What makes a room successful?

gwjackal

Paradigm Cue Sports
Silver Member
Over the last week there have been a few theards about rooms. I have given my situation I am in some serious thought.

What really makes a room tick?

How can someone bring people back to a room that is srtuggling?

Is it possible to survive without selling liquor?

I am looking for any insight anyone is willing to give! My local owner finally is seeing how everyone else is seeing and no one is really happy. He is going to allow me to try and help turn things around.

So I am in turn asking my AZ family for your input! Will you help me help save a room and save this game for everyone in this town.

If you don't want to post then call me please I will listen to anything you have to say good or bad.

Thank you,
Greg
 
I don't know how helpful this post will be but I thought i'd throw out some ideas anyway. If you are trying to bring more people in I say try to bring in a younger generation, teenagers have lots of free time. There is a pool hall at my college, and although it isn't in the same category I do think it may have something interesting to offer. We have a jukebox that is gives two songs for a quarter and every time someone drops a house cue they have to put a quarter in the box-yes this is small but it gets us enough money to buy beer for weekly tournaments. I feel like there is a lot to be gained by bringing in teenagers not just for the pool hall but for everyone-younger people getting taught both respect and technique for the game. Anyways, hope there's something in there that helps.

-Wren
 
It begins with treating every customer like a valued friend! Word of mouth is the strongest advertising of all. I would also PROMOTE, PROMOTE and PROMOTE some more! Ads in local college newspapers are not expensive. If you don't have beer than high school kids can come in too. I'd plaster the immediate area with flyers. There are companies who will do that for you. 90-95% of your business probably comes from a 3-5 mile radius. Include a '20% Off' discount coupon on the flyers and the ads.

That said, it's tough to make it without beer and wine at least. It's not an expensive license and I would try to get one. Only if the rent is low can you make it without beer. Work as many hours as you can to save on labor costs. I would work the night shift (when it was busiest) with one other employee.

Put in video games (high tech ones), an ATM machine, billiard supplies (mostly low end stuff) and a juke box. All are moneymakers. Usually you can make a 50-50 deal with your game supplier.
 
It begins with treating every customer like a valued friend! Word of mouth is the strongest advertising of all. I would also PROMOTE, PROMOTE and PROMOTE some more! Ads in local college newspapers are not expensive. If you don't have beer than high school kids can come in too. I'd plaster the immediate area with flyers. There are companies who will do that for you. 90-95% of your business probably comes from a 3-5 mile radius. Include a '20% Off' discount coupon on the flyers and the ads.

That said, it's tough to make it without beer and wine at least. It's not an expensive license and I would try to get one. Only if the rent is low can you make it without beer. Work as many hours as you can to save on labor costs. I would work the night shift (when it was busiest) with one other employee.

Put in video games (high tech ones), an ATM machine, billiard supplies (mostly low end stuff) and a juke box. All are moneymakers. Usually you can make a 50-50 deal with your game supplier.

Offer to let women play for free.....or a greatly discounted price. Nothing attracts men like........women........Dan
 
Over the last week there have been a few theards about rooms. I have given my situation I am in some serious thought.

What really makes a room tick?

How can someone bring people back to a room that is srtuggling?

Is it possible to survive without selling liquor?

I am looking for any insight anyone is willing to give! My local owner finally is seeing how everyone else is seeing and no one is really happy. He is going to allow me to try and help turn things around.

So I am in turn asking my AZ family for your input! Will you help me help save a room and save this game for everyone in this town.

If you don't want to post then call me please I will listen to anything you have to say good or bad.

Thank you,
Greg


Putting enough money aside in the winter to survive the summer.
 
What kind of equipment does the room have as of right now, and what kind of condition is that equipment in?
 
The easiest part of running a pool r00m is getting people to come through the door the first time. The hardest part is keeping them coming back for more.

You need to offer everyone that comes into your place something of interest to them.

If you have young boys coming in the room then you need to have young girls coming in the room. And they need something there to entertain them.

On the nights your not that busy start having either league play or tournaments so people have a reason to come out and play.

Make the game affordable to your clientel. If your slow during the day offer special rates to attract more people to come in and play.

Offer discounts on any products your patrons purchase from you.

Be friendly at all times to your customers and if you have people in your room that are driving people out the door, show them the door.
 
IMO, and I have never owned one, but have the MBA and have ran the numbers on openning one.

1.) Leagues, leagues, leagues. My friends who have owed pool halls tell me that leagues pay all the bills.

2.) I think beer and wine at the minumum and full bar would be best. I would never open a place that did not at least have beer. While a full kitchen is a money maker, the abilty to provide some snacks in imparative.

3.) You have to work it. That means tournaments, youth, $5 during the weekday specials, etc. Status quo will get you broke, IMO. I have seen guys own a room and not understand why everyone doesnt just show up and play and give them money.

4.) Cherry Master, video poker, pinball, juke box, where ever you can make a nickel and have minimum investment.

5.) Buy used, rent, dont over extend debt load. Keep the daily nut to a minimum.

6.) Remember it is a business. It isnt a clubhouse, owners that are not looking to expand clientle are doomed. Snooker, maybe, billiards maybe, find a new group to bring in. Golf and one pocket games seem to dominate the day players and then in the evenings 9-ball and 8-ball players invade. Understand the difference and make it happen.

Ken
 
running a room

if you're gonna have a juke box, make sure you have at least two different zones. i would recommend that you put the players tables at one end, furthest away from the bar and the other noisy areas and make that one zone, then have the bar and barboxes in the second zone. that way, the more serious players can move as far away from the noise and commotion of the bar/music as possible, and the kids can come in and bang balls near the bar, music and (hopefully) girls...

i hate it when im playing a match and some kid comes in (ok, sometimes not so much a kid) and plays some music then asks the bartender to crank it up... i respect their right to do so, and i know that playing in a bar, this happens, but if the bartender can blare the one zone and keep the other toned down a little, it helps.

if you're just building a room, a 1/2 wall between the players tables in the back and the bar/bangers tables in the front also helps with catering to the two distinct clienteles, but i know this is not always realistic...
 
Think that is a tough question in this hard economic time. Jay said above, "It begins with treating every customer like a valued friend! Word of mouth is the strongest advertising of all."
 
Greg, I think that a smart person with a passion for the game has all the potential in the world to make a room run well. Stop for a second and think about what YOU would want in an ideal pool room. What makes a place welcoming? What makes you want to go back? Words like clean, friendly, well-maintained, and professional come to mind.

The pool room here in my home town changed owners about 5 years ago, and before the new guy took over, the place was as good as dead. Now, it's been revived and is one of the healthiest and strongest businesses in the downtown area. It can be done with a lot of hard work. Above all, always remember to treat people with respect. If you make smart decisions and treat people well, you'll get back everything you put in and then some.
 
All the successful rooms (mostly in Japan) seems to have owners that LOVES pool.
It seems as it wasn't just a money to them. They loved the game. This room in Japan, I went back with 5 years in between and owner remembered me.

He also told me I got fat and told me to stop eating burgers.
 
My answer from a similar thread:

PH Survival Strategy IMHO:

Buy don't rent, sell alcohol, promote yourself, engage the youth (PE classes will bring them in at night with their allowances), hire hot bartender & waitress, promote yourself again, sell more alcohol, kiss the customers a$$, hold lots of leagues & "cheap" nightly/weekly tourneys tied to all-day/night rates, monthly/quarterly "big added $" tourney with break pot or some other gimmick, encourage ring games or other social gambling, hire hot bartender & waitress when the first ones get pregnant, sell more alcohol, promote yourself again, sell some food to keep people there, kiss the customers a$$, hold high school/middle school grudge matches (who's the best?), keep the jukebox off mute, sell more alcohol & promote yourself.
 
all great rooms have a good selection of beers on tap

the most important thing, more important than allowing smoking (which none anymore in California) is to have a good selection of beer on tap.

Second, well maintained tables and house cues.

Third, plenty of parking; e.g. the former Chalkers and Hollywood Billiards both in San Francisco were fine pool rooms, but there was no damn free parking lot. It was survival of the fittest in terms of battling for a coveted street parking space when someone leaves; otherwise you have to park a mile away!

Fourth, good bar food like burgers/fries/grilled cheese sandwich....

Fifth, reasonable table time pricing.

There is no way you can survive without booze, at least beer if not hard liquor.

Good luck finding a great room; luckily i have 3 to choose from in the Bay Area--Family Billiards in SF; California Billiard Club in Mt. View; and Edgies in Milpitas.:thumbup:
 
What kind of equipment does the room have as of right now, and what kind of condition is that equipment in?

Glen we have:

8 valley bar boxes
6 Gold Crown III (w/one in storage)
2 Gold Crown III 5x10 converted Billiards tables

The equipment has been maintain at a very low level. I.e. funny rails and honestly nothing rolls right with most tables having torn or just extremly old cloth. This I plan to fix once money is available, or aleast more than what's there now.

We do have a fully stocked bar, but only four beers on tap. No liquor though, there are no license's available to do so.

We also have a small and I say very small product base on hand.

The vending company takes .50 off every game played on the small tables as well as the 3 dart machines. It is 1.00 to play a game.

Our kitchen has some of the best lunch food in town! As well we also have your normal bar food.

The area is 7,500sq ft. With comfortable seating for at least a hundred people.

I'm all ears guys and gals and thanks for the replies but keep'em coming!
 
Glen we have:

8 valley bar boxes
6 Gold Crown III (w/one in storage)
2 Gold Crown III 5x10 converted Billiards tables

The equipment has been maintain at a very low level. I.e. funny rails and honestly nothing rolls right with most tables having torn or just extremly old cloth. This I plan to fix once money is available, or aleast more than what's there now.

We do have a fully stocked bar, but only four beers on tap. No liquor though, there are no license's available to do so.

We also have a small and I say very small product base on hand.

The vending company takes .50 off every game played on the small tables as well as the 3 dart machines. It is 1.00 to play a game.

Our kitchen has some of the best lunch food in town! As well we also have your normal bar food.

The area is 7,500sq ft. With comfortable seating for at least a hundred people.

I'm all ears guys and gals and thanks for the replies but keep'em coming!

Now we're getting somewhere:D First thing I'd do is get rid of the vendor operated valleys...get the Diamond 7ft bar tables, I can help you with a rent to own contract on them:D instead of giving away half the coins, THAT will help draw players out of the other bars....as I know your area well...junk equipment. Then I'd deliver the tables to the location...AND while I was there...I'd fix up the 9ft's...but I'd put up the other 9ft and take out at least one of the 5x10's. Clean the place up some...add some paint, clean them damn bathrooms up:D especially the womens;) Then add some $50 first, $30 second, $20 third place tournaments on Fri/Sat with no entry fees....it's just a free tournament...that'll start helping to get the Fri/Sat croud changed around a little.

That's just off the top of my head...would have to think some more to offer anything else.

Glen
 
uphill battle

Still looking for some help, please I am all ears!


First realize you are in a very tough uphill battle. It is a battle that can be won but it is ten times harder to get a rundown location and business back making a profit than it is to start from scratch with an all new location.

First and foremost, listen to your customers. What do they really want that is practical to provide?

Invest in some paint and cheap ideas to brighten the place up. If it isn't spotless, clean it from top to bottom and then keep the place clean. Not smelling of strong chemicals, just clean. Keep the area near the door bright and welcoming, I like walking into a dungeon but few people do. Speaking of that, approach the place from the street. Outside, what do you like least that you can change? Even if it is just a clump of grass or weeds or some trash make it go away. Approach again, same thing what do you like least that you can change. Bit by bit I increase curb appeal tremendously like that without spending a lot of money. Open the front door. What do you like least that is readily changed? Repeat, repeat, repeat, and repeat again.

If you can get the Diamond tables do so. I find it ridiculous to give vending companies fifty cents on the dollar although I know that is common.

Finally, the owner and the hired help. Really look at their appearance. If it could be improved to match the clientele do so. Consider matched polo shirts for everyone. The hardest part to make the owner and help understand is how to talk to people and proper body language. Friendly, courteous, attentive and polite workers increased business tenfold at several businesses I was partners in. As a test I tried the difference between "May I help you?" and "Can I help you?" back in the early seventies "May I help you?" was roughly ten times more effective. That one word made me literally thousands of dollars and help that insisted on saying "can" had two options, my way and the highway.

A clean place, a little paint even if just a new accent stripe or two, and the employer and employees actually giving the customer their full attention for the brief time they are dealing with them face to face will pay huge dividends. Promotions are good to keep the people that come in coming back and they may tell their friends. Flyers I have found to be 2% to 5% effective. One that was hugely successful was 15% effective. Do offer a small free gift or discount on flyers and mailers so that you know how effective they are.

Ultimately word of mouth makes or breaks a business. One thing to remember is that one person talking bad offsets 20 or 30 happy customers. Also it is a lot easier to keep a customer than get a new regular. With possibly the rare exception treat each customer like they are solid gold. Let them know they are valued. If charging by the hour make sure they know that you are rounding down to the last fifteen minutes or whatever, not up. That costs a few dollars a day that may seem like it can ill be afforded but it is worth far more in good will.

Everyone working with the place should be clean, friendly, energetic, and positive. I left positive until last but it can be huge. Several times when the local economy was in a slump I proved that you can lift a business by it's bootstraps. My customers were other businesses and when I told them I was doing great they were skeptical knowing everyone was hurting. However I kept it up and in a few weeks I was doing great. The general economy and my competition's cash flow stayed in the toilet for many months longer.

Make it a friendly happy place to come to and folks will come. Easier said than done but that is really all it takes.

Hu
 
Can't rep Hu but I love this post.

I have no idea if it'll solve things for all dying halls. I feel like sometimes pool halls have momentum and you can't turn it around before the cash bleeds out. But I sure want every single pool hall to try this stuff. Hell, make that every business in general. The one I used to shoot at (that went under) did so because it lacked that soft touch the owner had with all customers. People came just to see him and sat there drinking and chatting with him even if they never hit a ball. If the place had three of him, I feel it'd be alive and thriving.

Anyway, nice post Hu. I figure Jackal oughta just print'er out and hand it to the owner. Hell, get the owner to sign up here. Let him read the other good posts.
 
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