Our Room is Closing

TATE

TATE

AzB Gold Mensch
Silver Member
Our room, the Billiard Connection in Granada Hills, (San Fernando Valley, California) lost their lease and is closing this week.

I want to say this is a sad moment for us players there, and the other choices are O.K., but they're not home like the B.C. was. It was not perfect but there was always something going on. Efren came over a few times to play because he knew the owner, Mark.

Anyway, I will miss B.C. and my buddies there. We will be going to other rooms until we find a new home.

Chris
 
TATE said:
Our room, the Billiard Connection in Granada Hills, (San Fernando Valley, California) lost their lease and is closing this week.

I want to say this is a sad moment for us players there, and the other choices are O.K., but they're not home like the B.C. was. It was not perfect but there was always something going on. Efren came over a few times to play because he knew the owner, Mark.

Anyway, I will miss B.C. and my buddies there. We will be going to other rooms until we find a new home.

Chris
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hey $c chris,,,,last time i talked to mark, he was comtemplating opening a "players" club if he could get the ball rolling. hope it all works out cuz it sounded interesting.
 
bruin70 said:
hey $c chris,,,,last time i talked to mark, he was comtemplating opening a "players" club if he could get the ball rolling. hope it all works out cuz it sounded interesting.
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Hi Bruin, How are you?

There has been some talk about another room. I don't think it will happen. Without alcohol, I don't think a pool room is a going concern with these sort of rents, and the city is not granting pool rooms licenses for beer.

It's just amazing that with the millions of square footage in these strip centers in the SFV, how little is available and what the rents are like. A few years ago there was a glut and low occupancy. Not anymore - $2 per sf and up are quite the norm. Real estate in general is just nuts out here. In the valley last month, the "average" home price just topped $521K, and believe me that is an "average" house.

Chris
 
TATE said:
Our room, the Billiard Connection in Granada Hills, (San Fernando Valley, California) lost their lease and is closing this week.
I want to say this is a sad moment for us players there, and the other choices are O.K., but they're not home like the B.C. was.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear it, Tate. It's always sad when a room that has given you a lot of good memories closes, but never forget that those memories are for keeps.

I hope you and your friends find another great place to play, where you can resume building great pool memories.
 
Nomoney said:
another pool room closes, what a shame. aren't their enough homeless people already.
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Wasn't that the old joke in the 30's - Poolroom closes, 300 men made homeless?
 
sjm said:
Sorry to hear it, Tate. It's always sad when a room that has given you a lot of good memories closes, but never forget that those memories are for keeps.

I hope you and your friends find another great place to play, where you can resume building great pool memories.
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Why thank you, SJM. Depressing. I just had to give it an Obituary. This is a nightmare for the employees and the owner, I can sure tell you that.

Chris
 
I'm one of the employees. We spent the day breaking down the tables and just about everything else in the room. We'll be doing that for the next few days.

I'm sad to see it go, I've been playing pool there since 1995. It's 5 minutes from my house and everyone I know there is pretty much like family to me.

Never thought I'd see the day that BC closed it's doors for good. All things come to an end sooner or later, life lesson learned.
 
Hi last two,

After first reading about Jay Helfert closing his room and now Billiard Connection, are they related in any way? Did the smoking laws have an effect? We, as players, should grieve the loss of every billiard room whether good or bad.
 
CK,

I can't comment on BC, I don't think I've ever been there, but I do live in CA and I don't see the smoking bans affecting business adversely in any of the ph's I go to. I used to go to a little place all the time that allowed smoking (if it's a family-run business and you have no non-family employees, you can have smoking) and people are leaving that because they're getting more used to the non-smoking rooms. Even some of the smokers don't like all the stale smoke in a smoking room. They like to get their smoke fresh from their cigarette as opposed to stale lingering smoke. JMHO. BTW, I used to smoke and am not an anti-smoking fanatic.
 
Billiard Connection was also my home away from home for the past couple years. Some of the friends that I have made there will be my friends for life...and I have many memories to carry away with me when the doors are shut for the last time.

I walked in to BC last night (they are officially closed but friends/family are hanging out to help clean up) and the place looked so different to me. Even though there were familiar faces and the tables were still standing, there were some things missing...the jukebox, the stools, the shelves, the video games...and the place felt completely different. Despite that, I had a wonderful time just hanging out with the employees and the owner (who is also my coach). They are all terrific people!

Years ago, there was a room called Player's in So Cal. As soon as it opened, it had a reputation for action 24 hours a day. The atmosphere was one like I had never experienced before. It wasn't a pool room...it was special. It felt like a private club...and people would be comfortable just hanging out. When it closed down...people didn't know where to go. They figured they would never find another place that they would love as much.

But they survived. And I realized something...it's not the pool room...it's the people. The people I know from Player's and Billiard Connection...I am happy when I run into them. And I know that if I start hanging out with them somewhere new...we will make that new place our own. Just like we did with the others....

Fortunately for me...I will be out of town when Billiard Connection shuts its doors for the last time. But, there is a saying that every time one door shuts, another opens. Hopefully, the new door that opens will bring everyone as much laughter and good times as we had at BC.

- Melissa Herndon
 
TATE said:
Our room, the Billiard Connection in Granada Hills, (San Fernando Valley, California) lost their lease and is closing this week.

I want to say this is a sad moment for us players there, and the other choices are O.K., but they're not home like the B.C. was. It was not perfect but there was always something going on. Efren came over a few times to play because he knew the owner, Mark.

Anyway, I will miss B.C. and my buddies there. We will be going to other rooms until we find a new home.

Chris
Click to expand...
Its sad to hear this, hadn't been to that room for about 12 years or so but I remember the owner was a real nice guy. I think he was Russian, if I remember correctly. He would always steer me into a fair game whenever I came into his place and just liked to b.s. as well. That was a real nice room, it is a real shame to hear this.
 
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