SilentMike
Registered
I've never posted, but have spent many hours at AZBilliards reading and learning. I suppose it's time to consult the experienced. I live in a smallish college town. Within city limits, our non student population is approximately 17,000. When school is in session, our population goes up another 11,000 or so. I believe this to be a reasonable population (particularly given the student population available 9 months a year) to support a pool hall and, indeed, it has been in the past.
For many years, this town had a very successful pool hall. The combination of a kitchen fire, newly held religious beliefs of the owner, and the idea that he had made enough money to retire and live quietly and simply led to the pool hall shutting down.
For most of its life, this pool hall offered six 8 foot tables, one 9 foot table, a coin table, a couple of video games, 3 video poker machines, and soft drinks and snacks. They moved to a new location, began offering burgers and fries, but all the same ol' stuff.
Since the original pool hall's closure, the town has passed ordinances that allow the sale and consumption of alcohol on premises...the other guy never had that option, and was still able to stay in business until he just didn't want to do it anymore.
At present, there are, to my knowledge, six pool tables operating in this city; in three different bars/pubs. I see a hole in the entertainment market that is far from being filled sufficiently, and I would like to plug that leak.
It is my intention to open a pool hall in my little underserved town. The nearest "pool hall" is an hour away, and is little visited by anyone from around here. I go there to play some, but I only know about 3 other guys who do. They just won't make the drive. I do know the local pool shooting public as I spent 4-8 hours a day with the same crowd of people when the aforementioned establishment was open.
In a perfect world, i'll have 8 or 10 tables, a small grill for burgers and chicken sandwiches and stuff, bottled and canned beer, fountain soft drinks, chips and beef jerkey, toaster oven pizzas, et cetera.
I intend to offer 8 and 9 ball tournaments (for local guys, mostly...nothing big time), maybe try to introduce 10 ball to the 9 ball junkies around here. I would also like to have leagues running in my place. Pool definitely, but darts as well, if I can spare the square footage.
I'm also interested in video poker machines. I can't go anywhere without seeing the backs of the the guys who sit there for hours, shoving their money in.
I don't want to get rich. I want to open an establishment that lets me be in the environment I love. I want that to pay me well enough that I can be satisfied that I'm making a big enough buck that I don't fret my electric bill and my child support. I don't mind working long hours (I do it now, and hate my job). I don't mind the tedium that comes with doing everyday stuff like emptying trash, maintaining the books, and vacuuming the floor. Work is fine with me. I just really want it to be geared toward something that I can be satisfied with. Given the fact that this is a world I love, I can't imagine doing anything I'd be happier with.
With this idea comes a slew of questions:
Tables- lease or buy used (used is most likely the only option right now). If lease, where from?
Poker machines- I assume those can be leased? Worth purchasing? All the skinny on these, please.
Dart boards- apply the poker machine questions here.
more general questions...possibly harder to answer. Some of ya'll who live in places with similar populations might be better informed to give more accurate answers...and some of these questions are just for the sake of curiosity:
On average, how much is it reasonable to expect one patron to spend for a night out in your pool hall?
How many people do you serve on your average weekday? Weekend day?
Do you find that it's worth the time to operate a "pro shop" within your place, selling cues, gloves, t-shirts, cases, et cetera?
What's your average profit margin on beer/malt beverages?
How do you handle your jukebox situation?
Do you find that word of mouth and social media are sufficient for advertising, or do you keep your name out there with radio and print ads as well? Or should that kind of thing be reserved for special events? I'm inclined to believe that the people who want to spend time in a pool hall will know all about the pool halls in their area without hearing about it on the radio.
What kind of special nights do you have? Bike Night? Ladies' night?
Does your pricing change according to the time of day?
How do you feel about a VIP system, whereby a customer pays a monthly flat rate, is issued a card, and plays for free up till X o'clock pm, and gets a 10% discount on food and drinks?
Discuss, please. I'm here to learn.
For many years, this town had a very successful pool hall. The combination of a kitchen fire, newly held religious beliefs of the owner, and the idea that he had made enough money to retire and live quietly and simply led to the pool hall shutting down.
For most of its life, this pool hall offered six 8 foot tables, one 9 foot table, a coin table, a couple of video games, 3 video poker machines, and soft drinks and snacks. They moved to a new location, began offering burgers and fries, but all the same ol' stuff.
Since the original pool hall's closure, the town has passed ordinances that allow the sale and consumption of alcohol on premises...the other guy never had that option, and was still able to stay in business until he just didn't want to do it anymore.
At present, there are, to my knowledge, six pool tables operating in this city; in three different bars/pubs. I see a hole in the entertainment market that is far from being filled sufficiently, and I would like to plug that leak.
It is my intention to open a pool hall in my little underserved town. The nearest "pool hall" is an hour away, and is little visited by anyone from around here. I go there to play some, but I only know about 3 other guys who do. They just won't make the drive. I do know the local pool shooting public as I spent 4-8 hours a day with the same crowd of people when the aforementioned establishment was open.
In a perfect world, i'll have 8 or 10 tables, a small grill for burgers and chicken sandwiches and stuff, bottled and canned beer, fountain soft drinks, chips and beef jerkey, toaster oven pizzas, et cetera.
I intend to offer 8 and 9 ball tournaments (for local guys, mostly...nothing big time), maybe try to introduce 10 ball to the 9 ball junkies around here. I would also like to have leagues running in my place. Pool definitely, but darts as well, if I can spare the square footage.
I'm also interested in video poker machines. I can't go anywhere without seeing the backs of the the guys who sit there for hours, shoving their money in.
I don't want to get rich. I want to open an establishment that lets me be in the environment I love. I want that to pay me well enough that I can be satisfied that I'm making a big enough buck that I don't fret my electric bill and my child support. I don't mind working long hours (I do it now, and hate my job). I don't mind the tedium that comes with doing everyday stuff like emptying trash, maintaining the books, and vacuuming the floor. Work is fine with me. I just really want it to be geared toward something that I can be satisfied with. Given the fact that this is a world I love, I can't imagine doing anything I'd be happier with.
With this idea comes a slew of questions:
Tables- lease or buy used (used is most likely the only option right now). If lease, where from?
Poker machines- I assume those can be leased? Worth purchasing? All the skinny on these, please.
Dart boards- apply the poker machine questions here.
more general questions...possibly harder to answer. Some of ya'll who live in places with similar populations might be better informed to give more accurate answers...and some of these questions are just for the sake of curiosity:
On average, how much is it reasonable to expect one patron to spend for a night out in your pool hall?
How many people do you serve on your average weekday? Weekend day?
Do you find that it's worth the time to operate a "pro shop" within your place, selling cues, gloves, t-shirts, cases, et cetera?
What's your average profit margin on beer/malt beverages?
How do you handle your jukebox situation?
Do you find that word of mouth and social media are sufficient for advertising, or do you keep your name out there with radio and print ads as well? Or should that kind of thing be reserved for special events? I'm inclined to believe that the people who want to spend time in a pool hall will know all about the pool halls in their area without hearing about it on the radio.
What kind of special nights do you have? Bike Night? Ladies' night?
Does your pricing change according to the time of day?
How do you feel about a VIP system, whereby a customer pays a monthly flat rate, is issued a card, and plays for free up till X o'clock pm, and gets a 10% discount on food and drinks?
Discuss, please. I'm here to learn.