ironhead_79 said:
my wife and i are considering opening a pool hall here in our home town, we've researched the building and permits and all but our only worry is that the state of ohio just passed a no smoking law, no smoking in public places, there are not any pool halls anywhere near us, over 50 miles away is the closest i believe. but there have been quite a few halls that have opened and closed in a year or less, about 6 or 7 in the last 10 years, and this was before the smoking ban. do any of you have no smoking laws and if so were they enforced on you and did business decline drastically. Thanks
Hey Ironhead. My friend and I just opened a pool room called 'The Spot Family Fun & Billiards Club in Reynoldsburg, OH (Columbus), back in Oct. before the smoking ban was passed.. We charge a $1.00 yearly membership fee for anyone that wants to enjoy the facility. We also offer a few different levels of yearly memberships for those that regularly use the facility as a incentive. We currently have 370 members enrolled, and about %10 of them have purchsed upgrade memberships to save on pool time, and pool accessories.
We also have a dedicated room called 'The VIP Room', which facilitates a St. Leone 9' Olhausen table, Poker Table, Darts, 50" TV, Xbox 360 Live, plus a few more gadgets. We rent the room to those that want to have privacy, or have 8 or more guests that don't want to be annoyed from the rest of the pool hall. Plus Its a great room to invite all the locals to play to have a good time and show new things learned.
The rest of the Pool Hall is fitted with 15 Olhausen Champion Pro 2nd edition's, 10 - 8' and 5 - 9'. Plus about 15 arcade and touch screen games throughout the facility. It is the only Alcohol Free billiard room in Central Ohio, and we are proud of it! We need to get the younger kids to play pool TODAY to keep the industry going strong for TOMORROW!
As for the Smoking Ban, We continue to allow smoking after 8pm daily. But its quite possible once the ban is in full force this comming June, we may have to go completely non-smoking. But we are looking into the legalities that may allow us to keep smoking in the facility. Since we are technically a 'private' facility and was opened before the smoking ban, and do not have any employee's, its quite possible to continue to allow smoking. I don't know for sure though.. But in any case I'm not really concerned about it.