Article from the NewsTimes.com dated January 5, 2009.
http://www.newstimes.com/latestnews/ci_11373108
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Boston Billiard Club in Danbury shuts down
By Marietta Homayonpour
Staff Writer
DANBURY - Boston Billiard Club - for more than 14 years a place to shoot pool and party - shut its doors on Sunday.
"We're greatly disappointed to be closing our Danbury location," Kurt Mathias, president of the Boston Billiard club chain, said. "We appreciate the hard work of our employees and the loyalty of our Danbury area customers. We hope to be back."
The Danbury site on Backus Avenue wasn't the only Boston Billiard Club to close on Sunday.
The chain's operations in Warwick, R.I., West Springfield, Mass., and its flagship club in Boston also closed, Boston Billiard Club spokesman Brian Hanify said.
"We feel horrible," Hanify said. "But economic times are so challenging in the restaurant and bar industry. The strategy is to get smaller to get bigger."
Hanify said the chain kept open its two other Boston Billiard clubs in Nashua, N.H., and Worcester, Mass., and hopes to increase its locations in the future including eventually returning to Danbury.
Boston Billiard Club began in Boston, Mass., in 1990 and the Danbury operation opened in October of 1994. The club, Hanify said, leased a 12,500 square-foot building and had 31 pool tables.
Hanify said the Danbury site's 35 full- and part-time employees were notified Sunday of the closing and were paid fully for the time they had worked. "They were great employees. It was a very, very difficult day."
Stephen Bull, president of the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce, also was disappointed at the news. "We're very saddened to see Boston Billiard go out of Danbury. But it's a function of the overall economy."
The economic loss of the club closing isn't the only reason for Bull's disappointment. "Bob Scribner was a great general manager," Bull said of the Danbury site's manager. "He was a wonderful community supporter."
Bull said Scribner was involved with local charities and helped to raise money for the Chamber of Commerce Foundation. "Boston Billiard was an asset to Danbury," Bull said.
The billiard club also was one of the few pool parlors in the Danbury area. The only other billiard parlors nearby are Busters Billiards & Amusements on Old State Road in New Milford and Jack & Jill Amusements on Main Street in Brewster, N.Y.
Besides being a bar, restaurant and pool parlor - including leagues that took part in pool tournaments - Boston Billiard Club in Danbury was a place for adults to hold parties. "Company parties and holiday functions" were the types of gatherings people held at the Danbury site, Hanify, the Boston Billiard Club spokesman, said.
Hanify said, however, that the bar and restaurant business in general has been in a recession for 18 months. "Consumers don't have the confidence, people have less money," he said about people spending their discretionary cash on entertainment.
Contact Marietta Homayonpour at mhomayonpour@newstimes.com or at (203) 731-3336.
http://www.newstimes.com/latestnews/ci_11373108
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Boston Billiard Club in Danbury shuts down
By Marietta Homayonpour
Staff Writer
DANBURY - Boston Billiard Club - for more than 14 years a place to shoot pool and party - shut its doors on Sunday.
"We're greatly disappointed to be closing our Danbury location," Kurt Mathias, president of the Boston Billiard club chain, said. "We appreciate the hard work of our employees and the loyalty of our Danbury area customers. We hope to be back."
The Danbury site on Backus Avenue wasn't the only Boston Billiard Club to close on Sunday.
The chain's operations in Warwick, R.I., West Springfield, Mass., and its flagship club in Boston also closed, Boston Billiard Club spokesman Brian Hanify said.
"We feel horrible," Hanify said. "But economic times are so challenging in the restaurant and bar industry. The strategy is to get smaller to get bigger."
Hanify said the chain kept open its two other Boston Billiard clubs in Nashua, N.H., and Worcester, Mass., and hopes to increase its locations in the future including eventually returning to Danbury.
Boston Billiard Club began in Boston, Mass., in 1990 and the Danbury operation opened in October of 1994. The club, Hanify said, leased a 12,500 square-foot building and had 31 pool tables.
Hanify said the Danbury site's 35 full- and part-time employees were notified Sunday of the closing and were paid fully for the time they had worked. "They were great employees. It was a very, very difficult day."
Stephen Bull, president of the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce, also was disappointed at the news. "We're very saddened to see Boston Billiard go out of Danbury. But it's a function of the overall economy."
The economic loss of the club closing isn't the only reason for Bull's disappointment. "Bob Scribner was a great general manager," Bull said of the Danbury site's manager. "He was a wonderful community supporter."
Bull said Scribner was involved with local charities and helped to raise money for the Chamber of Commerce Foundation. "Boston Billiard was an asset to Danbury," Bull said.
The billiard club also was one of the few pool parlors in the Danbury area. The only other billiard parlors nearby are Busters Billiards & Amusements on Old State Road in New Milford and Jack & Jill Amusements on Main Street in Brewster, N.Y.
Besides being a bar, restaurant and pool parlor - including leagues that took part in pool tournaments - Boston Billiard Club in Danbury was a place for adults to hold parties. "Company parties and holiday functions" were the types of gatherings people held at the Danbury site, Hanify, the Boston Billiard Club spokesman, said.
Hanify said, however, that the bar and restaurant business in general has been in a recession for 18 months. "Consumers don't have the confidence, people have less money," he said about people spending their discretionary cash on entertainment.
Contact Marietta Homayonpour at mhomayonpour@newstimes.com or at (203) 731-3336.
