Family Friendly Pool Room

[Crash]

Two things memorable things that I've observed the past 4 years since taking up this sport are 1) A man and his son could not find a place to play because of of the sons age, and 2) I was in Fort Smith AR and came across "Family Cue" where there were teenagers, fathers with sons, and older gentlemen on all of the dozen or so tables.

There is a 11,200 sqft commercial building (former gym) in a middle to upper middleclass neighborhood across from a High School and next to a police station. 1) is this building big enough 2) If any of you guys were starting out and didn't want to deal with liquor and food would this spark your interest?

Pros and Cons?

 

[vasilios]

first thing i would consider with the building is parking.how much and ease of access from car to the entrance.customers have to be comfortable getting from their car to your door.if not you loose quality customers after one visit.

bill

 

[cueandcushion]

We have always been family friendly with serving zero alcohol. Unfortunately it is a horrible business model since "pool time" is usually a loss leader. In order to charge enough pool time to cover rent you will scare most customers away. Regardless of what someone says, they will usually find the cheapest pool hall, not the best one. We are successful by relying mostly on retail sales to subsidize our billiard parlor.

 

[vasilios]

We have always been family friendly with serving zero alcohol. Unfortunately it is a horrible business model since "pool time" is usually a loss leader. In order to charge enough pool time to cover rent you will scare most customers away. Regardless of what someone says, they will usually find the cheapest pool hall, not the best one. We are successful by relying mostly on retail sales to subsidize our billiard parlor.

dam CC i have been following your posts,you keep coming with sour news.what are you running on,air?

bill

 

[cueandcushion]

dam CC i have been following your posts,you keep coming with sour news.what are you running on,air?

bill

I didnt really think it was sour news. Sorry if it sounded that way. I am pretty optimistic for our future. But... We are in a bad economy , and are surviving. Pool time is not a big money maker and hasnt been for many years. I don't personally know of anyone making big money off pool.

 

[The Pool Hall]

Size

Building size only means anything to you....by what size of a place you want to have. I only have 4 tables and they stay kinda busy. I have seen places with 15 or so tables close while I stay open. I have only been doing this for 2 years and I am NOT an expert. Figure if you can keep the tables rented 40% of they time and that will pay the bills you might make it. Next figure how to make a profit...........food, retail, etc.............Good Luck and if you want one already open come BUY MINE! :wink:

 

[Wags]

Plenty big enough but...

Two things memorable things that I've observed the past 4 years since taking up this sport are 1) A man and his son could not find a place to play because of of the sons age, and 2) I was in Fort Smith AR and came across "Family Cue" where there were teenagers, fathers with sons, and older gentlemen on all of the dozen or so tables.

There is a 11,200 sqft commercial building (former gym) in a middle to upper middleclass neighborhood across from a High School and next to a police station. 1) is this building big enough 2) If any of you guys were starting out and didn't want to deal with liquor and food would this spark your interest?

Pros and Cons?

What is the leasing/buying cost? What would the monthly nut be? Remodeling costs? Licensing costs? Equipment costs? Any laws forbidding it so near a school? (yes, there are still some strange laws out there.) What would it take to generate revenue for the nut? Do the research, find the answers, see if you still like it, get back to me. :smile:

 

[pjwoolw]

Anywhere near a school, park or any public building would probably be disastrous. I worked for a liquor chain that was sold to a not to bright bunch. I left and went on with life. This was in the seventies. They had a great idea and opened a new store and moved there warehouse directly across the street from a High School. Of course they crashed and burned. The business (over thirty year old name with a great rep) was totally out of business within 5 years.

 

[Crash]

Jay and Pete may have a point ... "no spitting on the sidewalk" and "no pool hall within 1000 feet of a church or school". I'll check the local ordinances this week.

 

[JNUTZ]

I'm not saying this will happen in your case but when I was in High School there was a bowling alley not far from the school. The teenagers would start going there to hang out after school, and after a few weeks of playing everyone actually started getting good at it.

Then the bowling alley formed a teenager league and kids started playing more.

The place was also a Friday and Saturday night hang out with the family because the kids were getting into a new sport.(mostly father-son, and younger brothers starting to learn to play)

So I would think that if around the right type of school you might do okay, there wasn't any gangs or a whole lot of drugs in my school, kinda small town.

 

[Crash]

The place was also a Friday and Saturday night hang out with the family because the kids were getting into a new sport.(mostly father-son, and younger brothers starting to learn to play) QUOTE]

That's the idea I want to achieve. Keeping control of things at the start should be key. Its a good school but they are considering closing underperforming schools so rezoning may start bringing in undesirables.

 

[Robroy]

Jay and Pete may have a point ... "no spitting on the sidewalk" and "no pool hall within 1000 feet of a church or school". I'll check the local ordinances this week.

I want mine as close to as many churches as I can get
I'm still in the praying stages...however I do believe.
http://www.robindodson.com/inside_pool_page4.htm

Pool tables should I think used or new?
I'm thinking 16-18
10 smart tables
6 GC
1 billiard
1 snooker

 

[Crash]

I want mine as close to as many churches as I can get

There is a large Baptist church about 1/2 mile north of the site. Does that count? After church many of the members go to a Mexican restaurant next to the building after church.

 

[Robroy]

There is a large Baptist church about 1/2 mile north of the site. Does that count? After church many of the members go to a Mexican restaurant next to the building after church.

Yup that counts

 

[pak65]

...Figure if you can keep the tables rented 40% of they time and that will pay the bills you might make it...

Would anyone care to go out on a limb and consider this an industry standard? I'm looking to start a business that would include a couple of nice pay/hour tables (among other family amusement activities), and am at a current loss for likely table utilization estimates for projecting potential revenue. I plan to also offer retail and concessions, but it'd be nice to know if I could reasonably expect my tables to at least pay for themselves.

Since my establishment will be more family oriented, I've wondered if the no alcohol aspect may be seen as a positive for the demographics I'm going after in my area, but also realize that the potential of some area leagues utilizing my tables would be negatively affected.

Anyway, I'd appreciate hearing opinions from some room owner viewpoints.

Nice place you all have here BTW.

 

[pak65]

Ok, short of predicting individual table utilization, how about annual seasonality? Are there any particular times of the year that are usually busier, for instance, winter months, or does it seem to matter, whether we are talking about regulars or occasional casual players?