Dress Code for Gold Crown Billiards, Erie, PA

[krupa]

I didn't read the entire thread, but I like the direction that Gold Crown is taking.

I don't quite understand the backlash against a dress code. I think the room owner is trying to position his room as being more upscale.

For instance, if you went to your local golf club, would you get grief from the pro shop if you tried to tee off with a hockey jersey (I know I would from mine)? I think positioning a nice room with the same expectations someone would find at a local golf course sends a clear message to people that the rooms means business and is professional.

How could forcing someone to wear the same clothes as your local golf course be a BAD thing? It's a great idea. If I owned a room, I'd prob do the exact same thing. For every low-class person you'd lose, you'd prob gain 5 "older" clients that like and respect the environment.

Just my 2 cents--- good job.

Dave

Clothes are an expression of the person wearing them. Attempts to institute dress codes are frequently seen as attempts at censorship.

Personally, I think the business itself (e.g., location and general cleanliness) dictates whether or not customers will show up but it's Paul's business to do with as he pleases. At the same time, we as customers can choose whether or not to patronize his business and that decision can be based on his dress code, the quality of the equipment, or the brand of urinal cakes he uses.

This thread is getting really old (in Internet years). Can we please move on to more important matters like aiming techniques and our opinions of Charlie Williams?

 

[Maniac]

I don't quite understand the backlash against a dress code. I think the room owner is trying to position his room as being more upscale.
Dave

Dave, go to this link, http://forums.azbilliards.com/showth...=214081&page=7 , scroll down to post #104, look at the way people are dressed and look me in the eyes (so to speak) and tell me this is an "upscale" room. Then go back to early in this thread to where Paul actually posts his dress code rules and once again look me in the eyes and tell me that some of them aren't just plain horseshit.

I personally don't give a fat rat's ass who he lets into his room or how he wants them to look. I just think that he is a little mixed up in his thinking whenever he preaches that people will act like whatever type of clothes that they wear. If I were to put on a hoodie and a pair of Doc Martin boots, or a pair of red Air Jordans, I am still going to be/act like Tony Metz. The clothes I wear have absolutely NOTHING to do with who I am or how I behave.

Maniac (officially done with this thread, regardless of it's entertainment value )

 

[Jodacus]

Paul,

Run your room the way you want. The way you have for 33 years. Those who don't like the rules can play elsewhere.

Next time I am in Erie I will be sure to drop by, shake your hand and play some.

Chopdoc,

I'm surprised by your position on this. Paul has run a room successfully by knowing what to do when. I would bet a dollar to a bottle of water that if you showed up with your son Paul would welcome you, your son and the hoodie too. In every professions there are exceptions to the rule. I'm sure Docs are allowed to make exceptions to the rules. Who says Paul wont?


Paul,
Reason, understanding and especially acceptance are two way streets. You are not any more obligated to change your business than a customer is to support it. Fair is fair. Too often the customer thinks they have some special right to tell you how to run your business (a result of advertising), well they don't. Keep your customers happy. Trying to be all things to all people is a recipe for disaster.

To those who would not go to Paul's,
I'm sorry. You may miss out on just how comfortable a pool room can be. Differences are supposed to be lauded in the politically correct world of today. What Paul is doing does not hurt anyone. He's providing the service he chooses to.

 

[SpiderWebComm]

Dave, go to this link, http://forums.azbilliards.com/showth...=214081&page=7 , scroll down to post #104, look at the way people are dressed and look me in the eyes (so to speak) and tell me this is an "upscale" room. Then go back to early in this thread to where Paul actually posts his dress code rules and once again look me in the eyes and tell me that some of them aren't just plain horseshit.

I personally don't give a fat rat's ass who he lets into his room or how he wants them to look. I just think that he is a little mixed up in his thinking whenever he preaches that people will act like whatever type of clothes that they wear. If I were to put on a hoodie and a pair of Doc Martin boots, or a pair of red Air Jordans, I am still going to be/act like Tony Metz. The clothes I wear have absolutely NOTHING to do with who I am or how I behave.

Maniac (officially done with this thread, regardless of it's entertainment value )

The link you provided gives me a 404 error.

 

[Klink]

I travel all the time. All I know is if in the middle of the summer I see two guys walking towards me with their hoodies up, I turn and go the other way. If two guys wearing business suits are walking towards me I keep walking without getting worried. If you want to stay safe in a strange city I suggest you do the same.

 

[Maniac]

The link you provided gives me a 404 error.

Then go to post #316 in this thread and click on the link there.

Maniac

 

[Paul Schofield]

I watched a lot of the Masters Golf Tournament over the weekend. I took special note of the crowd. There were men, women, people of all colors, and of all ages. It was spectacular. We can only dream. There was a very casual dress code in place but nothing different than is on most golf courses. I did not see any of Gold Crown's prohibited attire in that golf crowd...and I looked hard.

It is so obvious to me just how beneficial it is in every way for our game to have some standards for conduct and attire. A dress and conduct code lifts our game. I am doing my part.

 

[Blue Hog ridr]

Don't be so sanctimonious Paul. The only part you're doing it for is for yourself. As this thread has dragged on, you make yourself appear to be nothing more than self centered.

And the posters that agree that it is your business to do what you want with it are 100% correct. But seriously, quit acting the Hero.

 

[Fenwick]

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your backMay the sun shine warm upon your face,The rains fall soft upon your fields And until we meet again May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

 

[justadub]

Don't be so sanctimonious Paul. The only part you're doing it for is for yourself. As this thread has dragged on, you make yourself appear to be nothing more than self centered.

And the posters that agree that it is your business to do what you want with it are 100% correct. But seriously, quit acting the Hero.

I think sanctimonious is the right word.

I agree, Paul can and should run his business as he sees fit. He is obviously successful, and its difficult to argue with success. From the photos, his room looks wonderful. Paul. Congratulations on your establishment.

It isn't as difficult to recognize a pompous attitude, though...

 

[Paul Schofield]

I think sanctimonious is the right word.

I agree, Paul can and should run his business as he sees fit. He is obviously successful, and its difficult to argue with success. From the photos, his room looks wonderful. Paul. Congratulations on your establishment.

It isn't as difficult to recognize a pompous attitude, though...

Sanctimonious? Pompous? Man, In the past, I have been tagged with a number of negative adjectives. These are two new ones! LOL.

Look here. This thread is about pool's image. You can't see that? It is not about Gold Crown Billiards. I refer to GCB as a reference and as an example. The concept of lifting pool's image has been front burner stuff for decades. It can be done. I would certainly like to see it happen on a larger scale.

Every once in a while I will continue to bump this thread for a good cause. If this topic bothers any of you, don't read it! Hell, I skip over scads of these aiming threads. I have never opened one of them.

 

[cueandcushion]

Don't worry Paul, as a room owner you get to make decisions and reap the rewards or the penalties of those decisions. Every person that walks in the door has a list of complaints about how you do it wrong, but they most likely never ran a business and most likely never will. If it works then do it. You dont need to justify it to every person because they just look for a reason to argue, even though they only have emotion on their side and no experience. You are the one taking the business risk, so you get to make the rules. I get on average about 10 complaints per day about how we do everything wrong at my billiard parlor, yet we are still currently alive in St. Louis' dismal economy. There are currently 3 real pool rooms left and that number will drop to 2 in a few weeks. So I find it strange that my family does every single thing wrong in running a billiard parlor and we are one of the last ones standing. Maybe we will make it and maybe we wont, but either way I believe we had to make more right decisions than wrong ones to make it this far. If you decide to make your decision to make everyone wear pink sweaters in order to survive then I support you. I may not understand WHY you want this...but I don't need to. Its not my business. Good luck Paul.

 

[turbo billards]

room

The room doesnt look like it makes money from pool lol

i guess strong arm could never go there either haha

 

[Blue Hog ridr]

You're probably correct on that assumption.
We have a pool room in town like that.
They have 16 tables and all it is, is a noisy young kids bar with a lot of pool tables. Far from a real pool hall.

 

[cardiac kid]

Paul,

Replied on one of the first two or three pages regarding the clothing being worn by some youth locally. In that case it was a young lady??? sporting a FCUK shirt. Several posters mentioned it was a very high priced brand of European clothing. To me it didn't matter whether it was high priced or not. It was the message.

Many years ago I tried to open a pool room in a town adjacent to the City of Rochester. Noticed another entertainment business had spent over one hundred thousand dollars in legal fees to force the town into allowing it to open. Can't afford to waste that kind of money. Privately went to the political boss of the town and asked his personal feelings on my proposal. Not a chance. The town would fight me in every way possible. Asked him why. POOL ATTRACTS AN UNDESIREABLE ELEMENT. No proof. No discussions. No room! This same town has two Nationally known colleges. Asked him where he thought those young adults might go for entertainment. He didn't care as long as it was not in HIS town!

For all those who see your dress code as a bad thing, perhaps they should understand the negative power of both their dress and attitude. The old axiom of "perception is reality" is most true here.

Lyn

 

[Paul Schofield]

.Many years ago I tried to open a pool room in a town adjacent to the City of Rochester. Noticed another entertainment business had spent over one hundred thousand dollars in legal fees to force the town into allowing it to open. Can't afford to waste that kind of money. Privately went to the political boss of the town and asked his personal feelings on my proposal. Not a chance. The town would fight me in every way possible. Asked him why. POOL ATTRACTS AN UNDESIREABLE ELEMENT. No proof. No discussions. No room! This same town has two Nationally known colleges. Asked him where he thought those young adults might go for entertainment. He didn't care as long as it was not in HIS town!

For all those who see your dress code as a bad thing, perhaps they should understand the negative power of both their dress and attitude. The old axiom of "perception is reality" is most true here.

Lyn

When I opened my room in 1978, the image of pool in my home town could not have been worse. The zoning ordinances grouped pool rooms with the porn business. The language on the books was: Adult book stores, adult mini-motion picture theatres, and billiard parlors must be more than 750 feet from...

Start a respectable career from here.

 

[Paul Schofield]

When I opened my room in 1978, the image of pool in my home town could not have been worse. The zoning ordinances grouped pool rooms with the porn business. The language on the books was: Adult book stores, adult mini-motion picture theatres, and billiard parlors must be more than 750 feet from...

Start a respectable career from here.

There was not a single location in my home town that was legal to put a poolroom. I knew that. A new plaza was being constructed right in the heart of town (traffic count over 50,000 a day). I manged to sign a lease with a desperate unsuspecting landlord. I never applied for a zoning permit. I never advertised what I was doing. I never told a soul. I opened up one day to the shock of the city. The city surveyors showed up at my place checking distances to homes. The mayor decided to just leave me alone, knowing that if my business caused trouble, they had everything they needed to legally shut me down. I instituted a dress and conduct code and ran my business in a respectable manner with a respectable clientele. It all worked out.

 

[Fenwick]

"I instituted a dress and conduct code and ran my business in a respectable manner with a respectable clientele. It all worked out."

Good, who could ask for anything more. I'm more inclined toward the conduct code myself with exceptions. The falling down pants make me wonder.
The good news is you can spot the ones with the guns because the have to hold them up when the walk or run. :thumbup:

 

[Paul Schofield]

When I opened my room in 1978, the image of pool in my home town could not have been worse. The zoning ordinances grouped pool rooms with the porn business. The language on the books was: Adult book stores, adult mini-motion picture theatres, and billiard parlors must be more than 750 feet from...

Start a respectable career from here.

There was not a single location in my home town that was legal to put a poolroom. I knew that. A new plaza was being constructed right in the heart of town (traffic count over 50,000 a day). I manged to sign a lease with a desperate unsuspecting landlord. I never applied for a zoning permit. I never advertised what I was doing. I never told a soul. I opened up one day to the shock of the city. The city surveyors showed up at my place checking distances to homes. The mayor decided to just leave me alone, knowing that if my business caused trouble, they had everything they needed to legally shut me down. I instituted a dress and conduct code and ran my business in a respectable manner with a respectable clientele. It all worked out.

After 4 years of running a clean establishment, in 1982, it was obvious that if I did not get a bar/restaurant operating along side the billiard room that the business was going to fail. Working with the Liquor Board, I was not going to be able to pull a fast one like when I opened the poolroom. The property was zoned for what I wanted to do but there were deed restrictions and that required that I get a variance from the zoning board. The variance board unanimously turned me down. They said that the billiard room was illegal and they were not going to grant a variance to a business that was already non-compliant. My room was now fighting for its life.

 

[Blue Hog ridr]

I manged to sign a lease with a desperate unsuspecting landlord. I never applied for a zoning permit. I never advertised what I was doing. I never told a soul. I opened up one day to the shock of the city.

I believe that the key word here is Unsuspecting.

I was not going to be able to pull a fast one like when I opened the poolroom.

The key words here are: Pull a fast one.

Paul, did it make you feel proud laying a class A scam on your land lord?
How would you like it if someone did that to you, maybe feel a little betrayed.

There ya have it folks. Paul keeps the shady people out of his room but wasn't above being more than a tad dishonest to get what he wanted. And he will have you believe that his dress code is for the betterment of pool nation wide. Twas just part of his continuing scam. Nothing more, nothing less.

I believe these two statements speak volumes re credability and honesty. Paul, send me your address
and I will send you a hoodie. If you have trouble walking in the morning, its maybe because you just shot yourself in both feet.
Have a great weekend, Shady Schofield. I know guys like you that would sell their best friend out in a heart beat if they felt it was in their best interest to do so.

Skip the Hoodie, I'll send you a free membership in the APB. You'll fit in real nice.