I'm searching for a new location but WTF did he think I was going to do with a Sports Bar where you cant drink ?

To say the least, it would have been a very sweet deal ( 6,800 sq ft for $3,800 including cam per mo) + they would have built it out to my specs at ZERO extra cost and 3 FREE months rent to get started. I sure hope I can find another deal like that again soon in this area.

The only good news is that where I live here in rural GA is that they are not against pool rooms opening up.

Rant over.........
Click to expand...

Commercial property landlords are the worst people in the business world to deal with no matter what their background. He might have got a lead on a better offer and used that as an excuse, who knows. I deal with these folks all the time and it's 99% bull****. You never have a deal until the lease is signed by both parties and the deposit is made. Always keep looking for other spaces 100% until then.

Shrug it off and stay on track.
 
SCCues said:
Mike,

Would Charleston, SC be a place you might be interested in. We have the City of Charleston, North Charleston, Goose Creek, Mt. Pleasant, and Summerville all together in our area and we don't have a descent pool room. The only place that resembles a pool room is a place called Player's Place and it's set up primarily to accomodate the APA pool league (mostly 7' tables). There are a number of unoccupied good sized stores that would make a great pool room, but I don't know what kind of deal you might get on a lease. There are a lot of pool players in this area and it may be an area you might want to consider.

James
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NOPE, I love the area and everytime I am there I hit the beach and local scene. My dughter Julie (18) lives there with my EX (met her when I was 14 yrs old) and while its a nice place to visit its too close to the EX for me.

Mj
 
Da Poet said:
Commercial property landlords are the worst people in the business world to deal with no matter what their background. He might have got a lead on a better offer and used that as an excuse, who knows. I deal with these folks all the time and it's 99% bull****. You never have a deal until the lease is signed by both parties and the deposit is made. Always keep looking for other spaces 100% until then.

Shrug it off and stay on track.
Click to expand...

They strip mall has 6 other opening so I am sure he wasn't pulling a fast one. Around here (The BUCKLE of the Bible Belt) its really a church thing. A Sports Bar down the road (278) near Hiram has alcohol, beer and food but the owner of that center will not allow Pool Tables.

Being from the North where there is a Bar and a Church on every corner I am confident when I say most (but not all) of these guys are Hippocrates because they don't do as they say but just want to look good for church friends.
 
NoBull9 said:
Mike not sure what part of town your looking at,but you may want to look at locations off of Ga20 between Lawrenceville and Buford.Minor league baseball stadium moving in in 2009 and know place now to ahve a beer and shoot a game of pool.Taco Mac is the only place to go.Just a suggestion....Good Luck
Click to expand...

Right now I am looking in the area of Hwy 278 towards (Rockmart / Cedartown) but may expand my search as East as Hiram only.

Mj
 
is there not a chance you could persuade him to change his mind on the alcohol issue? seems like such a silly thing to stand in the way of such a potentially great venture.
 
worriedbeef said:
is there not a chance you could persuade him to change his mind on the alcohol issue? seems like such a silly thing to stand in the way of such a potentially great venture.
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I wish there was but unfortunately for me the guy is a pretty good stand-up guy in the community. He's my senior by about 30 years. As I understand it, he gives back to the community each year more than I make in many years combined. His reputation and morals (especially at his age) are more important to him than money.

Mj
 
Mike,

My folks are in Ackworth and whenever I visit I like to shoot around with the nephews. It seems we had to drive 45 minutes to get to a pool hall from there and even then it was a dive. It seemed to me that the NW side of Atlanta was in definite need of a quality pool hall.

Good Luck,
Steve
 
Runnin8 said:
Mike,

My folks are in Ackworth and whenever I visit I like to shoot around with the nephews. It seems we had to drive 45 minutes to get to a pool hall from there and even then it was a dive. It seemed to me that the NW side of Atlanta was in definite need of a quality pool hall.

Good Luck,
Steve
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My thoughts exactly. Right now, if I wanted to go and play pool I would have to drive to a small bar down a windy road abot 20 miles away that may or may not be open. If I wanted a quality pool room I would have to drive 45 minutes to an hour each way. Thats a real pain if you have a few bears while you are out.

I'm hoping to open a decent place on 278 near Rockmart or Hiram. Right now there is nothing in this area but restaurants and cows. There are plenty of people in the area that may support it but right now everyone is forced to drive to Rome, Cartersville, Kennesaw or even further to Marietta if they want the kind of atmosphere where you can drink, eat and have fun.

I already have all the pool tables tables, kitchen equiptment and fixtures I just need a place to put'em. The other good news about this county is that I can get a Beer license for $50, a servering license for $500 and a full liquor license for $5,000. Along with that I can sell beer TO-GO 24 hours a day except Sundays.

Mj
 
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MikeJanis said:
Being from the North where there is a Bar and a Church on every corner I am confident when I say most (but not all) of these guys are Hippocrates because they don't do as they say but just want to look good for church friends.
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They're all ancient Greek physicians?

:D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocrates

I think you meant "hypocrites" :)

FYI, dunno if you're interested, but Mr. Cue's is trying to move around eight of their older 9 footers out to make room for some newer tables. I'm sure you know how to reach them.
 
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