New Year Issue | February 1, 2016
2016 COLOR
TRENDS THE POWER OF ONLINE ADVERTISING BILLIARD LIGHTING BCA Insider—A BCA Member Publication Dedicated to Businesses in the Billiard and Home Leisure Industry.
Anthony Stoeckert
The Wonderful World Of Color
IN THIS ISSUE 14 6 Step Up On Services Joe Dyton
Sarah Johnson
Power Of Online Advertising
20 Keith Loria
A Bright Spot In Retail
32 2 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
12 26 28 38 44 48
Retail Reinvention 2016 Lynn Switanowski Remembering Bill Glasgow, Sr. Keith Loria Put A Pin In It BCA Insider Staff Member Profile: Olhausen Billiards Anthony Stoeckert In Memorial: Royce Bunnell Charles S. Donnavan Retailers Speak
ON THE COVER
Park Avenue Air Hockey Table Blatt Billiards, New York City
EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Keith Loria billiardskeith@gmail.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Alexia P. Ballard Charles S. Donnavan Joe Dyton Sarah Johnson Joshua Laurent Anthony Stoeckert Lynn Switanowski
ADVERTISING MEMBERSHIP MANAGER Shane Tyree shane@bca-pool.com (303) 243-5070 x23
DESIGN/LAYOUT ART DIRECTOR
OPENING LETTER
As treasurer of the BCA, I’m pleased to share how we oversee the organization’s finances. It’s important for our membership to have an understanding for how carefully and thoughtfully we manage the association’s funds. On an annual basis, the BCA Board of Directors works with the organization’s staff (Rob Johnson and Shane Tyree) to develop a budget. Once approved, a BCA Finance Committee meets monthly to review budget projections versus actual results. If there’s a significant variance, discussions are had as to why there is a variance and whether any adjustments to the association’s operations need to be made. Additionally, the BCA Board of Directors has a Long-Term Investment Allocation Policy for the management of the BCA’s investments, and its Finance Committee meets a minimum of four times annually to review the guidelines to ensure the BCA’s long-term investments are in the proper investment portfolio allocation. This attention to detail has allowed the BCA to survive the economic downtown and allowed us to offer new member benefits such as BCA Insider. We were not immune to the great compression of the economy. However, we survived with cost-cutting and the ability to dip into our long-term investments. On the bright side, the BCA has netted a small profit annually since 2012 and our long-term investments have seen nearly an 87 percent increase since 2008.
Julie Snee julie.snee@gmail.com
Please feel free to reach out to me anytime for questions on how we manage the organization’s finances. I can be reached at tstick@billiardfactory.us or 281-943-2310.
BCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t ask you to please make your annual membership dues payment if you haven’t already done so.Your commitment allows us to support our membership and promote the wonderful game of billiards.
CHAIRMAN Mike Serra, Championship Cloth
Happy New Year!
VICE-CHAIRMAN Chance Pack, Champion Shuffleboard
SECRETARY Jonathan Goudeau, Indoor Recreation
TREASURER Tony Stick, The Billiard Factory
BOARD MEMBERS Dave Barry, Legacy Billiards Carl Galante, Classic Cue Ivan Lee, Iwan Simonis Brain Rosselli, Olhausen Mfg
4 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
TONY STICK,
TREASURER
BCA Insider is published by Billiard Congress of America © 2016 bcainsider.com
STEP UP ON SERVICES:
THE BENEFITS OF INSTALLING CLOTH AND DOING TABLE REPAIRS By Joe Dyton
There aren’t too many feelings better for a retailer than when inventory is flying off of the shelves and demand heavily outnumbers the supply. Unfortunately, the reality is it’s hard to keep that momentum going, especially in a recreational industry like billiards. When the most recent recession hit, the first thing to be deleted from most consumers’ budget were the “extras,” like home leisure equipment. “Waiting it out” simply will not cut it for most, if not all, retailers. When inventory isn’t being sold, revenue still needs to be generated. During the slow times, it’s up to retailers to get creative to make up the revenue lost from dipping retail sales. One way to keep the proverbial lights on is to step up promotion of billiard services like installing cloth and repairing tables. Bob Schmidt, owner of Jones Brothers Pool Tables, North Little Rock, Ark., hasn’t felt the pinch of slow retail sales as others have, but that doesn’t mean 6 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
he’s immune to it or unfamiliar with the plight. “We didn’t raise our prices for a while (after the last recession), I’ll tell you that,” Schmidt says. “If we get a slow time, we’ll call the Boys Club and see if they need any work. We’ll donate some stuff to them, just to keep our guys busy. We’ll donate labor, basically; fix their tables up.” It might sound odd for a retailer to do things for free when they’re looking for ways to generate money; however, Schmidt believes the pro bono work his team did for the Boys Club was an investment; that the combination of the goodwill and good word-out-mouth could help him and his team find new, paying work. One space with paying work Jones Brothers Pool Tables found was at local universities. “They’re one place that wasn’t hurt in the recession because (of the) cost of college,” Schmidt says. “They’re always working to get students, so they have to
make the dorms look nice and a lot of times they are putting in a pool table or a foosball table or a (ping pong) table; all of those things help.” Some of the services they provided for area colleges included examining their current tables and advising the schools which ones needed to be fixed, and then making the repairs. Working with the schools turned out to be a great move for Schmidt as it led to return business. At one university, his team fixed the school’s tables and then the administration changed and wanted the tables moved to another location. The same thing happened a few years later when the administration changed again. “We made $8,000 to $10,000 just moving (the tables) up and down the stairs,” Schmidt says. “You never know; it’s their space, they are trying to make the best of it and sometimes you’re the beneficiary.” For smaller retailers who want to make their services known, Schmidt suggests advertising through online channels like
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Craigslist, or taking advantage of social media or go to the local paper, where you may be able to land a couple of free advertisements. Suggested service promotions include discounting cloth installation, offering free cue repair with the purchase of a cloth installation, or shining cue balls for free.
KEEP PRICING REASONABLE For other retailers, keeping sales going is just a matter of keeping prices reasonable and doing quality work that can’t help but be talked about. That’s exactly the strategy Suzanne Bolton, owner of Albuquerque, N.M.-based Dr. Billiard, uses. The small family-owned shop sells tables, and does installations, table recovering, repairs, moves and assembles tables, but has never felt the need to make adjustments when retail sales slow down. “We don’t do anything different (during slower sales periods),” Bolton says. “We just always do our best work so we have really good ratings. We don’t overprice our merchandise so it will move.” Dr. Billiard’s service repeatedly gets five-star ratings on Yelp and Google, which is all the advertising Bolton and her team really need. They’ve been in business for over 20 years and have found success primarily through word of mouth. It also helps to have a welltrained staff; something Bolton takes very seriously. “I spend a lot of time training,” Bolton says. “Anybody who trains with me, they don’t get two days at the factory;
they get months of training until they do their work to my standards. If they can’t do it, then they can’t work here. “We specialize in billiards, so people who play come to us. We just are very honest in our business dealings and we always do our best work. I don’t think we get a callback but once a decade.”
TURNING TO CONTRACTORS Not all retailers can afford, or want, to have maintenance workers on board full time. At the same time, they don’t want to miss out on the extra revenue that comes from providing services like repairing tables and replacing cloth. To keep the service arm of their business going, retailers will work with independent contractors. That’s where companies like Championship Billiard Fabric, Elk Grove Village, Ill., come in. Championship is currently the only company in the industry that offers cloth installer certification seminars. It has held four to five of them a year for the last five years. Each time, it has gotten 25 installers from all over the U.S. to come to the Championship corporate office for a one-day seminar. During the first half, attendees go through a classroom session and learn about the company’s mill, and how Championship Cloth is made. Handson training makes up the second half of the day; attendees get schooled on how to cover tables. The tables are stripped, and then the students cover them and mount the rubber cushions again. Everything done during these seminars is done on Championship equipment.
“We built a database of installers,” says Mike Serra, Championship’s vice president. “If you go to our website and hit, ‘find an installer,’ it’ll take you to a page where you punch in your zip code, and ‘boom,’ all of the certified installers that have gone through our seminar will pop up.” A company like Championship Billiard Cloth is not just crucial to have around for retailers, but for customers, too. Having certified cloth installers on-call means customers don’t have to try to lay the cloth on their own, an action that could end up being more costly than if they had just let a professional do it in the first place.
“
IT’S ACTUALLY AN ART; EVERY TABLE IS DIFFERENT...”
“We’ve had many, many people try this on their own,” Serra says. “The problem is you spend say, $100 on the piece of cloth and you’re going to do this yourself? Whenever guys call me and ask, I always tell them, ‘Save yourself $400 and have it done by a pro because you’re going to (mess) this up.’ It’s actually an art; every table is different, so every installer has to have the feel. A lot of people think this is easy, but what happens is 90 percent of guys who do it themselves end up calling us back asking someone to come fix it.” It’s funny to think about now, but the relationship between retailers and independent contractors wasn’t always so harmonious. There was a time when
retailers weren’t fond of installers being independent; the thought was they might be undercutting the retailers’ opportunity to supplement their sales revenue by offering services on their own. It turns out the current model of retailers using highly trained independent installers works out well for the ones who use it. “Years ago, yes there was a lot of friction (between retailers and independent contractors),” Serra says. “The retailers didn’t like the installers being independent. I’m going to be honest with you; this industry needs these installers. If we had talked about this 10 years ago, I would have said, ‘Yeah there’s a ton of friction because installer shops are popping up all over.’ The friction is not there anymore.”
WATCH AND LEARN How well cloth is installed on a pool table can make or break the quality of game play. In fact, Simonis Cloth, Libertyville, Ill., found it to be such an important factor that it created a DVD to show how to install cloth properly. The goal was to show installers how to put cloth on a table the right way. “How important is cloth to the game?” Ivan Lee, Simonis Cloth’ CEO and president, asks. “How important is the track at Daytona or the greens at Pebble Beach? The consistency of Simonis Cloth can measurably affect 10 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
the accuracy of the game. We always remind people the balls roll on the cloth and not on the slate. There are lots of little tricks and tips that even an experienced installer can pick up from watching the videos.” The instructional DVD serves as a complement to the value Simonis customers are getting when they use its cloth. Value that the company believes is the best when it comes to what its retailers and customers receive. “Even if the end user is not a professional player, they can play on the same surface that the pros do and improve their game,” Lee says. “The promise of value for the small additional charge is well worth the investment, and the retailer can make incremental profit on the product as well.” Following the paths of Schmidt and Serra, Simonis trains its installers first hand. The company has developed a network of people that it can refer nationwide if someone needs assistance with their table. “Simonis has to install correctly to deliver its optimum performance, but it’s not difficult to do once you have proper techniques,” Lee says. “Installers love our product because once they install it correctly, they never have to go back to fix the problems that other cloths have.” The Simonis team has trained installers to lay cloth on tables properly so customers don’t have to try doing it at
home. Some of the issues Lee has seen from people installing cloth on their own are uneven tension and exposed staples in the pockets. One error can be remedied, the other not so much. “Uneven tension doesn’t affect the play as much as it affects the look of the table,” Lee says. “Simonis Cloth is sheared so fine and so close to the weave that uneven tension will look like tiger stripes on the table or under the rails. It’s a simple fix, but the stripes will not dissipate with time. Uneven tension under the rails looks really bad, but a simple technique during installation will make this a non-issue.” Lee also has seen once-present tension between retailers and independent contractors dissipate over the last decade or so. One of the main reasons for this is, frankly, that there are plenty of tables out there for everyone to work on. Plus, there are times when a retailer may need someone with a greater depth of knowledge than some of the in-house installation staff. “It is one thing to install a new table, but it is a completely different thing to restore or refurbish an antique, classic or custom table,” Lee says. “Because of this, it is in the best interest of both parties to maintain a working relationship in case they run into situations where they can constructively collaborate.”
RETAIL REINVENTION 2016: WHAT’S CHANGING NOW AND WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOUR BILLIARD BUSINESS By Lynn Switanowski You’ve probably noticed it’s getting harder to get the attention of potential customers today — whether you have fewer people walking through the doors or whether you’re having a different level of success converting them to satisfied buyers when they do walk in the store. There are reasons for this. First, let’s talk about consumers and how they’re changing their shopping habits and what it means to your billiard business. Today’s consumer wants to be known: They want a personalized shop12 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
ping experience that’s tailored to their specific needs and preferences. When surveyed, more than 60 percent of consumers said that is their top priority. Consumers want referrals and promotional activities before and during their shopping experience: More than 85 percent of today’s consumers suggest personalized coupons and exclusive offers would shift their retailer preferences. In addition, 64 percent of consumers suggest they look for recommendations for specific products to purchase via their friends, family and other online referral sources.
So what does this mean for your billiard business? How can you connect with customers? In 2016, you must look to create a personalized shopping experience before your customers walk in the door. This means setting up an ongoing process for gathering customer testimonials and referrals at every stage of the purchase process, whether customers are coming in to buy a new table, a new cue, or accessories for their game room. Make sure your website and social media pages are full of testimonials from
satisfied customers of your business, and utilize some of these testimonials around your store and on or near product displays that can be easily found by customers during the shopping experience. If you have a strong email customer base, include those testimonials in emails to ensure that all your customers are seeing them as well. You should also look for potential via consumers who spend time at your website. Include specific pages for key products and/or brands, or link up with dealer-locator information pages to help improve the search engine optimization for your own store website — even if you don’t sell online. Another tool that is working for retailers of all sizes today is to create apps that are fun and that engage customers around your brand and products. These may be fun apps like games, or perhaps design-inspired apps that showcase how a table might look in a customer’s home. Obviously, with consumers doing robust searches online, including engagement with social media pages, you should look to grow your social media pages. Facebook and Instagram are always a great place to start, but don’t forget Twitter, Pinterest and your own company blog. Another key reminder as more consumers use online tools to drive decisions regarding purchases, is to ensure that your consumers have a good mobile experience with your brand. This means ensuring that your website is mobile friendly, and that consumers can research products, compare prices, read reviews, get store hours, find store locations, and find store coupons all via your website and social media pages. To be clear, mobile interaction is not going away as more than 42 percent of consumers conduct research online while shopping in stores — including
your billiard store! Whether it’s looking at other websites to compare prices, or looking for coupons from your competitors, don’t overlook the importance of the consumer mobile experience that is happening right at your store, and make sure that your sales associates are prepared to engage with customers using these tools. Taking a look into the future, there are continued changes going on in the world of retail. Big box stores will continue to get smaller as these formats have more flexibility and fit nicely into new high-density living situations. This means that big box competition will look and feel like your independent billiard businesses. You must continue to make improvements and connect with customers where they are to ensure you don’t lose them to your big box competition. Large retailers are also utilizing data to drive marketing messages into very small-targeted segments, which are very effective for marketing. For your billiard business, this means you must continue to gather data and figure out how you target and segment customers with your marketing messages to reach the smallest potential markets possible, and to be the most effective at converting new customers. Don’t forget that this new age of evolving retail means you need to train and develop your staff to meet changing consumer needs. Retail training is more important than ever. If your distributors have video training tools or other on-site training tools, you should maximize the usage of all of them for your stores. If it’s appropriate — and you have the ability — you should also provide your sales associates with tablet or phone technology to better meet consumer demands directly on the selling floor.
What does this all mean for your billiard business? The bottom line is your success will come from building deeper emotional connections with all of your customers, before, during, and after the purchasing process. Your business will succeed when you truly find ways to integrate your store more fully into today’s connected consumer lifestyle.
42%
CONDUCT RESEARCH ONLINE WHILE SHOPPING IN STORES
85%
OF CONSUMERS SUGGEST COUPONS AND EXCLUSIVE OFFERS
64%
SAY THEY LOOK FOR RECOMMENDATIONS FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY
BCAINSIDER.COM | 13
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF
COLORS KNOWING CURRENT COLOR TRENDS CAN HELP YOU STAND OUT FROM THE COMPETITION By Anthony Stoeckert 14 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
There’s a lot more to designing a game room than setting up a pool table and letting the fun begin. In fact, a space set up specifically for billiards or other games is likely to become a focal point in a home, particularly when the homeowner is entertaining. Many guests will, of course, want to play, and others will want to watch and socialize during the friendly competition, so the game room is a space that needs special attention. And if your idea of a billiard game room is a smoke-filled room with wooden walls, think again. Just like any room, it should fit the style of a home, and the people who live in that home, while having its own theme and characteristics. One of the keys to any room’s look is the color scheme, so having an idea of current color trends can be a big help for retailers.The decision to include a game room in a home is a major decision, so being able to offer insight into design can help reassure customers that investing in a table is a smart decision.
COLOR IN 2016 Just as there are trends in fashion, music and home design, there also are color trends in regard to homes. These trends don’t necessarily represent drastic changes, and they don’t mean people are repainting their houses each year, but having an idea of current color trends is a bit of knowledge that will allow you to help customers, and stand out from the competition. “The main consistency of color trend in interior design is neutrals; what changes from year to year is where the neutral inspirations come from,” says Alison Rifici, a designer with Danny Vegh’s Home Entertainment in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. “This year, naturals are being found in forms of soft floral colors, mushrooms and clay fossil tones.” But, she says, neutral doesn’t mean that a color scheme can’t be exciting. “What is fun and interesting this year is the bold colors that are being introduced in design schemes,” Rifici says. “Whether
it is being paired with neutrals or bold color schemes that fill rooms with excitement and energy.” Steve Roeder of Blatt Billiards in New York City says there is a lot of variety in terms of design and game rooms from home to home. “There is less of a common theme these days,” Roeder says. “People have moved away from traditional green cloths, hardwood floors, etc. Today you will find all different colors in a billiard room. People are getting very creative in their table designs using unique frames and bright colors.”
COLOR OF THE YEAR? Alabaster. Sherwin-Williams, the company that produces building materials, including house paints, announces an annual color of the year, and for 2016, the choice is Alabaster. The company’s reason for the selection includes it being a true neutral that can set the right tone for 2016 and that the color choice sets the mood for reviving weary minds in these day of “interconnected commotion and overstimulation.” Furthermore, Alabaster can stand by itself as a “chic hue” or can be paired with grays and light blushes for a traditional style, or can be part of a contrast with dark colors for a “yingand-yang” effect. “Alabaster represents a straightforward and necessary shift to mindfulness,” says Jackie Jordan, Sherwin-Williams director of color marketing. “It provides an oasis of calmness, spirituality and ‘less is more’ visual relief. Alabaster is neither stark nor overly warm, but rather an understated and alluring white.” According to the website for paint giant Diamond Vogel, colors should represent an extension of the homeowner. Diamond Vogel offers some trend-setting colors, including reds and rust-colored hues, off-white, greens, orange, various blues and grays and off-whites. It also notes that some colors set trends, others set a relaxing mood while others are versatile.
BCAINSIDER.COM | 15
Now picture that same room, only the window offers an ocean view. You’re likely picturing brighter colors, a lot of whites and off-whites, with some color to add a little flair. The table may have some sleeker elements, and a brighter look to it. A home is almost certain to take on a look and feel, if a customer goes with what feels right, they can’t go wrong.
THE TRADITIONAL LOOK Rifici notes the traditional style for a billiard room relied on a neutral color pallet as a base, similar to a pub. “Warm wood tones make a great base and then add in the rich color tones like hunter green, burgundy and navy blue,” she says. “These colors stand the test of time.” She adds that owners of modern-looking homes will likely be looking for something different than the traditional.
COLORING A ROOM
DESIGNING A ROOM WITH STYLE
Used the right way, neutral colors can set the right tone for play.
How much of a business opportunity you have in terms of room design likely will depend on the housing market in your area. If your business is an area where new home developments are popping up or there is a pent up demand for renovations your sales will likely be strong.
“Game rooms are typically the fun space of the home,” Rifici says. “Colors are always a fun addition to any game room and can be added in multiple ways. Typically the pool table will be the neutral color, but add a splash of the bold blue or a brilliant red on the cloth of the table to achieve the trendy look.” She adds that geometric patterns with various colors are a great option for walls in a billiard or game room. These motifs add bold colors to the walls while allowing you to keep the furniture neutral yet give the space the excitement it deserves.
GETTING CREATIVE The look of a room is likely to influence the style of table a décor-conscious customer chooses. Someone who is starting a room from scratch has the opportunity to pick any table they want. They may want a sleek table with light blue felt to match off-white walls and a wooden floor with light tones for a bright look. Other customers may opt for a rustic look, going with a table made of natural-looking wood to match a ceiling with cabin-like wooden frames. You don’t have to be an interior designer to see how different colors, and different pool tables fit different rooms. Picture a room with a classic-looking fireplace with large windows that provide a view of forests or mountains.You’re probably imagining warm colors, and a classic-looking table made of wood with a classic green cloth, or maybe a brown cloth. 16 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
“Some homeowners look to make their game rooms an extension of the designs they have going on in the rest of their home, which could be anywhere from traditional, transitional to modern,” Rifici says. “Other homeowners look to have their rooms stand alone and use them as an expression of their inner child.” However, she adds that the color scheme of a billiard room doesn’t have to fit the scheme of the entire house.
“
WARM WOOD TONES MAKE A GREAT BASE AND THEN ADD IN THE RICH COLOR TONES LIKE HUNTER GREEN, BURGUNDY AND NAVY BLUE.…THESE COLORS STAND THE TEST OF TIME.”
“It is really up to the way that the home is laid out,” she says. “If the game room is not connected to any other rooms, i.e. down in the basement, then your design choices can be unique to the space.” But if the game room is connected to other room, then she says the design elements for those rooms should be connected. “For example many people are putting pool tables in their dining rooms as many people do not use their formal dining rooms anymore,” Rifici says. “There are dining tops that can convert your pool table into a dining table so you can have a multi-use room. For these situations I would continue the color pallets, textures and patterns from the adjacent rooms into this space. One way to do this would be matching the pool table finish and/or leg style to other furniture in your home.” Some customers may want to use the game room as a place to shake things up and go with a bolder design than the rest of the house. “Design is very subjective to a person’s personal style,” Rifici says. “For the adventurous, bold color schemes and patterns
18 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
can work in any room. But for those who are a little more conservative, the bold colors and patterns may be best reserved for the room where all the fun resides.” Roeder says many of his customers decorate their game room in a way that fits the entire home. “Most of the time the billiard’s room will fit the scheme for the entire house,” he says. “Contemporary homes make for contemporary billiard rooms, same goes for traditional homes.” Something else to keep in mind is that today’s game rooms are for the entire family. In addition to parties, you can expect your kids and their friends to be there playing pool as well. A non-traditional color scheme can help make it a room for the entire family, as opposed to making a game room a “man cave.” “The billiard or game room is not just for men anymore,” Rifici says. “This is a room where anyone can entertain. The typical ‘man cave’ is becoming a thing of the past.”
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POWER OF ONLINE ADVERTISING GOOGLE ADWORDS: A WAY TO GET FOUND By Sarah Johnson At any moment of any day, you can be in a fierce battle with your competitors, and be completely unaware of it. The fight happens during a potential customer’s Google search and gets results for several stores, both brickand-mortar and virtual. The winner is whoever gets that searcher’s click. When consumers are online looking for places to make their next recreational splurge, they will spend just seconds deciding where to put their attention. If they type in “pool tables in Santa Fe” and your New Mexico store does not pop up at the top of the list, or is hidden among some big-box stores and your nearby competitors, your company will likely get bypassed. Making sure your website is generally findable through Google, by using keywords and a smartly designed site, is just one step toward getting noticed. Google AdWords take things further. View it as a defense weapon for keeping your competitors at bay when potential buyers are looking for the types of products you sell. These prospects have no idea yet that you exist, and they
may not even know much about what kind of pool table they want. This is not about getting loyal customers to check out your website; it’s about attracting the newbies. Google AdWords give advertisers four lines of text on the right-hand side of Google searches, with a simple title, a web address and two lines of text. You decide what keywords you are trying to target (i.e., “pool cues Atlanta”), you bid against others who also are targeting the same keywords, and you are charged every time someone clicks your ad. Potential buyers who click on the link could go to your homepage, a product page, or simply an “About Us” page. Savvy businesses take the time to try different keywords and types of content to see what combination of information will give them not only higher clickthrough rates but actual phone calls and sales as well. The biggest plusses to Google’s setup are that you pay only when someone notices your ad, you can keep track of how your ad is doing, and you can put a limit on how much you will pay
(for example, once you reach, say, $10 worth of clicks for the day, your ad disappears from searches). Moreover, there is no contract to sign. “What is truly exceptional about this program is that you can spend as much or as little marketing dollars as you want on a daily basis to promote your product or service,” says Rob Johnson, CEO of Billiard Congress of America. “You can also create several advertising campaigns at once, and the system allows you to monitor the success of each campaign.” BCA has used Google AdWords to direct people to PlayBetterBilliards.com for billiards instructors in their area.
BE WHERE PEOPLE ARE LOOKING Still on the fence? Most shoppers — regardless of age — go online to research before they go anywhere near a store. “Even my mom, who is 75, looks at products on her phone before she goes shopping,” Johnson says.
Once you get the person on the phone or in the store, you can dig into what sets your business apart from your competition, such as caring and knowledgeable service, above-andbeyond maintenance, and reassuring warranties. Customers who are not aware of these options will be shopping solely on price, Johnson warns, and may be swayed to go with a big-box store. “Your goal should be to drive them to the store so that you can lay out all the reasons why they should buy from you and not somewhere else,” he says.
START SMALL While it’s easy to start a Google AdWords campaign, it’s not as easy to know if you are using the right keywords, and you could end up spending too much money or not enough. “I’ve used AdWords for well over 10 years,” says Tom Simpson, PBIA Master Instructor at National Billiard Academy in Columbus, Ohio. “AdWords has become complicated, expensive, and necessary.” A potential downside is getting caught up in tracking how the ads are doing and pouring more money into it than the business is getting out of it. Set some limitations around the time and money spent, and you could still benefit. “Google AdWords help business owners generate leads and starts the sales process, but be careful it doesn’t simply become the sales process itself,” says Thomas Holland, president of marketing consultancy Dark Horse Group. In other words, view Google AdWords as just one tool in your company’s marketing arsenal, not the sole answer to your customer-acquisition needs.
GETTING STARTED Begin with a measurable goal in mind (i.e., one inquiry a week from a customer) and do some math. How much
does it cost you to convert a prospect into a customer? “Take a hard look at the rates of converting people who go to your website into phone calls and sales,” Holland says. “What is the value of those clients? It may just be $10 you’re spending per click, but if your website is not converting those clicks into sales, you will lose money very quickly.” Also think carefully about what most potential customers are looking for online, and add specificity when you can, such as the name of a specific manufacturer whose products you sell exclusively in your region. What do most new customers come into your store requesting? Try out a couple of search terms and see how it goes. “You can do a decent campaign starting around $300 to $1,000 a month,” Holland says. “If you go beyond that, with a bigger budget, it’s going to take more management time” and you may need outside help. Coming up with an ad text is just one step; the other is making sure you have content on your site that will win over the Google searchers and convert them into customers. You could play around with multiple ads that send people to different pages.What happens when you send people to an image and description of your top-selling pool table? Would you get more people to stick around on your site if you send them to a page with tips on how to configure a living space around their pool table? Also make sure that essential information is prominent.When people go from Google to your site, they may not see your homepage first. That’s a reason to consider having your contact information on every page in your site, perhaps at the bottom of the page. Consider the needs of Google searchers who simply want to know the closest place to buy a monogrammed cue stick, and the store’s hours. If they have to spend too much time looking for a phone number, they’ll BCAINSIDER.COM | 21
click off your site and go on to the next search result.
CONSIDER ALTERNATIVES More than 60 percent of search queries happen on Google, according to comScore, a media analytics firm, making it a popular choice to spend some of your marketing budget. Depending on your business, you may find other places worth your search ad dollars as well. Bing Ads, for example, is another pay-per-click advertising source that will show your ads to people who use Bing andYahoo search engines. Facebook ads have a similar structure in terms of how you sign up and pay (no contract and you can enter in a budget). You could restrain your reach to a particular age group, a region and
even to people who like certain pages, limiting who sees your ad to just pool fans. However, you could lose out on the potential to reach people who are in the market for gifts. Another alternative, of course, is to do nothing. Some retailers don’t feel much of a need to advertise on any platform. “Advertising is not an issue for us,” says Laurie Franklin, who has a loyal following for the cues she makes out of South West Cues in Las Vegas. “We just appreciate the job security and we’ll keep doing what we do.” Still, most billiard retailers would likely find a trial run with Google AdWords worth testing out. “We need to convince our industry to dip their toes in online, social media, and mobile marketing so they can see how userfriendly the different mediums are, and they can begin to understand what’s
available to them, and how they can fashion a successful online marketing strategy,” Johnson says. “Start small and learn along the way.”
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WE NEED TO CONVINCE OUR INDUSTRY TO DIP THEIR TOES IN ONLINE, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND MOBILE MARKETING…”
THE ATLANTIC CHALLENGE CUP
Team USA vs. Team Europe July 8-11 2016 Chicago, Illinois Contact the Billiard Congress of America for Details
22 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
REMEMBERING BILL GLASGOW SR. By Keith Loria
It was a sad day on Oct. 23 when the industry learned of the passing of William T. Glasgow, Sr., aka “BG,” the man who did so much for the Billiard Congress of America and its annual trade show. Michael DiMotta, president of Imperial International, first met Glasgow at the AAMA show in the late ’70s, and worked with him many times during the BCA Expo. It was Glasgow, he explains, who was a big part of the BCA “taking back” their show and no longer giving away most of the money (up to 90 percent) to the original producer. Glasgow would attend BCA board meetings and offer advice on how to make the show better with tweaks here and there, and his energy and enthusiasm helped propel the show to new heights. “As the show got bigger and better, the majority of the revenue of the BCA for a good 10-15 years was from the show and Bill was a big part of that,” DiMotta says. “He did a great job, was always friendly and a pleasure to work with. I had nothing but great experiences with him. He was a straight-shooter and you could trust what he told you.” Yet it’s an understatement to simply say Glasgow “represented” the Billiard Congress of America or the BCA Expo, as examples of his dedication are too numerous to list. 26 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
“Bill supported the BCA Expo as though it was his most important event of the year. That’s just the level of service he provided and the work ethic he exemplified,” says Rob Johnson, the Billiard Congress of America’s CEO. “I am confident the multitude of individuals in our industry who had a chance to work with Bill always came away with an understanding for just how dedicated he was to his craft.”
director of sales for Hilton Catering at McCormick Place and returned to McCormick Place as director of sales & marketing for Greyhound Food Management.
Glasgow was considered something of an icon in the trade show industry, having been involved in one way or another for six decades.
In 1975, he was hired as Show Manager by the Electronic Industries Association to manage its Winter and Summer Consumer Electronics Shows (held in Chicago and Las Vegas) and was later promoted to vice president, where he remained until he started his own business in 1984—the show management firm, W. T. Glasgow, Inc.
He began his career at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago, while attending Loyola University. In 1967, he became
Among his first contracts was the former APAA Show, and when it merged with the Big I Show, Glasgow Brian, Bill, Sr., Bill, Jr.”
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was awarded the management contract for the combined event, known today as AAPEX. That show ranks at #29 on Trade Show Week’s prestigious “Trade Show 100” list. His list of accomplishments is impressive. Glasgow was the first recipient of the U.S. Department of Commerce E-Certificate for Service in promoting exports through trade shows; he helped organize and was the first chairman of the Major American Trade Show Organizers (MATSO), a forum that allowed show managers of major trade shows to discuss the unique needs and common problems experienced by shows of large magnitude; and in 2010, BG received the “Outstanding Achievement in Industry Leadership Award” from the International Association of Exhibitions & Events (IAEE).
helped its trade show survive, even if it meant taking less money.
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“His company worked with us so we could have a show every year,” he says. “We would go out from time to time to look at other promotion companies and every time we would be blown out of the water by the pricing and what they would and wouldn’t do. Bill’s deal was just 100 percent better. I think he had a soft spot in his heart for our industry and we had one for him.” In 2012, Glasgow retired, transitioning the leadership of the company to sons Bill and Brian.
Michael Serra, vice president of Championship Billiard Fabric, Elk Grove Village, Ill., fondly recalls that if you ever stopped Glasgow with a question, first you would have to listen to him talk about the Chicago Cubs for 10 minutes.
“W.T. Glasgow is a family-owned and managed business where the characteristics of service and dedication Bill exhibited on a regular basis are now features of the entire company,” Johnson says. “He should be very proud of the legacy he created. The entire industry owes Bill for his tireless efforts to make our industry’s largest annual event a success. Many deals have been made and numerous relationships have been forged on the floors of the BCA Expo.”
“He was just a huge baseball fan,” he says. “He always wore a suit, quietly walked around during the set up of the show and was accessible at all times, making sure everyone got what they needed. He was a great guy.”
BG is survived by his wife of 61 years, Loretta and three children, sons Bill, Jr., Brian and daughter Karen. He was also the proud grandfather of four grandchildren – Kelly, Ryan, Bobby and Ashley.
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Serra notes that Glasgow worked with the BCA through the “hard times” and BCAINSIDER.COM | 27
PUT A PIN IN IT
NG USING PINTEREST AS A BUSINESS MARKETI By Alexia P. Bullard, Charles S. Donnavan
and Joshua Laurent
Did you know that 70 percent of all clicks on Pinterest happen in the first 48 hours of something being posted and that most users are more active in evening hours? How about that 48 percent of users share their pins via a tablet? These are just some of the social media golden nuggets that Katie Lance, CEO and owner of Katie Lance Consulting, says can help you leverage the photo-driven platform for your business. With the widespread use of social media platforms, it’s no surprise as to why businesses are turning to social media sites as a means of marketing their goods and services.With its 100 million monthly users, Pinterest is one of the most popular social media platforms available on the Internet today. With this site, eye-catching images are shared, pinned, re-shared, and commented on. This keeps the posts in circulation, and gives them a far longer lifespan than something more fleeting like a Tweet or a Facebook link. The visual marketing afforded by Pinterest has proven to boost business sales and give businesses a more personal feel. Even brick-and-mortar stores take on a whole new sort of personality when presented through the visually appealing images that are repined and shared across users’ boards. 28 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
PLATFORM
PINTEREST 101 Pinterest is a social media platform introduced to the public in 2012 that allows users to save and share content they’ve collected, either from the web or from Pinterest itself. The collections are called boards (or pinboards) and the items that make up a specific collection are called pins. For a billiard retailer to start using Pinterest, it’s a fairly simple process to create an account, and like Facebook, there are different processes for businesses versus individuals. A business account will give companies analytical tools and other features unavailable to individuals. Once an account is set up and the business is logged in, the user is brought to the “home feed.” Drop-down menus and a search bar help users start navigating their way through the platform, while another section of the home feed allows the user to create the boards that pins will be placed into. For instance, a billiard equipment manufacturer may create separate boards for tables, cues and balls. At this point, the user populates their boards using content from other Pinterest users, their website, their computer or
other sites on the web that are set up to share content through Pinterest.The unifying condition of all pins is that they must include a photo or a video.While the process for putting the pins in boards are slightly different depending on their origination point, the site has an easy-to-use interface that even the least tech-savvy user should be able to traverse with few problems. There are several types of pins a billiard business may want to use. First is the Place Pin, which can help users locate a business, and is especially helpful for a company with multiple locations. Next is the Article Pin. With its highly visual appeal, any article can be pinned from the Internet, provided a photo is included with it. Businesses looking to specifically translate Pinterest usage to sales would be interested in the Product Pin, which shows where a product pictured may be purchased, the price and a link to the product’s page of origination. A nice feature is that prices can be updated in real time and consumers can choose to be notified when a price changes. Some Pinterest users create boards as bridal registries or Christmas lists, and these notifications can nudge users toward making purchases.
LARGE POTENTIAL FOR AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT AND REACH Statistics show that roughly 30 percent of all social media users are on Pinterest, a number that is certainly worth billiard retailers taking note of. These numbers continue to grow, which means billiard retailers, and other related business owners, will have the potential to reach millions of users on a daily basis. Additional surveys show that roughly 17 percent of Pinterest users log in each day. As a result of the algorithm that Pinterest uses, posting consistently will ensure that you catch the eye of those users who opt not to check in as often as the users of other social media platforms. “With this platform, consistency is key,” Lance says. “Pinning between five and 30 pins per day will build your following, keep your customers engaged, and draw in new viewers. That is a lot of potential for your brand, products, and services to reach prospective customers.” Dennis Jaburek, owner of D. Jaburek Billiards & Pool Tables, says Pinterest has been a “good platform for marketing so far.” His business offers pre-owned and new billiard tables in Chicago, and has 115 followers on its account. While this doesn’t sound like many when compared with the median (300 to 500) number of followers, it is a solid following. When you take into account the fact that 115 people are regularly being updated on sales promotions, new arrivals, and anything else that is going on, the marketing value of the platform increases.
These people have the potential to share the posts with their own followers, which can lead to a snowball effect. With the way Pinterest is set up, you do not need to have thousands of followers to see a difference in sales.
THE BASICS OF USING PINTEREST FOR BUSINESS There are numerous ways to use Pinterest as a business marketing tool, but there are some basic guidelines that should be followed. While these strategies may be quite simple, they have proven to be incredibly successful for all types of businesses and individuals. Before you start, though, remember to create a full profile for your business Pinterest. Go with a business account, and fill out every bit of information that is available. This will ensure people are able to better find your page, and it increases the effectiveness of Pinterest’s web analytics tools.
“
PINNING BETWEEN FIVE AND 30 PINS PER DAY WILL BUILD YOUR FOLLOWING, KEEP YOUR CUSTOMERS ENGAGED, AND DRAW IN NEW VIEWERS.”
Keep an eye on the web analytics tool provided by Pinterest. This will help you figure out what your customers and viewers like best, what they are not so fond of, and what they may be looking for. With the messaging system provided through the site, you can also communicate with your customers and viewers directly. Not only does this create the potential for helpful insights into your consumers’ viewpoints, but it also adds a personal touch that customers really enjoy. With this information, you can tailor your pins to fit your customers. Now that you know what they are looking for, you can create a few boards to start a solid collection. The best types of Pinterest boards inspire viewers to take some sort of action. Billiard retailers should focus on creating boards that inspire others to invest in their product. The pins should illustrate how fun it is to play, how beautiful and varied tables are, and how well a beautiful table will pull a room together. Use the most beautiful images possible, and have different boards that play into a wide array of topics, such as wooden tables or hand-crafted cues. BCAINSIDER.COM | 29
HERE ARE EXAMPLES OF SOME IN THE INDUSTRY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF PINTEREST.
You can use your boards to show the personality, vision, and tastes of your business and its staff. Don’t be afraid to get creative and add that personal touch. Once you have your boards created, it’s time to promote your boards across your other social media platforms. Pinterest expert Nancy A. Shenker, founder & CEO of the ONswitch, notes a billiard retailer could use the site as a virtual catalog and can even sell products directly from Pinterest. “Other ways a billiard retailer could use Pinterest are providing game tips and tricks, posting interesting facts about billiard through the ages, posting GIFs and other ‘moving content’ and finding and following other billiard fans, to encourage viral spread of content,” she says. “They should also ensure that the Pinterest icon is on all materials the retailer uses (including other social media sites) to encourage viewership.”
MARKETING MATTERS
AAA BILLIARDS
Just like any other type of business, manufacturers and retailers in the billiards market have become quite adept at using social media platforms for marketing. In fact, a quick search for “Billiards” in the Pinterest search bar brings up a great number of pinners who share posts related to the subject. With this great amount of social engagement, using Pinterest gives businesses an invaluable and highly effective means of showing off products, sales, services, and more. People do not want to spend hours reading through something, which is why visual marketing is such a valuable resource. Customers want information that is presented in an easily digestible form, something which lends itself very well to infographics. These types of posts are incredibly popular on all social media platforms, but especially popular on Pinterest.
ATLANTIC SPAS AND BILLIARDS
One author and blogger shared her experience, stating that an infographic she made and shared on Pinterest received over 30,000 repins. That is a staggering amount of views, and an incredible audience engagement. Even if you do not know how to create any infographics for your business, sharing the ones you see (and that relate to billiards) will prove beneficial. If your viewers find something helpful, they will more than likely share it with their followers as well.
PINTEREST IN ACTION AUSTIN BILLIARDS
30 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
There are a number of billiard retailers, and those involved in the business of pool starting to utilize the site. “Our reasons for using social media vary from wanting to get certain product knowledge out to the consumers to also wanting to stay in touch with the billiard community as a whole,”
says Cary Thompson of Seybert’s Billiard Supply in Coldwater, Michigan. “By not using all available social media, you lose out on the new generation of players that will flock to it. It is a wealth of information at the tips of their fingers, and by not putting yourself out there you will lose those consumers.” Those interested in unique items will find a bevy of specialty equipment on the website, from specialty cues, to nontraditional balls and even round pool tables, produced by Oceanside, California-based JM Billiard Company, which started using Pinterest in March 2015. “We didn’t know much about Pinterest when we started,” says company owner Moe Meyers. “It’s just a lot easier to connect with people for a certain niche.”
BILLIARD FACTORY
GROWING IN POPULARITY One of the best things about using Pinterest as a marketing tool is that it doesn’t take a lot of time. It’s very easy to create and use a Pinterest profile, which means it will not cut down on business time. Once you have a plan for your content, and create a posting schedule, you will be able to build a solid following. Following the aforementioned guidelines will ensure your feed and profile stay fresh and ready to draw in new customers. “Although Pinterest has become quite popular, it’s still in many ways a niche site,” says Sarah Rickerd, owner of Content Conquered, a PR/marketing firm based in Madison, Wisconsin. “Pinterest should absolutely be part of the conversation for some companies, given the significantly larger reach and half-life of the average Pinterest pin compared to Tweets and Facebook updates. Businesses may want to take a look at the platform, but should carefully evaluate whether the target customers use it regularly, and whether or not investment there is coming at the expense of a platform that may represent a better fit.”
CUE-N-CUSHION
The Pew Research Center has conducted surveys that back up Rickerd’s opinion. A study conducted in Spring 2015 indicates that while 72 percent of adults who use the Internet are utilizing Facebook, that number drops to 31 percent for Pinterest. Pinterest users do, however, have disposable income. Of those who use the site, 41 percent make between $50,000 and $75,000 annually while 30 percent make over $75,000. “The biggest overall advantage to utilizing Pinterest for business over Facebook or Twitter is the lifespan of an average pin,” Rickerd says. “A Facebook post can easily be missed in a user’s feed and usually will be irrelevant at that point, whereas with the setup of Pinterest, users can easily access items that were posted months, and even years, earlier.”
UNIVERSAL BILLIARDS
BCAINSIDER.COM | 31
A BRIGHT SPOT IN RETAIL By Keith Loria
When customers come into a billiard store ready to buy a table, there’s no better time to push lights, as you can highlight how the lighting can really brighten up the room and create an ideal pool room in the home.
“They also want their billiard light to be able to match other lighting in the game room, such as wall sconces, or mini pendants over the bar or shuffleboard table,” he says. “Or a matching pendant over a game table.”
“More people today understand the value of adding attractive lighting both to create a unique look in their game room and to provide the perfect illumination for their table,” says James Vargo, receiving manager of Aurora Road Billiard Supplies, Melbourne, Fla.
IN VOGUE
Maintaining a trend that started nearly five years ago, manufacturers are offering a wide diversity of styles and selections in billiard lighting. Not only is the lighting evolving to reflect new design aesthetics, but price points are also changing to appeal to today’s cost-conscious consumers. However, by concentrating a little more on their lighting display, retailers can do a lot to turn a customer towards higher-priced items. William Gregory, director of sales for Toltec Lighting, Burnsville, Miss., says customers are looking for more transitional designs with their lighting, which is why the company has one of its largest introductions of product at the recent BCA Expo. 32 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
A look around the industry, contemporary styles, characterized by clean lines; stainless steel, brushed stainless steel, bronze and oil-rubbed bronze finishes; and metal or glass shades with simple or minimal embellishments, are all selling well. Traditional fixtures with such elements as ornate and Tiffany glass shades or wrought iron construction will always have a market, as well. Rebecca Wilson, executive assistant for Z-Lite Inc., St. Thomas, Ontario, notes the biggest trend in lighting of late is in bronze finishes, pendant style lighting and vintage and warehouse styles. “We offer many combinations of pendant lighting on decorative ceiling plates,” she says. “We also offer vintage style billiard lights with matching pieces for other areas of the game room.” Chad Scharlow, vice president of Diamond Billiard Products, Inc., Jef-
fersonville, Ind., describes the latest lighting trends as clean lines, modern looks and matching woods to the pool table. “Our newest offerings include traditional design with corners that match the pool table, manufactured in matching wood and stain,” he says. “The Diamond Professional Table Light offers unsurpassed design and illumination characteristics. Extending full table surface length and width, the uniformly defused light reflects straight down, eliminating ball, corner, cut, and cushion shadows. Each ball is clearly defined anywhere on the table from any angle.” The frame is constructed of table matching hardwood precisely following table rail contour and corner treatment. A shallow draft allows either flush or suspended mounting. Anthony Bollo, vice president of Florida Game Rooms, Orlando, Fla., says people are interested in rustic lighting and the reclaimed wood look, and the store does well with antique bronze lights. “Conversely, you also see a lot of contemporary selling well—the gold, silver, moving away from the Tiffany
wired and working so the customer can see how it will look in their home,” she says. “We help our retailers by keeping them aware of the latest trends, offering promotions and supplying them with catalogs and promoting our website to use as a sales tool.” Bollo says at his store, they have light stands that are provided from various lighting companies on display that hold lights to illuminate the tables that are set up. “We have a large ceiling in our show room, which is 18-feet up, so having lights come down is impractical and we use the stands so people can see them,” he says. “A second way we display lights is in the back of our showroom we have light racks, maybe a dozen lights on one rack. Those are lit up as well.” style that was popular over the last decade,” he says. Elsewhere in the industry, retailers chime in that also popular are the personalized box style light, which allows someone to put their name, company or favorite saying above their table. There are also sports-themed box lights, with a selection of NFL, MLB and NBA teams, displaying the logo and colors of your favorite team. And of course, pub lights featuring beers or other sponsors are still in demand. Wes Bond, vice president of Cue & Case Sales Inc., notes the company is offering simply clean yet expensive looks with its H.J. Scott Lighting. “We switched to a modern, clean finial years ago because that traditional, pointy style seems to be outdated. For example, our most popular light option right now is a standard metal 3 light shade with one of our glass shades that normally goes with a wrought iron bar,” he says. “For instance our autumn rustic bar (designed to match any table stain) paired with our Scavo glass shade or white frosted glazed shade.” 34 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
Bond says since customers are looking for the high-end look and high quality for a reasonable price, dealers can make incredible margins on this style light.
Bond’s top tip is to make sure you always display your lights turned on with the proper warm light bulb so it can shine through any shade.
IMPROVE SALES
“It can make the difference between you selling a light or not,” he says. “The customer doesn’t always feel they need a light and it can seem like an afterthought but you can change their mind when they see the light glowing through those glass shades.”
Ciarra D. McIntire, operations coordinator for Universal Billiards, Inc., Dallas, Texas, says people need to see the lights to be interested.
Another important tip is to change the lights around the showroom so the same lights aren’t always on display in the same way.
“We try to create inviting room settings that allow customers to visualize lighting in their room,” she says. “Since customer design aesthetics, room sizes, and budgets vary greatly, it’s important that our room settings offer a variety of styles and sizes across all price points.”
“The lights need to be lit, they need to be clean and they need to be dust free,” Vargo says. “You want them to look like the rest of your showroom, and sometimes inadvertently, retailers will forget to take care of them.”
Another popular option is the company’s Gun Metal bar paired with a glass shade that goes on wrought iron lights.
Wilson feels retailers should be displaying the latest trending merchandise in an installed environment. “They should be displaying these light fixtures over tables and have them
Gregory agrees that the way to generate more sales is to hang the lights over the tables and light them. “Close out old styles and models. In today’s world of the Internet and HGTV customers, know what the current looks
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are,” he says. “Also move lights around the showroom to give a fresh look.” At Aurora Road Billiard Supplies, the showroom has a ceiling rung that goes from one end of the store to the other with 30 different lights set up on it.
fixtures that match the overall decor of their homes, as well as their billiard tables and other game room furniture. A lot of consumers are also turning their attention to modular, three-lamp bar fixtures, which take up less room and provide great lighting to the table.
“It’s all the way up above, out of the pathway, so people can walk by them and see them,” Vargo says. “I have a very large collection and it draws their attention. They aren’t all lit but they are hung from chains.”
When matching lights to a table, Wilson says that one needs to consider the wood finish of the table along with the metal accents on the table. Also, she advises, consider the existing décor in the game room.
Scharlow says that customers need to understand that the billiard room is more than a pool table and proper lighting is paramount.
At Universal Billiards, the lighting is matched with billiard table aesthetics and price points (i.e. high-end contemporary billiard tables are paired with high-end contemporary lighting).
“It is not only about aesthetics, proper lighting is extremely important when playing pool,” he says. “I am currently working on incorporating LEDs into our existing lights, which could be a big thing for the future.”
MATCHING THE TABLE In the old days, people tried to match lights to the felt color, but that’s pretty much gone by the wayside. One noteworthy trend is a growing tendency among consumers to seek out
“Sometimes we use lighting to help customers visualize a specific product in a certain way,” McIntire says. “For example, we paired a rustic billiard table with a transitional light to help customers envision the dynamic style of the table.” It’s not just about matching a table, but matching the overall look of the room, Bollo says. “You want to keep the flow of the look of the house going, and some people will look to do something more fun,” he
says. “It all depends on where the table is in the house. If it’s a bonus room, you have free license to pick and choose the style, but if it’s in a living area, you probably want to complement the table and the room.” H.J. Scott Lighting has a three-step painting process that has oak, mahogany and cherry colors baked into the metal so it will match any color table. “You can actually see all the levels of colors when holding them next to the table,” Bond says. “It’s pretty cool and takes the guess work out of the matching process.” Finally, the most important sales tip comes from Gregory: Talk to the customer about lighting. “Too many retailers wait and let the customer ask about it,” he says. “It’s like if you go to a restaurant and order a hamburger, they ask ‘do you want fries?’ Our customers need to be better about asking for the fries, whether it’s lights, bar stools, etc. Maybe they buy the ‘fries’ with the table, maybe they buy them down the road. Tell your story on those items while you have them in the store. Don’t just settle for selling the table.”
PREVIOUS— Z-Lite TOP-LEFT—C&C TOP-RIGHT—Toltec LEFT—Diamond 36 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
TO BECOME A DEALER CALL US: 770-721-8300 EMAIL US: dealerinfo@flashfurniture.com
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OLHAUSEN BILLIARDS 10 YEARS IN TENNESSEE By Anthony Stoeckert When Olhausen Billiards Manufacturing moved from California to its facility in Portland, Tenn., in 2006, the company was in terrific shape. For more than 30 years, Olhausen was a business that grew, one that saw the number of billiard tables it created increase every year to its peak year of 31,050 in the early 2000s. The company expected that number to get even bigger. Donny Olhausen, who owns the company with his brother, Butch, says that with the new facility’s capability, and a better location for shipping, the plan was to make 40,000 tables in the first year in Tennessee. But that didn’t happen. “Everything fell apart when we moved,” Olhausen says. “The biggest thing falling apart was the lack of business.”
STRUGGLING WITH THE TIMES The number of tables Olhausen Billiards built declined gradually each year, first to 29,000, then 23,000, reaching a low of 9,100 in 2012. Olhausen even admits to getting a little spoiled before the bad economy. He says that business was so good for the 10 years prior to the economic collapse that he felt like he didn’t work for a decade because things went so smoothly. “So I’ve made up for my 10 years off,” he says. “I’ve averaged way over 80 hours a week for 10 years.” The Olhausen brothers looked for reasons for those declining numbers, but the best conclusion they could come to was simply bad luck.The move coincided with a horrible economy, 38 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
and in order to stay in business, the company started making shuffleboards in 2009. “When the shuffleboards came in, we hired somebody who was in that business, and it took off from there,” he says.
LEARNING AT A YOUNG AGE The Olhausen brothers’ start in the billiard industry began when Donny was 12, helping his father’s table-covering business in New Mexico. In fact, billiards is something of a family business, as Donny and Butch are the third generation to work in the industry in some capacity. “My dad had a side business while he was in the Air Force, and that was covering tables because his dad owned a pool hall, and he learned how to put cloth on the table,” Olhausen says. “He was the oldest son, so when the cloth needed replacing, he was the one chosen to do it.” BELOW—Donny and Butch Olhausen, Owners of Olhausen Billiards
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Donny and Butch started as helpers, and eventually were able to cover tables by themselves. So they worked on tables throughout New Mexico for their father. “There were times we were as far east as Austin, Texas,” Olhausen says. “We went there annually; that was Christmas break. He did a good job of finding (groupings) of customers, and we did a better job than the people before us, so it was easy to keep the business.” Working for their father gave the brothers lots of insights into pool tables, and one big benefit was that they worked on every type of table imaginable: different brands, different levels of quality, and all of those tables were cared for differently by their owners. “We saw what was good and what was bad,” Olhausen says.
A MOVE, AND NEW COMPANY In 1969, Butch moved to California, and Donny followed in 1972. They started their own company, covering and moving tables. They also delivered tables for a small San Diego manufacturing company. The owner of that company also owned a vending machine company, and wanted to sell his billiard business. He wanted $3,000, but offered them the chance to buy it for $1,000. They couldn’t get bank credit, but the owner gave them the credit via a note back on the inventory already in the business. The owner spent six months showing Donny and Butch how to build tables. “Part of the deal was he would show us how to build tables in his little, garage-type operation he had for his vending company and his pool table manufacturing,” Olhausen says. Then the brothers opened their own shop in San Diego. “As soon as we moved, overnight, we had customers we didn’t have before,” Olhausen says. The company was making about 35 tables a year. The Olhausen brothers wanted to double that in their first year. They did, and within two years, they were selling more than 300 tables. Donny attributes that growth to a competitor named Martin Bloom, who sold his store in 1975, and joined Olhausen Billiards as a manufacturer’s rep. By Christmas of that year, they were making 25 tables a week. “That was my first experience of working 100-hour weeks,” Olhausen says.
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He says the brothers’ goal in opening their own business was to “keep people from buying bad product.” Donny and Butch used to install tables for large retail stores, and saw a lot of people who spent their money on poor quality.
Louis VIX brings a touch of France to any room. Other tables in the line are the Cavalier II, the Excalibur, the Rococo, and the St. Leone, which also showcases the lion image with other intricate designs.
“You had to tell them, ‘I can’t even guarantee it’s going to stay level,’” he recalls. “People were just buying bad stuff, a lot of small manufacturers were making bad stuff. Our goal was to not make bad stuff, but still make it affordable.”
Tables in the Signature Series have simpler, but still beautiful, designs. Some tables in this line have a worldly flair, such as the Sevile, which will bring a touch of Spain to your room, the Venetian, and the Montrachet. Many tables in this series, such as the New Orleans and the Brentwood, have a classic look to them.
Years of experience allowed them to do that. He also credits the person who sold them the business in the 1970s. “He did things differently,” Olhausen says. “And so we added to that over the years, just learning more and more. I think the biggest thing is our cushions, and of course we never buy cheap slate, stuff like that.You have to buy flat slate, not low-cost slate.”
ALL ABOUT THE PRODUCTS Pool tables and shuffleboards are the biggest part of the business, but the company also sells air hockey and foosball tables, though Olhausen says those represent a small percentage of what Olhausen Billiards does. Olhausen Billiards offers several lines of pool tables, all of which are made with high-quality slate and cloth, and which are made in the United States. Olhausen’s line of quality finishes include mahogany, cherry, maple, brandywine, pecan, natural, matte, and cinnamon. Ponderosa, Cumberland and Pinehaven finishes are available in light, medium and dark distressing. The Select Series offers tables with beautifully carved legs and sides, all available in oak, maple, cherry or walnut wood. The St. George has legs with carved images of lions and is available in oak, maple, cherry or walnut wood.The Symphony and St. Andrews models feature beautiful carvings, while the
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Tables in the Portland Series include the Classic, Southern, Eclipse, and Provincial. These tables are made in tulipwood standard, and can be upgraded to oak, maple or walnut. The Americana Series offers two models, the Belmont and Americana II, which come in Tulipwood, and have limited finish options. The rustic line features tables made of pine wood, some with frames and legs that maintain the look of a tree. “The rustic is the hottest thing right now. That’s what’s growing,” Olhausen says. Tables in the Rustic Series seem to tie into the modern trend of organic homes and repurposing. Tables in this line include the Breckenridge, the Pinehaven, the Ponderosa, and the Cumberland. “The input from our dealers is how that happens,” Olhausen says. “They call and ask you about stuff, we figure out how to do it, and some of it takes off, and some of it doesn’t work.” The Modern Series features sleek-looking tables with a contemporary touch. The Monarch is available in maple, oak, cherry and walnut, and can be upgraded to brushed or polished aluminum. The model featured on Olhausen’s website is brushed aluminum metal with matte black rails. Other ta-
bles in this line include the York, the Madison, the Sahara, the Monterey, the Plaza, the Maxim, and the Waterfall. Olhausen remembers what started the company’s Modern Series. “Somebody came into the store in San Diego, and they said, ‘Can you build this?’” he says of a customer looking for a table in a then-modern style. “And I couldn’t, but I said I could, so I figured it out. And it grew from there.” Olhausen has two tables in its Championship Series, the Champion Pro II, which is made from solid poplar wood, and is available in various laminate colored finishes, and the Grand Champion III, which features a frame, apron, rail and leg materials made of laminate with various finishes available. Olhausen also has a Laminate and Veneer series, and a Licensed Series that offers Harley Davidson- and Jack Daniels-themed tables. When asked for a personal favorite, Olhausen mentions the Seville, from the Signature Series.
GETTING BUSINESS DONE Olhausen notes the majority of the business is selling pool tables for homes. They sell a little internationally, and do a little bit of business from pool rooms. “Right now, there are not a whole lot of pool rooms getting started,” he says. He adds that the majority of business comes from its network of dealers, cultivated by Martin Bloom, who worked with dealers that grew with Olhausen Billiards. “They expanded as we expanded,” Olhausen says. “The majority of those dealers are still in business, very few of them went out of business after the tough times of 2006.”
Times are still tough. When asked if the man cave trend has helped improve things, Olhausen says it might be adding to sales, but it’s more likely that business would be even worse without it, as opposed to that trend being a key to a turnaround. “With pool tables, we had a little expansion from our low point in 2012, but that’s where it’s stayed since then,” Olhausen says. “It’s the other stuff that gets us above the break-even level, and keeps us in business; the shuffleboards mainly. Another opportunity came with people who purchased matching billiard tables and shuffleboards.” He does say there are some bright spots with certain dealers. “I know it’s totally related to the housing market,” he says, meaning that in areas where the housing market has rebounded, there are more new homeowners, and some of those want to add a game room to their new home. “It’s better where houses are selling more, but there are a lot of areas where they’re not selling more,” he says. “I’m assuming that it’s eventually going to get better, but how can you know?” For business to really grow, he says sales of high-end models need to improve, and that’s not always easy. He adds that they have a term for men who shop for pool tables by themselves—a one-legger, who will find a table he likes, but needs to get his wife involved to choose the color of the cloth and the finish. “Whether we want to admit it or not, a pool table is still furniture, and that’s how you sell the higher-end stuff, not just the basic table,” he says. “The women want to get involved and they want to decorate, and thank God for that.” Olhausen is optimistic that the growth is going to happen, and that the company is in position to take advantage of it. “If it happens like I suspect it will,” he says, “we’ll be profitable to the levels we were at in San Diego.”
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IN MEMORIAM: ROYCE BUNNELL By Keith Loria The fact that “a simple stick of wood” could be worth money, got him interested in cue building and repair. When he was traveling for his job he always took his cue along. He spent his evenings playing pool in all sorts of places from dives to upscale rooms, depending on where Subaru sent him. And much of that time he thought about the art of cue making. Once the pool bug hit him, Bunnell purchased his own pool repair business and designed custom cues as a parttime job. On Nov. 26, the billiards industry was rocked by the news of the tragic passing of E. Royce Bunnell, Jr., president & co-founder of OB Cues, who suffered a fatal heart attack at just 49. Bunnell is survived by his wife Mary, daughter Kelsey and son Chris, and leaves a legacy behind in the form of OB Cues, the Texas-based company he began with Don Owen in 2005, manufacturing pool shafts. “He was truly an innovator,” says Shane Sinnott, former marketing manager of OB Cues, who took over the role of president. “He first got into pool in 1986, and at the time, he was working for Subaru. He was not an engineer, but if someone had a car and needed it to be worked on, they brought it in and Royce was the main guy there; his brain could just solve problems.” Owen, who is an engineer, calls Bunnell smarter than almost any engineer he has ever met. Bunnell and Owen were both very interested in what makes a 44 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
cue feel and play “right” and of course they both had their own theories. Many of those theories have proven correct. “He had a natural gift for figuring out how stuff worked, Sinnott says. “In the case of pool cues, not only figuring out how to build them, but he figured out how to build the machines to build them.” Bunnell’s best friend Randy invited him to go along with him to play pool one day and he enjoyed it and quickly outpaced his friend’s skill level, becoming officially hooked on the game of pool. Ironically, he had grown up with a pool table at his home, but never played until Randy got him interested. When he wasn’t traveling for his job with Subaru, he spent many lunch breaks hanging out and becoming friends with Terry and Richard, cue repairmen and salesmen at Billiard Factory in San Antonio. He bought a simple Huebler cue with a plain hickory handle from them and couldn’t fathom how that simple stick of wood could cost $66.
“Royce was the one to figure out how to build the tools needed. He designed and personally built many of the tools and fixtures in the OB factory,” Sinnott says. “He began repairing cues for himself and for others using an ordinary hand drill. He made an assortment of joint pins and used the drill as a lathe.” Bunnell met up with Owen in Dallas and the two put their heads together about what it would take to build a better cue. “I was working for Predator at the time and we were the main company, and they decided they could build something as good or better, so they came up with the OB 1,” Sinnott says. “Royce was responsible for building the shaft and Don came up with the spiral laminated material and together they came up with the idea of how to build the shaft.” OB opened for business with the introduction of the OB-1 shaft, and over the last decade some of its top products introduced include the OB-2 Shaft, OB Break Shaft, OB Pro Shaft,
seven new Texas made “Infinity Inlay” OB Cues, OB Lift & Lift Pro Jump Cues and OB Rift Break Cues. OB Cues initially began in Bunnell’s garage, moved to Don’s garage because it was larger, and eventually set up shop in a proper commercial facility in 2008. “The company has grown quite significantly. Our pool production in the last three months is 50 percent greater than it was in the previous 12 months,” Sinnott says. “One of the things we were struggling with was keeping up with demand and Royce did everything he could to put in machines that did the jobs quicker and more efficient and it finally was coming to fruition right when he passed.” In addition to running OB Cues, Bunnell was always working on new ideas and innovations within the billiards industry. Bunnell loved to talk shop, tell jokes and could bend your ear for hours with story after story regarding his pool escapades. “I’ve heard story after story about Royce helping someone, whether it was having someone coming to OB and staying until midnight to work on a problem or doing favors or just giving advice,” Sinnott says. “He was very active on the OB billiards forums. There’s an ‘Ask the Cuemaker’ section and he was always on there answering questions. He was very open and always prepared to help people, be it a competitor, an up-and-comer or those just curious.” Even in his death, Bunnell continued to help others by extending life with his organs. “One last thing in typical Royce fashion, is he was an organ donor and they saved his cornea to help give someone sight, and his skin was used for burn victims,” Sinnott says. “Being so close to someone and seeing you can still help give quality of life after death
is an amazing thing.” With the loss of Bunnell, the company will go on with Sinnott leading the direction as its new president. Owen will continue to be the lead engineer and have lots of input in the way the company is run, as well. “It’s very sad and a difficult time because no one expected it, but we need to continue making this company great,” Sinnott says. “Because Royce was such a good guy and people loved him so much, he had an amazing network of friends. Many have called expressing their willingness to help.” Sinnott was persuaded to join OB back in 2011 to take on sales and marketing, because the growth of the company was a little too much for Bunnell and Owen to handle, and that was his area of expertise. “Before I came along, Royce was OB as far as the general public was concerned,” he says. “He was the one at shows and tournaments, and the one dealers would talk with. Once I joined, I became the point of contact for the customer base but Royce was still the face of the company.” Sinnott is confident in the direction the company is going and projects that thanks to Bunnell’s efforts, 2016 will be OB Cues’ best year ever. “We have new products coming out in 2016, some he was working on, some new cue designs and we’re going to continue to move forward and innovate,” he says. “We have no concerns for the future of this company. People will be surprised by the things they will see from us this coming year.” Bunnell was a true ambassador for the game and industry and his legacy will always live on. The company has set up a special tribute to Royce at royce.obcues.com.
OPPOSITE— Bunnell with Jason Boyte at The Billiard Den in Richardson, Texas. TOP—Bunnell with wife Mary CENTER—Bunnell, Hall of Fame player Allison Fisher and Shane Sinnott BCAINSIDER.COM | 45
COMING NEXT ISSUE... DIVERSIFYING PRODUCTS BEYOND POPULAR BILLIARD GAMES IN THE U.S. REDEFINING THE MAN CAVE THE POWER OF FACEBOOK ADS WHO’S MINDING THE STORE? 46 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR 2016
whether your space is large or small, Legacy has something for everyone. check out our indoor games page at legacybilliards.com/indoorgames. shown: landon foosball and landon air hockey in nutmeg finish.
legacybilliards.com
THE RETAILERS SPEAK Each edition BCA Insider will pose a question to BCA members to get their insights on trends and issues affecting the industry.
Q
WHAT’S A NON-TRADITIONAL WAY YOU HAVE BROUGHT CUSTOMERS INTO YOUR STORE?
A CIARRA D. MCINTIRE
A MIKE VAN DYKE
“We have hosted a variety of special events, from football watching parties to sponsored parties for local charities. By hosting these events, we invite attendees to explore and have fun with our products. These events help promote our industry and introduce our company to the community.”
“SEOs through the website.You can pay for certain zip codes to be able to draw them in that way. Everything else is pretty traditional.”
Universal Billiards, Inc., Dallas, Texas
A
QUINTIN BIGSBY
Owner, Best Quality Billiards, Denver, Col.
“The Internet is my main area of bringing people into the store right now; just using Google really helps.”
A
JAMES VARGO
Receiving Mgr., Aurora Road Billiard Supplies, Melbourne, Fla.
“Nowadays, the way it works now, we’re mostly using social media. We have a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and that seems to be where everyone is going. We seem to be getting more traffic off that than we do out of the phone book.”
A BARBARA KEMP
Owner, Allentown Tables, Allentown, Pa.
“Our top tip for holiday sales is to be stocked up with inventory such as cues, balls, novelty items, logo products and of course pool tables. These items have been our top sellers since 1988. Another tip is to save days close to Christmas and New Year’s for table installations only and then take a customer’s information to work in other jobs if time permits and be willing to put in many hours of work. It is so rewarding for us to make our customers’ Christmas very special for them. Gift certificates are popular also.”
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Manager, Alkar Billiards & Barstools, Omaha, Neb.
A DON & JUDY KUCERA
Cedar Rapids Billiards, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
“By people seeing our business van with a lot of our information painted on it while we are traveling to other customers locations. We have gotten many jobs this way.”
A ALBERT TRUJILLO
Fort Worth Billiards, Fort Worth, Texas
“You’ve invested on advertising and it’s done its job, now it’s up to you to get them into your store.When a customer calls, your selling skills should start immediately. Make your first impression with a pleasant voice and spend time with them to answer any questions. It’s important NOT to be short or in a hurry when communicating with the consumer.” If you’d like to be part of next issue’s The Retailer Speaks survey, please send a reply to the following question to billiardskeith@gmail.com by March 15.
Q
HOW DO YOU ENSURE YOUR STAFF IS EDUCATED AND ARE READY FOR CUSTOMERS’ QUESTIONS?