Now you've got me wondering I think I recall the video I watched had an open area under the table.
Now I have to go look at it.
Looks same to me:
Palmetto Billiard Academy - New Room in South Carolina
- Thread starter iusedtoberich
- Start date
Now I have to go look at it.
Looks same to me:
Yeah, a "small" pet peeve of mine on the Diamond Pro-Am is the legs are at the corners. I totally understand why they do that. It does get in the way of my feet occasionally and I'll have to switch my stance around to put my feet on the side of the leg. I'm 6'-3" tall, so that might be why. But looking at this carom table, I think my feet would hit the skirt half of the shots. Its inset more than the diamond Pro-Am is, but not super deep like the GC, or the Diamond Professional.
From a Nov. 25 post on their Facebook page (link in the basenote). Evidently they closed around the end of October, so they were open about seven months. I've heard a rule of thumb for new businesses is do not expect any income for the first six months.
[ from FB]
As some of you are aware, and for those who haven't heard, Palmetto Billiards Academy is officially closed. It's been about a month now, and as we go into the week of Thanksgiving, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on this journey, give thanks, and share some favorite memories.
For those who want to know "what happened?" - it's a simple matter of a start-up business not having enough start-up capital to see through renovations and getting it up and running until it was self-sustaining.
Lots of lessons learned there. But so many successes along the way - bringing the most pro players to SC ever (Women's Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) tour stop), and bringing the first Junior American Series tour stop to SC. We reached an international audience via social media before we were even open, and got calls, emails, and visits from pool enthusiasts across the globe. Being featured in SPM Billiards Magazine was so exciting! And bottom line, we put something in motion and tried; bringing ideas to life isn't easy, but we committed to that.
[ from FB]
As some of you are aware, and for those who haven't heard, Palmetto Billiards Academy is officially closed. It's been about a month now, and as we go into the week of Thanksgiving, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on this journey, give thanks, and share some favorite memories.
For those who want to know "what happened?" - it's a simple matter of a start-up business not having enough start-up capital to see through renovations and getting it up and running until it was self-sustaining.
Lots of lessons learned there. But so many successes along the way - bringing the most pro players to SC ever (Women's Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) tour stop), and bringing the first Junior American Series tour stop to SC. We reached an international audience via social media before we were even open, and got calls, emails, and visits from pool enthusiasts across the globe. Being featured in SPM Billiards Magazine was so exciting! And bottom line, we put something in motion and tried; bringing ideas to life isn't easy, but we committed to that.
Yes
The original California Billiards opened in San Jose around 1976. It was a huge room (former super market) with maybe 35 tables and a tournament room with theater seats. Their early promotion included radio commercials -- back when everyone listened to radio.
I was doing TV commercials in Bakersfield in 1972-3. It really put us on the map there and business took off.
Yes, my first room in Bakersfield in the 1970's. It was successful as the young people's hangout. There were seven high schools and a junior college there, and after school the kids came to my poolroom. It was busy every afternoon and absolutely packed on the weekends.
I became the youngest member of the downtown businessmen's association at age 28. Some of the older guys teased me about owning a business for kids. What they didn't realize was that all these kids had a few dollars and they would spend it with me!
I had literally hundreds of kids that went through my doors on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and we were doing quite well selling soft drinks and food, not to mention a waiting list for hours on 22 tables. Weekdays did maybe half as good.
I managed to buy a nice home in one of the best neighborhoods, a new Pontiac Gran Prix and a highly modified motorcycle (Honda 880 Chopper). I was living large thanks the Cue Ball. Never sold the first beer!
It’s virtually impossible these days for a poolroom to make it without food, alcohol, and in most cases both.
We have made it nearly 30 years without alcohol, but only because of a consistent food operation that attracts most of our regulars who have never once played pool here, and that we are fortunate enough to own the building and the property, fully paid off.
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Very interesting. Thank you. Very similar to our only bigger room in our area in the late seventies. Still open today but only because of alcohol. In the 70’s and early 80’s it was open 24/7. College town. Snacks. 15 gold crowns. Foosball. Built and owned by a very smart and sharp shooting young guy who paid for it by sending his road trip winnings back to his mother to hold. Those road trips were twenty here, twenty there and a few hundred occasionally but he was smart in matching up and probably did lose often. Thx again.
Chris…can you share the name of the place? Thx for weighing in.
The company that makes them for Predator has made tons of carom tables. Shakespeare’s in Denver had the Kim Steel tables. Same company I am pretty sure.
I had accumulated the grand total of 15,000 by the time I was 27. I bought the room for 40,000, 10,000 down and the rest on payments of 600 a month. I also had to pay an extra 1,000 for inventory when I took over, so I had only 4,000 left when I began my ownership. It was a big gamble but I was confident I knew what to do to make it profitable. The whole story is in my book, but suffice to say my strategy worked and I did well there.
P.S. I also had two foosball tables, one ping pong and six pinball machines. I swapped out one snooker table for two bar boxes and that was a good move. I wish I had pics from that place but the thought of recording it never crossed my mind. I was too busy working there every day!
Country Retreat Family Billiards, 9021 NC hwy 105 South, Boone, NC
Shoot me a message if you want when you're on the Low Country coast side... I'll be around.
The price per hour is way out of line for the region (Southeast) by about 33%. I’ve lived in NC and GA but have played rooms in SC, Bama and FL. Average ceiling is $10/hr unless you want to shoot on one of the special tables.
The monthly fee isn't what's being discussed here at the end... As you've shown, the monthly is a reasonable deal at that rate, but not enough players are willing to do the monthly thing. Charleston couldn't keep open an IMax Theatre right next to the Sweet Aquarium... Unfortunately, we are way too touristy to keep little niche things of this size alive... Looking back, they may should have tried about half of what they did.
Hell... I helped do some of the electrical lighting in the place while it was being built and never even went back to hit a ball... I need help I know, lol, but having my own table helped in that part though.