Chalky's in Carbondale, IL already shutting down

G

Grimper

Well-known member
The first-class pool room in Carbondale, IL is shutting down after only 3 months of being open.

What a shame. Seems like maybe they weren't really committed to the idea. Anyway, they've got a ton of stuff for sale:

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Grimper said:
The first-class pool room in Carbondale, IL is shutting down after only 3 months of being open.

What a shame. Seems like maybe they weren't really committed to the idea. Anyway, they've got a ton of stuff for sale:

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Not that surprising if they didn't scan the market before-hand.
 
tableroll said:
When prices exceed willingness to pay. This happens.
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Based on a quik search average income in Carbondale is only around 30grand. Can't be that much disposable income in the best of times. Granted there are a lot of students at SIU but they probably don't have a ton to spend on pool/drinks either. Place like this i'm sure has a pretty big daily nut to cover.
 
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I perused the Facebook page. Looks like they are "pivoting" or "transitioning" into a restaurant / night club under the same ownership. The pool business ended a few weeks ago. The name "Club 13" was mentioned several times for the transitioned business. The owner, Carl Martin, also operates Eurocharged St. Louis, about 100 miles away from Carbondale, "Specializing in European and Exotic vehicle builds and tuning."

Buddy Hall was the house pro at Chalky's, so it's an unfortunate closing for him as well.
 
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Someone pointed out that they had the pool tables only for summer months and winter is usually a better time, but now they'll never find out. I wonder what sort of promotion they did. I think the standard for new restaurants is to expect very little income the first six months.
 
I am curious if this is the same folks that opened a pool room in Statesville NC a few years back. They had a massive pool room in a town of 9000 people. The whole setup was odd and it looked like it could be packed up and moved in a weekend.. It was strange enough to open a big pool room in such a small town, none of it made any sense.. Then they went to a music venue then closed up and were gone. Not sure if they even lasted one year.. The whole thing is like DeJaVu all over again, as Yogi said so eloquently!
 
Quesports said:
I am curious if this is the same folks that opened a pool room in Statesville NC a few years back. They had a massive pool room in a town of 9000 people. The whole setup was odd and it looked like it could be packed up and moved in a weekend.. It was strange enough to open a big pool room in such a small town, none of it made any sense.. Then they went to a music venue then closed up and were gone. Not sure if they even lasted one year.. The whole thing is like DeJaVu all over again, as Yogi said so eloquently!
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Chandleys. You're right, helluva nice place in nowheresville. They lasted about 2yrs. Not same people.
 
garczar said:
Based on a quik search average income in Carbondale is only around 30grand. Can't be that much disposable income in the best of times. Granted there are a lot of students at SIU but they probably don't have a ton to spend on pool/drinks either. Place like this i'm sure has a pretty big daily nut to cover.
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It's obvious you know nothing about the Carbondale. Basic income Demographics don't necessarily tell the story.

When I heard of this joint opening, I said "why the hell would they open there?"

They broke the 1st 3 most important rules in marketing.
LOCATION, LOCATION LOCATION

Seems they had no desire to cater to the student population based on their location choice. Or they were too much in a hurry to open up something,, anything.

In my years living there, students didn't walk far from the S Illinois "strip" unless to satisfy their munchies problem.
 
3kushn said:
It's obvious you know nothing about the Carbondale. Basic income Demographics don't necessarily tell the story.

When I heard of this joint opening, I said "why the hell would they open there?"

They broke the 1st 3 most important rules in marketing.
LOCATION, LOCATION LOCATION

Seems they had no desire to cater to the student population based on their location choice. Or they were too much in a hurry to open up something,, anything.

In my years living there, students didn't walk far from the S Illinois "strip" unless to satisfy their munchies problem.
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How much is your average joe/jolene college gonna spend in a place like this? This place has a big monthly nut. i've been in plenty of college-town rooms that weren't near campus that did well. Looks like he's changing to just bar/food. What do you bet he makes more $$ minus the pool? He'll get a higher paid, better spending, better tipping crowd.
 
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garczar said:
How much is your average joe/jolene college gonna spend in a place like this? This place has a big monthly nut. i've been in plenty of college-town rooms that weren't near campus that did well. Looks like he's changing to just bar/food. What do you bet he makes more ## minus the pool? He'll get a higher paid, better spending, better tipping crowd.
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Agree.

At least in my experience, college kids aren‘t often the target demographic for a pool hall.
 
Garczar:
You don't know the Market.
Why would you want to argue.
I lived there as a student, business partner, & daily player for nearly 10yrs.

Yes, I'll agree the days and momentum of Johnston City are long gone, but the student purchasing power hasn't changed much since the haydays of Fats, the roadies, and the Locals that had zero problem challenging anything or anyone that came through.

You have no idea!!

Yes times have changed pool wise, but income desparity hasn't.
 
3kushn said:
Garczar:
You don't know the Market.
Why would you want to argue.
I lived there as a student, business partner, & daily player for nearly 10yrs.

Yes, I'll agree the days and momentum of Johnston City are long gone, but the student purchasing power hasn't changed much since the haydays of Fats, the roadies, and the Locals that had zero problem challenging anything or anyone that came through.

You have no idea!!

Yes times have changed pool wise, but income desparity hasn't.
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Now I’m curious.

You said the college kids weren’t going to venture over there. I absolutely don’t know the area, but who do you think the demographic is that the club venue is now targeting. If not those same students, then who?
 
David in FL said:
Now I’m curious.

You said the college kids weren’t going to venture over there. I absolutely don’t know the area, but who do you think the demographic is that the club venue is now targeting. If not those same students, then who?
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Have no idea. Granted, I haven't lived there for decades. Still have fishing buddies although.

That said I don't know if the entertainment action geography expanded or not, but based on the drastic decline in student population, I don't see how that is possible.

That's just my theory.

Why locate a mile away from the traditional Market Geography?
 
AtLarge said:
I perused the Facebook page. Looks like they are "pivoting" or "transitioning" into a restaurant / night club under the same ownership. The pool business ended a few weeks ago. The name "Club 13" was mentioned several times for the transitioned business. The owner, Carl Martin, also operates Eurocharged St. Louis, about 100 miles away from Carbondale, "Specializing in European and Exotic vehicle builds and tuning."

Buddy Hall was the house pro at Chalky's, so it's an unfortunate closing for him as well.
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I saw the same. I also saw the "dance night" model they pivoted to is no cover. So they must be making money on the food and drinks. I wonder if they had tried "free pool" to get bodies in the building if they could have done the same and made money with the food and drinks.

There is one room in Atlanta I went to only twice, and it was free pool always, as long as you bought even a bottle of water for $1. It was packed both time I went in, and everyone was eating and drinking a good amount. This was about 10 years ago also, when the economy was worse and the pool rooms were slower than now.
 
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yeah this was my very first pool hall I was there on the opening day and the closing day
 
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