BCA Insider -New Year New Trends edition 2022

BCA New Year Issue | February 14, 2022

GET READY FOR THE

BCA EXPO

HOW TO BECOME A VIDEO STAR ON INSTAGRAM CONNECTING WITH YOUNGER BUYERS BCA Insider – A BCA Member Publication Dedicated to Businesses in the Billiard and Home Leisure Industry

Anthony Stoeckert

How to Become a Video Star on Instagram

09 BCA Insider Staff

Get Ready for the BCA Expo

22 Charles S. Donnavan

Connecting with Younger Buyers

40 2 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

IN THIS ISSUE 16 28 32 46

Exploring the Colors of the Year

By Richard Webber Escalade Acquires Brunswick Billiards

By Keith Loria Member Profile: Buffalo Billiards

By Anthony Stoeckert One-on-One With Mako Tips’ Edward Altman

By Keith Loria

OPENING LETTER EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Keith Loria billiardskeith@gmail.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Charles S. Donnavan Anthony Stoeckert Richard Webber

ADVERTISING MEMBERSHIP MANAGER Shane Tyree shane@bca-pool.com (303) 243-5070 x23

DESIGN/LAYOUT ART DIRECTOR Julie Snee julie.snee@gmail.com

BCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIRMAN Ivan Lee, Iwan Simonis

VICE-CHAIRMAN Debbie Corvey, Boynton Billiards

By now, we all realize everyone has been impacted both personally and professionally by this extraordinary time in our world’s history. It is not easy to juggle the issues this pandemic has placed on our personal lives, while at the same time, focusing and adapting to new challenges for our business.

This same requirement to adapt to change can be said for the Billiard Congress of America. Together, as a united industry, we can and we will overcome these challenging times. As none of us truly know what the new “normal” will look like, one thing is certain and that is the BCA will continue to listen to and support our members. After all, if there’s anything we’ve learned through our past trials and tribulations, it’s that there is strength in numbers.

Looking ahead, I am thrilled to help plan for the BCA Expo this June.This year, we’re adding several entertainment and networking events to enhance the experience for our buyers and exhibitors. Some of these new additions include: daily door prizes, exhibitor swag and cash giveaways; complimentary parties with live entertainment; morning treats and beverages; open bars and live entertainment in the exhibit hall; and, a Home Leisure Sports Challenge for our buyers to win cash and prizes. We’ll also continue to host a Retailer Rebate Program (cash rewards for purchasing during the expo); New Product Showcase; and, the BCA Product of the Year program.

In this “NewYear New Trends” edition of the BCA Insider we take an in-depth look at relevant topics of the day, such as: color trends for 2022; Instagram videos and how they can help your business; Escalade’s acquisition of Brunswick; tips for selling to a younger generation; plus, much more.

Like I said, we are in this together and if there is something you want to learn about or you want us to consider, please feel free to contact a board or staff member anytime.

Here’s to a great 2022!

SECRETARY Philippe Singer, The Predator Group

TREASURER Brian Igielski, GLD Products

BOARD MEMBERS Shane Bouchard, Maine Home Recreation Nick Kroll, Viking Cues Ed Liddawi, Sandcastle Billiards Robbie Selby, R and R Outdoors Stephanie Schmidt, A. E. Schmidt Co. BCA Insider is published by Billiard Congress of America © 2022 bcainsider.com

4 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

Debbie Corvey DEBBIE CORVEY

PRESIDENT, BOYTON BILLIARDS, INC. BILLIARD CONGRESS OF AMERICA VICE-CHAIRMAN PS – With the holiday season behind us, please take time to send in your BCA annual dues, if you haven’t already done so. Your commitment to the Billiard Congress of America allows us to continue to support our members like you.

6 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

HOW TO BECOME

INSTA

By An

Any billiard retailer who focuses on social media knows the importance of Instagram.

Established in 2012 and now owned by Facebook (or, as its parent company is now named, Meta), Instagram is a platform where users share photos and videos, which can be edited with filters and feature hashtags and (very important to local businesses) geographic tagging.

8 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

Instagram has a reported up to two billion active users each month, and many billiard and home recreation businesses have created Instagram accounts where customers can learn about new products, sales, events, and industry trends.

The goal, of course, is to get those Instagram users to walk into your store, and one of the best ways to do that is to create quality and entertaining videos.

A VIDEO STAR ON

GRAM

nthony Stoeckert

“Videos are great for businesses as they really make your post stand out on a user’s feeds,” says Rachel Schmidt, purchasing manager for A.E. Schmidt Billiards in St. Louis, Missouri.

“Videos can also grab and keep the attention of your followers much longer than a standard post.”

For many, one of the best things about Instagram is that it’s very user friendly, even for beginners.

“You can make a video with a just a click of a button! I do most of the videos for our page and I am in no way an expert,” Schmidt says. “I would say the main learning curve is not so much making the videos but finding out what types of videos your followers will engage with. For beginners, I think the easiest way to get started is by making short videos for your page’s stories.”

BCAINSIDER.COM | 9

GET TO THE POINT Social media platforms like Instagram aren’t a place for posts with lots of in-depth content or insight, so one key to successful videos is to make them short and sweet.

“Instagram videos need to be able to pull in your audience’s attention within three seconds, and convey the point across in 10 to 20 seconds,” says Kashish Gupta, founder and CEO of HighTouch, who is an expert on the social media channel.

“Focusing on this speed of information, entertainment and simplicity will help you find larger success rates with your videos. It is important to remember that you are telling a story visually. You may have audio or text, but if you don’t take full advantage of the visual aspect of the medium, you are losing your opportunity to quickly entice your viewer. If you take these into account, with careful trial and error, your Instagram success is likely.”

Imani Francies, a social media expert, says some of the keys to making effective Instagram videos are taking steady shots that are framed well, using great lighting, keeping the videos short, and creating content that is meaningful to your audience. She suggests that billiard retailers should be posting to their Instagram feed two to three times a week.

As for video subjects, Francies says Instagram offers a terrific opportunity to showcase new products.

“You can go live while trying out and talking about a new product; you can create a teaser video of the new product, make a behind-the-scenes video, or use stop-motion videos to showcase multiple products,” Francies says.

BRINGING A PERSONAL TOUCH Your goal in creating and maintaining an Instagram presence is to promote your business, but that doesn’t mean your videos have to be all-business. Adding a personal touch

“

to your videos can make them more compelling for viewers. Not that you want to share the details of your problems and worries with your followers, but providing background on your business, how it operates, its culture, and your passion for it can build stronger connections between you and your customers.

“For example, doing a quirky video that details how you started the business, why you started the business, and how you balance work and personal life while running a business is a way to be personal without revealing too much about yourself,” Francies says.

And regardless of the topics of your videos, be sure to add some personality to all of your content.

“I think that including personal touch in your videos helps to pull in customers, because if it is always purely business, they won’t be interested in your products that much, or they won’t find value in it,” says Anup Kayastha, a web designer who is considered an expert on Instagram. “Integrate something they can relate to.”

Daniel Veiga, founder of Danny Veiga Marketing, says that content with a personal touch can be a “game changer,” and he adds that there are steps billiard retailers specifically should take when creating videos that promote their business.

“The first is the type of content that will be most relevant and valuable to their customers,” he says. “This might include videos on how to play the game or showcase different pool tables and accessories that are available. Basically, informative ones.”

David Farkas, a digital marketing expert and the founder and CEO of theupperranks.com, which helps brands increase their online presence, says that effective Instagram videos begin with developing an online personality and sharing your brand’s narrative.

“You also need to determine what makes your company unique, beneficial, or inspirational and then post a video showcasing your objective,” he says.

“The aim here is to produce a brief but memorable statement about yourself and your work. Other sorts of businesses may go into depth about the quality of their items or reveal their customer service philosophy. Whatever aspect you want to promote, make sure your Instagram messaging is honest and loyal to your company. It may appear that you are merely crafting social media advertising, but including a little personality is likely to leave a lasting impression.”

WE WANT TO SHOW OUR FOLLOWERS THAT OUR BUSINESS IS MORE THAN JUST BILLIARDS.”

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MAKING QUALITY REELS One of the great things about Instagram and modern technology is that you have all the tools you need to make professional-looking videos right at your fingertips. But it still takes some know-how to ensure that your videos not only have interesting content but are also well presented.

Lauren Trujillo of Fort Worth Billiards says one of the biggest challenges relating to Instagram videos is editing them so that they are “short, sweet and straight to the point,” adding that her daughter helps in trimming her store’s videos to a good length.

“I post every other day in order to keep our page active and engaging to our followers, whether it’s a quick story or an actual post on our feed,” she says. The company’s videos can be seen at www.instagram.com/fwbilliards.

Francies advises making sure your posts do not have what she describes as a “burning” look that occurs when light is shining into your camera. Instead make sure light is shining on your subject.

“If you’re filming in the open air, be mindful of the time of day you choose to shoot,” she says. “The ‘golden hour’ is the period of time between one hour before sunset and one hour after dawn when outdoor photography is at its finest.The early hours of the morning and evening are also acceptable periods.”

It’s also important to make sure that your images are fixed and steady. Not only because it makes watching videos more pleasurable, but with so many people posting high-quality videos, you can’t risk sharing content that looks amateurish.

“Your audience expects to see scenes that are easy to follow, unless you want to create a crazy-roller coaster ride,” Francies says. “Rest your elbows on the ground or on a permanent object to keep your camera steady without a stabilizer or a tripod. As an alternative, you may hold the camera or phone with both hands and draw it gently toward your chest, keeping your elbows tucked. Your video clip will seem as good as a professional film thanks to both the stable sceneries and the lighting.”

One of the best ways for billiard retailers to ensure their videos are high in quality is to work with people who make their living by making films and video.

“Professional video production companies have the experience and expertise necessary to create videos that look and feel high-quality,” Veiga says, adding that the videos themselves need to be creative and engaging.

From Fort Worth Billiards 12 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

“Think about what kind of story you want to tell with them,” he continues. “If you can create quality videos that capture the essence of your business, you’ll see great results on Instagram.”

ADD SOME WORDS TO YOUR PICTURES

“I started using videos more frequently because in today’s business environment, almost everything is digital and consumers prefer quick promo videos compared to all other forms of content,” she says.

Another tip from the experts is including subtitles with your videos.

She concentrates on shooting videos that showcase the variety of products Fort Worth Billiards offers, everything from gaming tables to game room furniture.

“Subtitles, believe it or not, go a long way with Instagram videos and any video format,” Farkas says. “Even folks who speak the video language will likely prefer subtitles to understand what is being said. Another set of individuals, on the other hand, views videos with no sound, necessitating the use of subtitles. Even if someone were to view the film with the sound turned up, the subtitles would not irritate or harm them in any way. There’s a reason so many people use subtitles when viewing a movie on Netflix. Not to mention the plethora of programs that can automatically add subtitles for you.”

THE IMPORTANCE OF VIDEOS Fort Worth Billiards first started posting content on Instagram in August of 2015, but Trujillo says the company recently started focusing more attention on sharing videos and reels on the platform.

“We want to show our followers that our business is more than just billiards,” Trujillo says. “Using Instagram videos makes our brand more relatable and approachable to our audience, whether they’re familiar with our industry or not. In addition, they allow us to give our customers an inside look of what we have to offer, both products and service wise.”

SEEING SUCCESS WITH INSTAGRAM REELS A.E. Schmidt Billiards began posting Instagram videos in 2017 because the huge number of photos that users were sharing on the platform made it challenging to post photos that caught people’s attention as they scrolled through the app.

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“A video adds a little something extra to a user’s feed and makes it more likely for them to swipe over to your page,” Schmidt says, adding that the company uses two types of Instagram videos on its page – feed videos and reels.

“Feed videos are generally a bit longer and consist of more information,” she says. “Some examples we have used in the past would be a video of an employee or machine building something, or my personal favorites are the sped-up videos showing a project from start to finish.

“We also started using reels in an effort to carry over some of the success that the social media platform TikTok has gained in the recent years. These videos are shorter, can be made on TikTok and then shared to Instagram. This works great for us as you can do more advanced videos on TikTok and then move them to the platform where your targeted demographic is most active.”

In fact, she explained that A.E. Schmidt Billiards’ most-popular vidoes were made on TikTok and shared to Instagram.

The company’s most-viewed video was posted in July 2020 in celebration of the 2020 BCA Virtual Expo. It’s a quick and cleverly edited video that offers a sneak peak of one of the company’s new models. As music plays, we see images of the parts that make up the pool table, then we see fingers snap and those parts “magically” form the table. It’s accompanied by a good amount of hashtags (#billiards, #billiards, #billiardexpo, #gameroom #woodworking, etc.) and had amassed 11,577 views at the time of this writing.

Another of the company’s most popular videos is a sped-up reel in which an employee measures and cuts cloth at what appears to be breakneck speed, and another shows an employee drilling air blocks just weeks before Christmas.

One important aspect of these posts is their personal touch.

The video showing the drilling gives credit to an employee named Karen and reminds people how the store’s team is working together during the busy holiday season. The spedup video of Rachel cutting clothes starts off with a joke – “When the coffee kicks in.”

THE BENEFITS OF INSTAGRAM VIDEOS When asked if she thinks billiard and home game room retailers should post Instagram videos, Schmidt doesn’t hesitate to say yes.

“They are so easy to make nowadays and can provide a greater opportunity to connect with customers,” she says. “I also think a huge benefit with giving videos a try is that you are keeping up with the latest trends on social media, as platforms are moving more and more towards videos.”

Trujillo says Fort Worth Billiards has seen a rapid increase in its Instagram page engagement over the past year.

“We’ve made connections with many people across the country who found our page through the hashtags we use in our video posts,” she says. “I would highly recommend anyone who runs a business to start including videos in their feed.

Not only are they more captivating than photos, but short, engaging videos help set the tone of your brand and get viewers interested in what you’re selling.”

A.E.Schmidt Billiards 14 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

exploring the

COLORS OF THE YEAR

By RichardWebber

Pantone's Very Peri and Benjamin Moore’s October Mist

Sherwin Williams’ Evergreen Fog

The end of each year is a time for looking back as the news includes reports about the Person of the Year and the Athlete of the Year, as well as rundowns of the biggest events and the books, movies, and television shows that captured our attention for the past 12 months.

But as we change our calendars, it is also a time for looking ahead to what the next year has in store for us, and one of the biggest traditions for design experts is the selection of the new Colors of the Year.

Various organizations select their annual Color of the Year, and it’s often a very involved process. Experts consider trends in all areas of life – fashion, design, architecture, entertainment, etc., then make presentations as each team of color professionals makes its ultimate selection. And those choices make a huge impact on how people live their lives.

AND THE COLOR OF THE YEAR IS… While many companies announce a Color of the Year, Pantone’s selection is the most eagerly awaited, and for 2022, Pantone’s renowned Color Institute has selected Veri Peri, a rich shade of periwinkle (hence, its name). While Pantone’s selection always makes news, Very Peri is additionally noteworthy because it is a new color created by Pantone.

“Displaying a carefree confidence and a daring curiosity that animates our creative spirit, inquisitive and intriguing, Very Peri helps us to embrace this altered landscape of possibilities, opening us up to a new vision as we rewrite our lives,” Pantone stated when announcing Very Peri as its 2022 Color of the Year. “Rekindling gratitude for some of the qualities that blue represents complemented by a new perspective that resonates today, PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri places the future ahead in a new light.”

“Creating a new color for the first time in the history of our Pantone Color of the Year educational color program reflects the global innovation and transformation taking place,” she said. “As society continues to recognize color as a critical form of communication, and a way to express and affect ideas and emotions and engage and connect, the complexity of this new red violet-infused blue hue highlights the expansive possibilities that lay before us.”

CALMING COLORS Pantone isn’t the only company that announces a Color of the Year. For its 2022 selection, Sherwin-Williams has chosen Evergreen Fog. In response to these ongoing difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sherwin-Williams noted that the soothing and subtle properties of Evergreen Fog make it an ideal shade that can freshen up all kinds of spaces.

“Evergreen Fog SW 9130 is a versatile and calming hue, a chameleon color of gorgeous green-meets-gray, with just a bit of blue,” Sherwin-Williams stated when announcing Evergreen Fog as its 2022 Color of the Year. “It’s a simple but sophisticated wash of beautiful, organic color for spaces that crave a subtle yet stunning statement shade.”

For 2022, PPG is spotlighting Olive Spring, which it describes as an “elegant, grounded, versatile and highly adaptable graygreen” that is relaxing and which can create soothing spaces.

PPG’s Olive Sprig

The company further explained that Very Peri is an appropriate color for the transformative times the world is experiencing.

“As we emerge from an intense period of isolation, our notions and standards are changing, and our physical and digital lives have merged in new ways,” the company announced. “Digital design helps us to stretch the limits of reality, opening the door to a dynamic virtual world where we can explore and create new color possibilities. With trends in gaming, the expanding popularity of the metaverse and rising artistic community in the digital space, PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri illustrates the fusion of modern life and how color trends in the digital world are being manifested in the physical world and vice versa.”

Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, said that Pantone’s Color of the Year reflects the global culture and also expresses what people are looking for in a color.

BCAINSIDER.COM | 17

“As many of us know following a year of lockdown, the easiest way to shift your mindset is to change your environment,” said Amy Donato, senior color marketing manager for PPG paint. “While we begin to trade sweatpants for strappy shoes, recipes for reservations, and a night in for a night out, our paint color preferences are shifting too, in both residential and commercial spaces.”

Universal Billiards. “There are some customers that lead with size, quality, and/or value, but for our average customer, the style, design, and color of the pool table or game is what matters most in their final purchasing decisions. With many individuals continuing to spend more time at home, they want their game room product investment to not just play great, but look great.”

DIYers, property managers, designers and architects are shifting away from the stark, neutral palettes of yesterday and opting for color in all forms. Call it rebellion, but we are certainly here for the resurgence of optimistic colors to guide us into a new era of home design.

Brother adds that people in the billiard and home game room businesses, including purchasers, sales professionals and merchandisers, should display and feature products that follow current market design trends.

Other Colors of the Year, include Benjamin Moore’s October Mist 1495, which it describes as a “gently shaded sage” that encourages individual expression through color, and Graham & Brown’s Breathe, which bucks the trends of green and gray by highlighting Breathe, a paint color it describes as “pale blue.”

BENEFITTING FROM THE COLORS OF THE YEAR Billiard retailers can help themselves by keeping up on Colors of the Year and other trends in home design, as these are often important to customers who purchase pool tables or are designing game rooms.

“For novice pool players looking to outfit their entertainment spaces, aesthetic is the leading factor in purchasing, even if there’s a limited budget,” says Ciarra Brother, president of

“These decisions include fabrics, like cloth or seating cushions, wood species, and wood stains,” she says. “And factoring color isn’t limited to specifically mimicking popular trends but also finding pieces and creating room settings that coordinate with popular trends. You don’t need a Veri Peri pool table – a room setting display with a rug or wall art that incorporate some shades of bright purple with coordinating pool table, seating, and lighting will inspire customers, from design to our ultimate goal of a purchase.”

You can follow those trends by visiting the web pages of companies that announce a Color of the Year. These pages are often a terrific resource, not only for insights into the colors, but how they can be used and what other colors complement them. YouTube is also a great way to keep up with color trends and how to apply them to actual spaces.

And always remember that adding a little color to your life can also add to your store’s bottom line.

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18 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

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GET READY FOR THE

BCA EXPO

By BCA Insider Staff For the first time since 2019, the Billiard & Home Leisure Expo is returning to an in-person format, with its return to Las Vegas, and the South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa, June 22-24.

With a theme to “Reconnect, Reenergize and Rediscover,” this year’s event is the perfect opportunity for those in our industry to look forward and try to put the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic behind us and enjoy some time together.

“We want to bring people together to tell their stories and share their experiences and help the industry move forward,” says Rob Johnson, CEO of the BCA. “As always, the worldclass Expo will provide the latest billiard and recreation trends, products, services and more.”

A who’s who of the industry will be on hand, including specialty billiard and home recreation retailers, manufacturers, installers and billiard room owners. And they will be hearing 22 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

about the buzz-worthy products that retail customers will be talking about and purchasing this year. Whether it’s tables, cues, ping-pong, shuffleboard, poker, or casual furniture, there’s something for everyone.

Historically, more than 97 percent of attendees are involved in the buying process for their business and more than 90 percent of them purchase at the show or within 30 days.

There is no other event in this industry that can boast that kind of potential.

After the ribbon cutting on Wednesday, there will be plenty happening to get people back in the spirit of the event.

This year, the BCA has enhanced the exhibit hall experience, starting with daily door prizes, exhibitor swag and cash giveaways.There are also exclusive show-only specials available to those who attend.

I O T N A A N L R P O O I OL N U J O N I S H I PS P M A H C

June 21-25, 2022

South Point Hotel & Convention Center | Las Vegas, NV

It’s never too early to prepare for next year!

The New Product Showcase will once again take place and feature some of the exciting and soon-to-be in-demand items for the upcoming year. All entries must be submitted by June 1.

The Retailer Rebate program is back this year. The program incentivizes buyers by providing cash back on purchases made during the BCA Expo. In the program’s first year, 65 dealers participated and nine exhibitors wrote more than $1.2 million in orders.

For the first time, the BCA Expo will present the inaugural home leisure sports challenge, with people competing in their favorite games from the floor.

And of course, there will be parties and networking events so the industry’s experts can once again be face-to-face and talk about their love of all things billiards. There will even be live music at the industry social on Wednesday night.

On Thursday night, another get-together will feature a classic rock cover band and people will be invited to get on the dance floor and dance the night away.

A photo booth will be on the show floor and at the nightly meet-ups, and Las Vegas showgirls will be on-hand to keep the mood festive.

South Point has been a perfect partner for the BCA throughout the years and attendees appreciate the myriad options available to them outside of the Expo’s events. In addition to 2,390 slot and video poker machines, the resort’s casino offers sports and racing books, a bingo room with eight daily sessions, and a poker room, offering all of the most popular poker games at various betting limits on 22 tables.

The resort also has its own bowling alley and movie theater, and offers live entertainment at several venues on-site, including an Arena and Equestrian Center, a nightclub and a big showroom.

There are also some scrumptious dining destinations available at South Point. Italian food lovers will want to head to Don Vito’s. Michael’s Gourmet Room is a top-rated Zagat restaurant that has also earned the Four-Diamond Award from the American Automobile Association, the Award of Excellence from Distinguished Restaurants of North America, and the Finest Gourmet Restaurant recognition from the Las Vegas Review-Journal Readers' Poll.There’s also Baja Miguel’s for Mexican food and top-notch seafood at Big Sur Oyster Bar includes shrimp, clams, oysters, mussels, lobster, crab, and fresh fish.

Registration for the BCA Expo has already begun. Visit bcaexpo.com for more details.

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Left to Right: Roger Blank, Patrick Griffin, John Kazik, Walt Galzer, Nick Baron

ESCALADE ACQUIRES BRUNSWICK BILLIARDS

By Keith Loria Escalade, Inc., a leader in sporting goods and indoor/outdoor recreation equipment, has started 2022 with a bang, acquiring the Brunswick Billiards business from Life Fitness, LLC, a portfolio company of KPS Capital Partners, in a $32 million deal.

Founded in 1845, Brunswick Billiards is the largest and oldest provider of billiard tables, game tables and game room furniture in the United States. Escalade recognizes the enduring strength of the company’s legacy and its lasting connection with generations of consumers who cherish the brand.

“The opportunity to acquire a storied brand like Brunswick doesn’t appear 28 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

every day,” says Walt Glazer, CEO of Escalade Sports. “Adding the Brunswick Billiards business gives Escalade the No. 1 position in billiard tables to complement our leading Cue & Case accessory business. With Brunswick covering the high end, American Legend at the opening price point, and American Heritage in the middle, we can offer a great price and value option to all consumers regardless of their means or level of play.”

Brunswick Billiards’ business primarily consists of developing, designing, manufacturing, marketing, distributing and selling billiard tables, table tennis games, shuffleboard tables, foosball tables and air

hockey tables, and this all will now be controlled by Escalade.

The sale also included Brunswick’s 120,000-square-foot distribution facility in Bristol, Wisconsin.

“Brunswick Billiards helps to solidify Escalade as a market leader in all things billiards,” Glazer says. “This acquisition reinforces Escalade’s commitment to the industry, to the Brunswick Billiards brand, and to the dealers who are on the front lines of serving consumers who are passionate about billiards or just getting started. Importantly, this also means Escalade will be adding many veterans with decades of experience in the billiard industry.”

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THE ART OF THE DEAL Long before it was for sale, the Escalade team had admired Brunswick Billiards and recognized that it would fit with, and add to, Escalade’s portfolio of businesses if it were ever available.

“During the initial discussions, Escalade’s interest was intensified as we met and got to know the Brunswick Billiards management team,” Glazer says. “And they could see that we share common values and goals to support and invest in Brunswick Billiards. Thankfully, we were able to reach a deal that met the needs of the seller and gives Escalade the opportunity to invest for the long term and support Brunswick Billiards in the decades ahead.”

30 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

“

THE LEGACY OF BRUNSWICK IS UNMATCHED …

ABRAHAM LINCOLN OWNED A BRUNSWICK BILLIARDS TABLE!"

The legacy of Brunswick is unmatched.

After all, Abraham Lincoln owned a Brunswick Billiards table!

“We recognize the enormous responsibility that comes with stewardship of the 177-year-old Brunswick Billiards brand and heritage,” Glazer says. “We are also committed to supporting the industry by using our resources to introduce new players to billiards.The Escalade mission is to provide quality products that bring families and friends together, creating lasting memories. What better way than gathering in the home for a fun afternoon or evening of billiards?”

A GROWTH COMPANY Founded in 1922, and headquartered in Evansville, Indiana, Escalade’s billiard brands consist of Cue & Case, Lucasi, Mizerak, American Heritage Billiards, and American Legend and has other indoor recreation brands including STIGA table tennis, Accudart and Unicorn darting, Atomic game tables, and Victory Tailgate licensed and customized games.

The Brunswick acquisition just adds even more name value to the segment.

“Escalade will be a one-stop shop for billiards and the broader game room category,” Glazer says. “Beyond the game room, Escalade offers a range of in-ground and portable basketball systems (Goalsetter, Goalrilla, Goaliath, and Silverback), home playground structures (Woodplay and Jack & June), and other outdoor recreation products that dealers could offer to their customers.”

THE TRANSITION During the first part of 2022, Escalade will be focused on integrating the Brunswick Billiards business into the Escalade back-office systems.

“Our goal is to make this transition as smooth as possible and seamless for our customers, suppliers, and employees,” Glazer says. “The Brunswick and Escalade teams will work together to share best practices to maximize the value we offer to our dealers and consumers.”

Paul Stoneham, CEO of Life Fitness, notes that the divestiture of Brunswick Billiards allows Life Fitness to now focus on building its core commercial/professional fitness business with the sales proceeds earmarked for investment in R&D, connected fitness and supply chain.

“Escalade is a natural home and owner for the Brunswick Billiards business, setting it up to thrive in the future,” he says.

Brunswick Billiards will continue to be based in Bristol, Wisconsin and led

by John Kazik, general manager, and his management team.

“Brunswick Billiards has been committed to connecting generations through superior craftsmanship and innovation for the last 176 years,” Kazik says. “Every day we wake up thinking about our stewardship of the Brunswick Billiards brand and keeping the quality to the level that John Moses Brunswick set when he began this company almost two centuries ago. Mr. Brunswick’s mantra of ‘if it can be built from wood, we can build it better’ still is a guiding principle.”

It’s important to all that first and foremost, there’s a smooth transition to Escalade systems without impacting customers.

“Another focus will be bringing all our combined resources together to work through the supply chain issues that have plagued the entire industry,” Glazer says. “Perhaps most importantly, the Brunswick Billiards team has many great ideas and future plans that we will now pursue together. The most we will say about those is stay tuned!”

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A GENUINE CLASSIC

By Anthony Stoeckert Lee Simon had been in the pool business for decades when he established the second and current version of Buffalo Billiards in Petaluma, Calif., in 2011 after operating the original Buffalo Billiards destination in Cotati, Calif., which he opened in 1992.

He calls his current location a “hobby” and “semi-retirement gig.” However, it would seem that his current enterprise has become much more than a casual endeavor.

32 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

Decades of hard work and dedication have gone into this hobby, and it’s safe to say that Buffalo Billiards is the result of years of work and represents Lee Simon’s vision of an ideal pool hall.

“I had my recipe planned and written out as early as 1976,” Simon says. “It just took a really long time to get there. And it takes money and it takes help, and I didn’t have either of those for most of my career.”

His recipe is designed to create a pool room that is interesting, comfortable, welcoming and clean.

“The equipment has to be good, the staff has to be friendly, and it has to be clean, especially the bathrooms.” Simon says.

“I really believe in value – I could charge more for everything.

I could charge more for beer, I could charge more for food – we do a really big business on food, and that’s important.”

LEARNING FROM HIS FATHER Harry Simon, Lee’s father and mentor, started in the business by running various pool rooms in the tiny desert town of Wells, Nevada, dating back to 1953, and he later owned pool halls in California. One short-lived pool room of Harry’s was Sequoia Billiards in Redwood City, Calif., which he purchased from Jimmy and Dorothy Wise.

“Dorothy was considered to be the greatest female player ever,” Lee Simon says. “She taught me how to play straight pool. We played every day for a year when I was around 14.”

His first re-cover job was on a Gold Crown model. It took Lee 17 hours to finish the job, and it was, in his words, possibly the worst re-covering ever. But it was a start.

“I started working on tables at every opportunity and keeping a journal on each table and how it could be done better and faster,” he says. “No one would teach you, a lot like old-time players – you have to pay your dues to learn. In any case after a few hundred tables I got pretty good. That led to the restoration of antique tables and furniture, which in turn led to the sales of new tables. First Golden West and then Olhausen and Brunswick.”

TEAMING UP WITH A LEGEND Simon was hosting a Jimmy Rempe exhibition in the 1970s when someone in the audience asked him about threecushion. That someone was Bob Byrne, the legendary player and author whose numerous books include Byrne’s Standard Book of Pool and Billiards.

Harry sold Sequoia Billiards to Sax and Evelyn dal Porto, another all-time great player, and his last billiard business was Harry’s Novato Billiards in Novato, California, which he founded in 1964. “Then I played Evelyn every day,” Lee remembers.

Lee was drafted into the Vietnam-era U.S Army and was discharged in 1973, when he enrolled at San Francisco State University on the G.I. bill.

“I majored in sex, drugs and rock and roll,” he says. “I had no intention of going into the family business, but my father suffered a ruptured appendix and could never come back to work. By late 1976 I had outlined my ideas for the perfect pool room. It only took 40 years or so to implement these ideas, which of course evolved over the years. It took capital and talent to help implement, and neither one is easy to find, but I have both now.”

STARTING OUT ON HIS OWN Lee’s vision of a pool room began with his work at Novato Billiards, and he tried his hand at competitive pool. He soon became interested in all aspects of the pool table business, including selling and maintaining tables.

“My father paid the billiard mechanic – the company was Whitehead and Zimmerman, they were the preeminent company in Nor Cal for decades – $35 to recover his tables,” he remembers. “I watched him do two and said, ‘I could do this.’”

BCAINSIDER.COM | 33

“It’s the best-selling billiard book of all time,” Simon notes.

“Another gem or must-read is ‘McGoorty: The story of a billiard bum.’ Bob was like the greatest, most well-rounded and diversely talented man to ever live. I was privileged to see and participate in every page of ‘Byrne’s Standard Book of Pool and Billiards’ as it was researched at Novato Billiards. It was truly a great experience. Within weeks I had three carom tables and created a nice little oasis of three-cushion billiards.”

Byrne became an investor of the original Buffalo Billiards, where John Colla, a founding member of Huey Lewis and the News was a regular.

“He lived down the street,” Simon notes. “He was a pool and billiard aficionado as well as a great sign maker. We painted a flying eight-ball that had 62-inch wings on one wall and the other had a carom scene that went into infinity. Of course, all this went away when they became arguably the biggest band in the world. Johnny also became an investor in Buffalo Billiards in Cotati.”

THE NEXT CHAPTER Novato Billiards ended in September 1986 when the owner of the building passed away and Simon’s rent was increased astronomically. He then embarked on establishing the first Buffalo Billiards location, in Cotati, California. An old friend of his had built a shopping center and wanted Simon to open a pool room there.

“It was a bit too far north for my liking but he was persistent,” Simon says. “He finally made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I had a professional interior designer do the interior. I wanted a room that women were comfortable in, yet men wouldn’t feel galvanized in either. The color scheme was soothing green walls and burgundy carpet. Even though it was a modern building it was packed with my ever-burgeoning collection of billiard art – posters, pictures, cue racks, etc.

And also everything from tortoise shells to snowshoes – all vintage pieces, all interesting to look at but more importantly it created the feel, the comfort.”

“

The opening of his endeavor also coincided with what Lee calls the golden era of table and equipment sales.

“Each year the sales increased, the pool room seemingly ran itself,” he says. “I say seemingly as I wasn’t paying close enough attention! By the late 1990s up until October of 2005, table sales were unbelievable. Olhausen, which was still in San Diego, would send a trailer with 26 or so tables. They would drop the trailer in the parking lot and return in two weeks or so with another and haul the old trailer away. Most of the tables were pre-sold. This went on for some three years. Then just before the official great depression or the meltdown, it 34 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

MY SEMIRETIREMENT GIG TURNED INTO MORE THAN THE CASUAL ENDEAVOR … I WAS IN FULL-TIME PLUS.”

just stopped dead. The canary in the coal mine keeled over.

This market has still never returned.”

LEE SIMON’S VISION FOR A POOL HALL

Things have flipped to the point where today, his pool hall does well while sales are a challenge because of competition from online retailers and big chains that offer free delivery.

His recipe is designed to create a pool room that is clean, well-lit, interesting, comfortable, welcoming, friendly, and where patrons can enjoy cold beer served by a friendly staff, along with great music.

“To me it’s not sustainable,” Simon says. “I guess if you’re doing the volume, it works, but this race to the bottom to see who can be the cheapest doesn’t appeal to me. To top all this off, selling antique tables is out of vogue also. Hardly anyone is interested and if the old price was $20,000, now you’re lucky if you get $8,500.

“Case in point, in 1980, a Brilliant Novelty circa 1880 was sold in Marin County for $75,000. That very table sold in an auction recently for $5,000 with only one bid. But I persist with mostly used tables as freight has also become untenable.”

“I want to create a mini-vacation-like atmosphere,” Simon says. “I really believe in value.”

His pool tables and equipment are high in quality and represents a mix of eclecitc tables, all of which are expertly maintained.

“However, for top-notch competitors, the equipment needs to be identical, so a drawback to my style is that it doesn’t appeal to those players,” he says. “But the average beerBCAINSIDER.COM | 35

drinking, fun-loving, dating couple and groups of young people love it. This is a fun place.”

FOCUSING ON FAMILY The time came for Simon to focus on raising his two teenage daughters.

“I’m a single parent and that is a hard row to hoe,” he says.

“Family does come first. I sold the room for a princely sum and opened a supply-only store.This was during the recession and pool tables were about at the bottom of everyone’s list of things to buy. Houses went from ATM machines to foreclosures overnight. Things really changed quickly.”

As his daughters headed off to college, Simon negotiated to buy back his Cotati pool room, but the owners ultimately decided not to sell. A former employee of his was operating a pool room in downtown Petaluma, where Lee lives. Lee describes Petaluma as a historic and scenic town, and when he told the owner of the pool room there about his troubles in trying to buy back his old location, he made an offer.

“He offhandedly said ‘buy this one,’” Simon recalls. “Which I did. I brought in a partner to take care of the dirty work – insurance, payroll, scheduling, all the things I’m not good at.

This turned into something of unintended consequences and I bought him out. So my semi-retirement gig turned into more than the casual endeavor intended. I was in full-time plus.”

BUILDING ON SUCCESS The current version of Buffalo Billiards is a culmination of decades of hard work and dedication, of lessons learned and even relearned. Simon says his recipe has been implemented and fine-tuned, and he has benefitted from working with the right manager, Michael Bombace.

“This incarnation of Buffalo Billiards is in a historic 1860s building that has 16-foot ceilings and brick walls,” Simon describes. “It is filled with all my collections of billiard artifacts as well as boxing photo collections, cricket paddles, Coca-Cola items, art of all types and neon billiard and pool signs. Along the way, I lost a warehouse that was filled with antique tables mostly but also other antique items. I didn’t want to continue paying to store this stuff let alone move it, so rather than fill several dumpsters, I decided to repurpose them.

He made a cocktail table out of end panels with two legs.

Benches were created out of church pews and pool table legs.

The pool hall’s gathering tables are made of inlaid pool tables, and cocktail tables were repurposed from antique pool table parts with pool cues serving as legs.

36 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

“Also, lots of shuffleboard tops were utilized,” Simon says.

“My bar is made out of various parts of antique tables, doors and shuffleboards. The center piece is a side panel of a Monarch or Lion’s Head table that was a spare. The bar tops are all billiard slate and shuffleboard playfields.”

Persian rugs decorate the floor of Buffalo Billiards. Simon bought his first Persian rug at a nearby flea market and liked the look of it, so he bought more. Many of his tables are Gold Crowns, and there also are a few Diamonds, two Olhausen models, and a Gabriels carom table.

Another bar is made from a repurposed Regina 5'x10' carom table from the San Francisco Elks Club.

“Every window is framed with pool table rails,” Simon notes of his pool room. “Everything is pool tables, repurposed antique tables.”

“This guy had it in Napa outside exposed to the weather,” Simon says. “He had called me up and offered this and I happened to have a crew in Napa at that time. So they picked it up, and upon seeing this piece of garbage, I couldn’t believe they brought it back, it was trashed. But I just can’t throw this stuff away, so we created a 10-foot bar out of this one table and very little else. We cut the legs in half length-wise to stretch out the parts. The Regina has inlays of an oval with two Mother-of-Pearl circles that resemble an owl’s face. We topped it off with two different shades of slate – the original slate now sits under my hot tub.”

His efforts in creating the ideal pool room never end, as he continues to enhance Buffalo Billiards with interesting items, such as vintage signs from local and Bay Area businesses.

Buffalo Billiards also promotes its message and is now seeing success with private parties.

“This is really a good revenue source,” Simon says. “We offer pool tables, darts, shuffleboard and air hockey. We have two ping-pong tables also in our party package but these things go all day and night long. Ping-pong is very popular.”

Lee Simon’s career has been a long one, and he continues to serve his customers by providing them a great place to play pool, tasty food, and the highest standards of service.

He brings a personal touch as well. During an interview for this story, he would often stop to say hello to customers and ask them how they’re doing. Throughout the years, he’s seen young customers grow up and some who even have families of their own now.

It’s a testament to his work, dedication, and the vision for his ideal pool room that he has been crafting since the 1970s.

“I’ve been successful,” he says. “There have been times where I’ve had to practice austerity. I just learn at every step and always try to do better.

“This pool room is off the charts. It’s in the quaintest town, on the busiest street next door to the Brewsters, the most epic beer hall this side of Munich – add it all up and you have the world’s busiest pool room.”

BCAINSIDER.COM | 37

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CONNECTING WITH YOUNGER BUYERS TIPS TO MAKE CUSTOMERS OUT OF MILLENNIAL, GEN X AND GEN Z CONSUMERS

By Charles S. Donnavan While many retailers rely on their established, older customers to keep the store in business, savvy retailers understand that new customers are the secret to success. That means that appealing to younger people – millennials, Gen X and even Gen Z now – is crucial for long-lasting business.

For a lot of retailers, the immediate thought is that this can only be done by boosting an online presence but studies have proven that consumers falling into these younger generations actually prefer to purchase items in brick-andmortar stores.

40 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

And while the pandemic caused many people to stop shopping in person, recent data suggests that a majority of those who are back in the stores buying gifts and items for themselves are millennials, Gen X and older Gen Z consumers.

These generations enjoy the store experience, so it’s important to think about them when designing the store.

After all, your ability as a retailer to attract, sell to, and retain younger people as customers will depend heavily on your relatability. If younger people per-

ceive your marketing content, brand image, and brand values as relatable, they are more likely to buy from you.

More so, these consumers are also more likely to spread the word about your products, and remain your loyal customers for the long term.

Before the pandemic hit, Gen Z passed millennials as the largest group in the U.S., and retail experts believe that this segment of the population will not be an extension of the previous generation but be classified as a set of people with unique experiences, be-

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liefs and behaviors. The theory is this generation will fuel a massive change in how people shop, and billiard retailers should think differently about how they attract them.

Here are 12 ways that billiard retailers can attract millennials and Gen X buyers to the store and make them lifelong customers.

1

A great tip is to offer more interactive experiences, such as allowing them to play a game of pool or ping-pong at the store.

Or bring in experts and create a mustsee event at the store so people can really feel the excitement.Younger users love being immersed in experiences, and if your marketing can portray how the high-stakes intensity of pool can be fun for everyone, you’ll have your audience sold. This will help to engage customers and provide an entertaining environment.

2

Retailers should be utilizing technology to market products and services, as this generation is very tech-savvy. With that in mind, it’s important to create a social media presence and target these audiences through various platforms. By doing so, retailers can connect with potential customers and create a community around the sport of billiards.

Also, if you’re not using social media for product marketing campaigns, you are missing out on the opportunity to reach much wider and diverse audiences. Social media is also a great place to build your brand identity. Billiard retailers should take advantage of what social media applications are offering to them when it comes to creating a business profile and introducing products and services. This will be the easiest way for them to reach and connect conveniently to the people they are targeting. Additionally, giving them experience through showing video, photos, and verbal descriptions will help them decide on where and what to buy.

42 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

3

Another way to attract millennials and Gen Z-ers is to personalize the experience. Create content and products that cater specifically to what the people in these two generations love. Offer custom boards, make trendy pool table cloths or even make pool cues fun with eye-catching patterns and fun phrases.

This helps to enhance the experience of the player’s game. Personalization is key to winning with shoppers in brickand-mortar stores. Studies shows that 42 percent of consumers are willing to pay more for a product in order to have a more personalized shopping experience, particularly evident with millennials, with 63 percent noting they would be willing to pay more for a personalized experience.

4

Mobile-friendly websites are necessary.Younger generations do most of their web-browsing on mobile devices like tablets and cellphones, so ensuring your store’s website is optimized for mobile is crucial. This means making sure the checkout process is easily accessible, and also designing a good layout so your brand and aesthetic aren’t lost on the mobile site. If your website isn’t easily accessible or easy to navigate, you’ll have a much harder time with attracting younger audiences.

5

A great way to align with younger demographics is to sell highend equipment. Remember that some consumers have the mentality of “bigger is better,” so try to tailor sales price and customer service to these customers. The main job is to deliver a valuable product or service and not try too hard to sell low-quality equipment because it is cheap. Think of giving customers something they value, such as unique products or customized designs. It helps sell more and better equipment in the long run.

6

Adapt to new advertising methods by using music videos and products instead of traditional commercials. It makes

the business more fun, as customers will be more inclined to watch videos and look at products more often.

7

Develop and share behind-thescenes footage of your employees going about their work on a normal day. You can also show videos of the store, and the products you offer.Young people like to see people and equipment in action.The goal is to position your store as an entity that these youngsters can connect with and relate to using authentic content.

8

Whether you understand the TikTok craze or not, the younger generations spend countless hours on this platform each day and it’s not too hard to create content that can promote the store or business.

The easiest way to grab Gen Z’s attention is through influencers on sites like this. Gen Z tends to be a bit thriftier with their dollars than millennials, but

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they are the generation to grow up completely online, and therefore trust the advice and product endorsements of their favorite influencers. This might involve inviting the top influencers in the town to the store and letting them try out equipment and giving them some free merch, like hats or T-shirts, to wear on camera.

9

While it may not be something you’d think about, having a strong Wi-Fi signal and allowing customers to connect in-store can go a long way to having younger people come in and spend time shopping. Millennials and Generation Z’s use of technology in-store, their need to stay connected to friends via social media while they shop and how they’re shopping is changing consumer spending patterns.While the latter generation was born with a smartphone in hand, it doesn’t keep them

44 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

from shopping – and even preferring to shop – in brick-and-mortar stores, as long as they have access to their ever-important social network.

10

Use a multi-pronged approach. Most younger buyers have multiple devices that they interact with during the day. They deem themselves huge multi-taskers jumping from one app to the next in a flash. But this means they often miss key points in a sales presentation and are more difficult to communicate with. Have some online recommendations where they can view the products or reviews so they can see them online as well, and this will help get them to be a paying customer.

11

Focus on deals. Despite their buying power, millennials and Gen X’ers earn nearly 20 percent less

than their parents did at this point in their lives. The average salary of someone between the ages of 25 to 34 is approximately $40,000 compared to what their parents made at the same age. That’s why billiard retailers should be offering them coupons and deals.

Nothing attracts a younger shopper like thinking they are getting a good deal.

12

Yelp and other online review sites are your friend.

Most younger generations look at online reviews before they buy. With access to information more available than ever before, people have more ways to research and educate themselves on the products they’re interested in before they come into your store. That’s why you need to encourage your customers to post reviews on Yelp and other sites.

BCAINSIDER.COM | 45

ONE-ON-ONE WITH MAKO TIPS’ EDWARD ALTMAN

By Keith Loria Widely beloved by professionals and amateurs alike, Mako Tips, headquartered in Sanford, Florida, produces high-quality pool cue tips utilizing eight layers of the finest Japanese pigskins.

Mako Tips maximizes the game play experience of each player through pool cue tips crafted to incite confi46 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

dence in the players so each shot they take will be appropriately supported by their equipment, ensuring playability and consistency.

Edward Altman, principal of the company, notes Mako Tips are made with customer feedback in mind to create the highest-quality pool cue tips pos-

sible that will better their experience playing the game and really let them show off their skills.

Altman recently spoke with BCA Insider about the birth of the company, his career in the industry, and how Mako Tips is working to keep the future of the industry going strong.

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FOR LOVE OF THE GAME Altman has been playing pool since he was 12 years old, and became engrossed in the sport ever since.

Later on in life, he got into cue repair and he grew his business over the years.

“My customers would ask me to get them one thing or another and so I expanded my line of products,” he says. “The biggest thing I came across was that customers were shocked at the price of a cue tip, especially when they were paying $25 for a tip and another $20 to install, so almost every tip out there was around $45.”

Altman knew there must be a less expensive option out there, and he spent almost three years researching tips, until he finally came out with his own line of Mako Tips.

“Since then, each year, business has been doubling and tripling in size,” he says. “I’m extremely blessed to be doing something that I love doing for a living.”

The company ships tips all over the world, to places like Canada, Japan, and England, and Altman is always thrilled when he sees or hears about one of billiard’s top players utilizing a Mako Tip.

THE ART OF THE TIP From the very beginning, Altman’s biggest objective with Mako Tips was to make a quality tip at an affordable price.

48 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

“It starts with using top-grade leathers,” he says. “In today’s market, a lot of what you see is Japanese pigskin.That’s probably 80 to 90 percent of the market. People love them compared to a solid cowhide tip. So, picking out a solid grade of leather is a key component.”

If not, and the quality isn’t there, he notes it doesn’t shape as well, and won’t perform as well.

“You need to use a specific type of adhesive to join each layer together, as well as the pressing process,” Altman says. “That would totally change the way a tip performs.”

Each one of Mako Tips’ products is hermetically sealed in its own package so it’s not exposed to the elements.

“A lot of installers will buy 50 or 100 of the tips and they just sit in a garage, and it’s not temperature-controlled, so that will shorten the life of a tip if it’s not sealed,” he says.

NEW AND IMPROVED In 2022, the company has come out with all-new packaging on its products and has released its newest product – the Mako Max.

“It’s a brand-new tip that we just started shipping,” Altman says. “It’s a medium tip and what’s special about it is the processing used to make the tip. We go through a two-step process where most tips are made with just one.With the Mako Max, the first two layers are pressed together at one specific hardness, and the next six layers are put on and it’s pressed again at a different hardness.”

It’s also unique because it provides a distinctive hit because of the two different pressures.

“It helps with greatly reducing the amount of glue that will transfer between the layers of the tip itself, and in turn, the tip plays

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better for the total life of the tip itself,” Altman says.

PROVIDING INSTRUCTION Outside of his business, Altman is also a PBIA-certified instructor, and he holds classes locally, offering about a dozen lessons a month. “I prefer to teach beginners because they are more eager to learn,” he says. “To see the self-satisfaction a beginner gets during their third or fourth lesson when they see they’re improving, that makes me happy. They’re enjoying themselves instead of being frustrated.”

GIVING BACK One of the great things Altman does is he donates 25 cents for every Mako Tips-brand cue tip sold to the Billiard Educational Foundation to promote the future of the industry.

50 | BCA INSIDER • NEW YEAR ISSUE 2022

“The education of future youth who are interested in learning more about billiards is essential,” he says. “We firmly believe in supporting our customers’ love for the sport. As the industry expands and more people get in touch with their love for pool, we want to be equally as supportive of introducing them to high-quality educational resources, and we know the BEF has the same goal in mind.”

Altman has been out to Las Vegas several times to see the BEF tournaments in action and has been impressed with the youngsters he’s seen. In fact, the company is sponsoring junior player Timmy Cossey in 2022.

“These kids are so dedicated and are the future of our sport,” he says. “If we don’t do something to entice these kids to continue playing, and educate them in the sport, there is no future in billiards.

We saw that happen 15 years ago, but over the past seven to eight years, there’s been a resurgence and players are everywhere. That’s what we want to see.”

It’s always been a personal goal of Altman’s to do something that gives back to the billiard world that has given him so much.

For more information about the company, visit www.makotips.com.

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