“ …WE’RE STILL GROWING –ONE CUSTOMER AT A TIME."

“We rented a storefront and put in about 15 or 18 tables,” Gary says. “We set up a nice little pool shop and showroom. Once we got our attitude adjusted from the Northeast to the Southeast, things started going well and we started making sales.”

Eastern Billiards Today

Gary continues to write the Lucchesi family’s story as the owner of Eastern Billiards in Kissimmee, which has been serving the central Florida area for nearly 30 years. He takes pride in continuing the legacy his father started by selling quality pool products to homeowners; people who own properties that are rented to vacationers; and community recreation centers. He and Ruth sell indoor and outdoor tables, standard and custom cues, pool balls, cloth, and accessories, lighting, and wall art.

The store is also renowned for its service, as Gary and his team install, move, repair, recover and restore tables. He also offers an array of cue services. He also offers an array of cue services and has established excellent relationships with his customers by sharing his expertise to help people design the pool and game room of their dreams.

“We started in October 1995 and 10 years later, by 2005, we were selling over 500 tables a year,” Gary says. “The garage game room took off down here in Florida. They didn’t have room for a pool table inside the house, but because of the weather, you can convert your garage and have a game room.”

Of course, they have dealt with plenty of challenges, especially during the recession in 2008. He and Ruth ended up leaving their first Florida space and dealt with some tough times, and came back with their current location, where they sell tables and do a good amount of service work and accessories sales.

Gary also demonstrated his expertise in cloth during a cloth shortage by contacting people at Andy, a billiard cloth manufacturing in China, to ask if he could become a dealer for them.

“They make incredible cloth used in all the Pacific Rim countries,” he says. “We have established ourselves to be the largest importer and seller of Andy cloth in the USA. And we’re still growing – one customer at a time.”

He expects the cloth end of the business to grow, and working in cloth brings him full circle with what his dad did all those years ago, albeit in a different state and in a different time.

“And all in all, it’s well-rounded, it’s smaller,” Gary says. “And we’re still here.”