Liquor or not?

S

SKUNKBOY

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My question to you is...how important do you all feel it would be to serve alcoholic beverages in a pool room? I would like to reserve the beverages to non alcoholic drinks but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot. I am not opposed to serving alcohol, but I'd just asoon not. I want a POOL ROOM (with or without ) a bar, not a BAR with pool tables.

This feature would also shine a kinder light to parents knowing thier children (our future pool promoters) would be in an atmoshpere that is alcohol free. That's an untapped source of clientel in this area.

Just curious how important you all think it is to serve alcohol.

L8R...Ken
 
SKUNKBOY said:
My question to you is...how important do you all feel it would be to serve alcoholic beverages in a pool room? I would like to reserve the beverages to non alcoholic drinks but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot. I am not opposed to serving alcohol, but I'd just asoon not. I want a POOL ROOM (with or without ) a bar, not a BAR with pool tables.

This feature would also shine a kinder light to parents knowing thier children (our future pool promoters) would be in an atmoshpere that is alcohol free. That's an untapped source of clientel in this area.

Just curious how important you all think it is to serve alcohol.

L8R...Ken
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Depends on your target market. If you are going to try and sell high dollar merchandise like pool tables or collectable cues; you need to stay AWAY from alcohol. If you are trying to attract the bangers, sell low end cues, and keep the tables full all the time for income you need to EMBRACE alcohol. Unless you have a free rent or a paid off building the chances of making it with a POOL HALL are slim as it is. To try it without alcohol I think is futile in this economy. Alcohol sales in general stay pretty good in a recession. But without knowing the laws of your specific town, it might be illegal to have kids or you might have to have a restaurant. Maybe you can have a seperate section. I don't know. And I assume since you want a POOL HALL and not a BAR WITH POOL TABLES you will have 9 foot tables. You also get less income from pool with 9 foot tables. More tables=more income. Smaller tables= more tables in the room.

Good luck in your adventure. Even with a lifetime of experience I wouldn't try to do this in our current economy.
 
Its an uphill climb without alcohol. With rent and utility prices the way they are today, that revenue is usually much needed. Plus league players will want the beers. Serve good food, serve beer and alcohol and control your atmosphere and you will do fine.
 
I Agree

selftaut said:
Its an uphill climb without alcohol. With rent and utility prices the way they are today, that revenue is usually much needed. Plus league players will want the beers. Serve good food, serve beer and alcohol and control your atmosphere and you will do fine.
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The successful rooms I know are only surviving because of alcohol sales.

But drunks and pool tables can be a bad combination. You have to ban those who are a problem.
 
Thanks

Thanks guys...that is kinda what I was thinking. I might consider cans only, both beer and soda. I think good food is a real plus.

cueandcushion, I was thinking of having both 7' and 9' tables. 9 footers for the 1P, 14.1 and bank and the 7 footers for leagues.

I think it will happen soon, just a matter of logistics now.

Thanks again...Ken
 
It is the most important

SKUNKBOY said:
My question to you is...how important do you all feel it would be to serve alcoholic beverages in a pool room? I would like to reserve the beverages to non alcoholic drinks but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot. I am not opposed to serving alcohol, but I'd just asoon not. I want a POOL ROOM (with or without ) a bar, not a BAR with pool tables.

This feature would also shine a kinder light to parents knowing thier children (our future pool promoters) would be in an atmoshpere that is alcohol free. That's an untapped source of clientel in this area.

Just curious how important you all think it is to serve alcohol.

L8R...Ken
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However not hard alcohol. Hard liquor can only bring trouble. Beer is much more mellow for a room. I have had my room for 30 years with beer and wine and not a lot of trouble. Kids in a room with beer means nothing.
Think if restaurants(all kinds), bowling alleys, golf courses, ball parks etc. etc. w/o alcohol. Kids do just fine at those venues. You just have to have a good group of peole working for you that do not allow any underage drinking or access. It is important to encourage young people to play and enjoy the game. They are the future all the time. Almost weekly we have birthday parties booked for young people. The alcohol has no bearing on their fun. And their parents need a beer during the party. lol.
 
Liquor vs beer only yields much higher revenue, but is much more difficult to control from more than one perspective:
1) Liquor is the choice for many who are in the moood to get intoxicated quickly. It is more difficult to reason with a quick drunk once they get there.

2) Liquor sales are easier for a thieving bartender to steal due to the difficulty and time cnsumption in keeping accurate pour counts.

3) Liquor pours are difficult to control allowing a bartender to puff their tips by giving it away, thereby eating into those original higher profits.

4) Beer makes money on tap as well as in bottle, but I would stay away from cans. The best way to satisfy your beer loving patrons is sell beer is bottles on ice and offer a few drafts. When beer drinkers want to go for a beer on a hot afternoon, they can't fault bottled beer on ice... but cans are just not the same taste as in the bottle and when a road maintenance crew or even a couple professionals decide to go out for a couple beers and shhot some pool, the place with cans will be passed up. I know you're thinking bottles could be used as a weapon. I have never seen it happen, except in the movies and I managed a 25+ table room with a full bar and kitchen.

I can't even think of a non-alcohol room I have ever been in that is still in business. The larger of the ones I worked in relied on alcohol sales and had a minimum 3 to 1 ratio bar sales to table revenue goal. Table time was $4 per hour per person. Figure those numbers out. In two hours, everyone playing at the table was supposed to have consumed $24 from the bar. If it is liquor or beer, they are on their way to happyland. Floor security to keep an eye out on behavior was required.
 
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I have talked to sveral owners and liquor has become a necessary evil in the world of pool rooms today. I hate it but it is what it is. Seem to me you take pool + gambling +alchohol + a jerk = a super a$$hole you have to throw out or call police. JMO.
 
sun526 said:
I have talked to sveral owners and liquor has become a necessary evil in the world of pool rooms today. I hate it but it is what it is. Seem to me you take pool + gambling +alchohol + a jerk = a super a$$hole you have to throw out or call police. JMO.
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We have 20 9' GCV's, and full bar. Once a month a drink will get spilled on the table which is usually beer and is quickly cleaned up so not to leave a stain.

Our wait staff and management staff is vigilant about drinks on tables and over serving. If your pool hall is well maintained, clean, and professional, most of the people will behave them selves. We also keep a dress code of no hats or tank tops.

We do spring $70 for security on Friday & Saturday nights but they are rarely needed.

No alcohol will be cost you a lot in sales. The most you'll get for a beer is $5, you can get up to $8 - $10 with alcohol. People will usually accompany their beer with a shot and alcohol's mark up AFTER bartender loss should be at least 5x.
 
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