Green Room / Downers Grove
- Thread starter Pizza Bob
- Start date
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Not really, the truth is, re. ownership and action, Chris's Billiards is not well, and barely alive.
Flex said:
Not really, the truth is, re. ownership and action, Chris's Billiards is not well, and barely alive.
1 Pocket Ghost said:
Well, well. I went to Chris's today, and brought up this topic, and the answer I received was quite interesting.
It's true that things are tough there, but for reasons that are quite out of the owners' control. Six months ago, business was good. But now, it's quite a bit different. They have noticed a fall off of the customer base, especially of the bangers, the younger crowd that would come in and bust balls in the back rooms. Some time ago, there were lots of them. Now the number has gone down. Why? Well, one of the owners asked the kids who do come in why their friends aren't coming there so much anymore. The first answer: Chicago's ban on smoking, which has hit Chris's directly. It turns out the kids are going to Chris's II, in Des Plaines, and CuePhoria, in River Grove, both places owned by the Chris's people, because smoking is allowed. The second reason is video poker. Lots of the bangers are going the online poker route. The result is that business is slow, which can also be a cyclical business thing.
They have a plan to turn this around, and hope it's successful.
Among other things, they've started up an 8 ball tournament on Wednesday evenings, $10 entry, race to 2, open to everyone. Interesting thing is that today I saw quite a few people practicing 8 ball runouts, among them some of the best players in the hall. Without a handicap to limit their chances, apparently some of these guys are going to be going for the cheese.
Time will tell if this will catch on. Let's see.
Flex