Business idea: Combining pool with a gym?

It’s the type of place friends and I would join.

My favourite place to play billiards is the local community centre. There’s a weight room . Fitness and dance classes. Snooker and 3 pool tables. Table tennis, darts, shuffleboard, etc. Nice and clean. No alcohol. Natural light and no blaring music or TVs. Families drop by.

Billiard tables are booked weekday afternoons by Meet Up groups.

I know it’s turned a profit each year but might be because it’s exempt from business taxes.
 
iusedtoberich said:
This is just thinking out loud to make conversation:

I think mixing a gym with pool might make a good business. Both activities have customers that want to improve themselves. They measure themselves both against themselves, and against others. Both have casual customers, and super serious customers. Both can develop friendships amongst the regulars.

From the gym side, I'm thinking more the local mom and pop gym, as opposed to the LA Fitness type gym. (although maybe both types would work...). Have 1 or 2 tables in the common area.

What do you guys think? Great idea? Horrible idea? Something in-between?
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I have been in a lot of pool rooms that were shared businesses not in the least related to each other but benniffitihg each business.

I remember an ice cream parlor/poolroom, barber shop/poolroom. There was a place where the poolroom was nextdoor to a chicken wing place. They took out a section of the wall and combined the businesses.

It sounds like it would not work, greasy chicken wings and pool cues. But they made a bar between and you could watch the pool from the chicken place. It went well.

One place was a Blimpy sub shop. The bingo hall went out next door and Blimpy's took the space and put in 12 pool tables. The tiny sub shop was starving. After the addition of the pool room It was gang busters.

Later he took another store on the other end and put in beer. He had a bar at one end, pool room in the middle, sub shop at the other end. It was a gold mine. It is hard for a pool room to stand alone without other other income streams.
 
fastone371 said:
When I was a kid it was common for the YMCA's in our area to have pool tables.
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That's where I first learned to play.

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Walk up those long ass steps and there it was right at the top.

Jeff Livingston
 
middleofnowhere said:
I have been in a lot of pool rooms that were shared businesses not in the least related to each other but benniffitihg each business.

I remember an ice cream parlor/poolroom, barber shop/poolroom. There was a place where the poolroom was nextdoor to a chicken wing place. They took out a section of the wall and combined the businesses.

It sounds like it would not work, greasy chicken wings and pool cues. But they made a bar between and you could watch the pool from the chicken place. It went well.

One place was a Blimpy sub shop. The bingo hall went out next door and Blimpy's took the space and put in 12 pool tables. The tiny sub shop was starving. After the addition of the pool room It was gang busters.

Later he took another store on the other end and put in beer. He had a bar at one end, pool room in the middle, sub shop at the other end. It was a gold mine. It is hard for a pool room to stand alone without other other income streams.
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One of the coolest places I used to play was on the square in San Marcos Texas. It was like this. I am not sure if the restaurant and the pool hall were owned by the same people but they helped each other greatly. Up front there was a small Café/Mexican food Place. The Café also sold beer along with real good Mexican food. You had to go thru the café to get to the pool hall.

In back was a neat old school style pool hall with 10 or 15 8 foot Brunswick Sport Kings or Anniversaries...pretty sure it was SportKings. It had one row of old theater style chairs on risers along the walls and one bar table. There was also a smaller room upstairs with a small bar and I think a few 9 foots. The Café also sold beer along with real good Mexican food.

It is possible Jay Helfert has posted about this place before? .I think I recall seeing something like that here at one time!

Not sure if it is still open or not but it was always busy on weekends and did good on week nights too! I loved that place! Most of the players were casual but I saw some good action in there and got in some cheap games myself!
 
Anybody remember World Class Billiards, Marietta Ga.? Gym on 1 side of room tables on the other side. Very popular spot years ago..
 
Steinway Billiards has an open lounge area, they have been performing comedy to attract crowds.

Public viewing of live streaming is the future.
 
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