Cues for Pro Shop

C

cmb

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hello,
We would be thankful for any recommendations that you would offer. We are adding cues to our repair shop. We have been looking at the names of cues that most of our costomers are shooting with and this is wide open area. We don't wish to get caught with cues that are not wanted by our costomers. What brands do you carry and at what price level do you have your best sales? Please, any other information would be good.
Thanks TC
 
Well,
for my location anything over $250.00 takes forever to sell,
I handle Players, Action, Lucky, Star, and Sterling Cues and Cases.
No problem selling them, when we are busy.
 
Where are you located?
What kind of crowds do you have?
Younger, older, bangers, shooters?

I've seen places blocks apart with the same kind of inventory, but with different crowds and different results.
Some parts of the country you can't give a Meucci away, but people will stand in line for a Lucasi.
I've actually been in a couple of places that never heard of Joss, much less a cue that cost over $100.
We can speculate alot on the best to get, but it really boils down to the crowds that you are primarily catering to.
In Northern Cali, there are alot of Nick Varner cues behind the counter, along with Players, Pechauer, and Lucasi.
Ironically, you see more Predators used in those locations.
Just keep enough variety around that you can take care of different kind of customers and you should be fine, just don't get in over your head until you've seen a response. Player, Lucasi, McDermott, Star, and a couple of lower end Predators should give you a pretty good feel for who you have.
Nick Varner cues are also not a bad choice for the trial, if you want to provide a fair assortment.
Your customers will tell you from there what they want....
This way you can still have room to move, and they can still have room to upgrade as they progress with their games.
Besides, if you get a reputation for having good deals on cues/cases, people will come to check you out before going to buy at the Billiards stores.
That will give you a better chance to build an inventory based upon what works.
 
Ditto to Highrun's post. We also sell the Players, Lucasi (from cue and case sales, St. Augustine Fl) and the Action cues (cuestix int'l i think Colorado).
My customers don't have lots of money so the players cues are the best deal for their money. Cue and Case sales is wonderful to work with. For the higer end customer we show them catalogs, require that they put half down and we order whatever they want.
We also are able to put customers in touch with Pete Ohman of Omen custom cues and we get a commission if a sale is made.
 
Thanks for your suggestions. We would have never considered the Star line of cues. Thanks again. TC
 
We always had good success with many of the cues from CueStix. They have a good buyback policy too, so if you have a cue that sits in inventory for a while and doesn't sell, they'll exchange it for something else. Eliminates the problem of getting stuck with something that won't sell.

Their Outlaw cues have been great sellers for us. They have a unique look and the younger crowd seems to like something like that that stands out.

Along those lines, Stealth cues were great sellers in our room. Yeah, you'd get the jokes about the "anal bead" cues, but their Dooley handle cues are honestly good sellers. Another unique maybe novelty thing that the kids will buy.

We would stock a few "higher" end production models in the big names, like Viking, Meucci, McDermott, 5280, Joss, etc. Expect them to sit longer, but they will eventually sell.

Depending on your crowd though, it's nice to have "fast-movers". Low priced cues like the Actions, Players and others that have already been mentioned here. Another thing that has helped many rooms is having some sort of trade-up program where you will give a certain percentage of a cue's value back in trade towards a more expensive cue later on.

Just some ideas. Good luck!
 
cmb said:
Hello,
We would be thankful for any recommendations that you would offer. We are adding cues to our repair shop. We have been looking at the names of cues that most of our costomers are shooting with and this is wide open area. We don't wish to get caught with cues that are not wanted by our costomers. What brands do you carry and at what price level do you have your best sales? Please, any other information would be good.
Thanks TC
Click to expand...

I am located in Lakewood, Washington and I would have to recommend McDermott. They are very competitive in the current market, especially since they started they own oversea's manufatured brands, the Star line and the Lucky line. Now for myself, I keep around 100 to 150 cues in stock in my pool room. I care Meucci, McDermott and their import lines, Adams Vintage line of cues, and J&J Americas Kaiser and J&J lines of cues. In addition, I also care Custom cues made locally and by friends who are located in the Midwest, along with Pechaurer Custom Cues and Schon Custom cues.

My Best sales are between$50 and $350 dollars.

Good Luck
 
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