Bars and video games; good mix?

[stevenwhite10]

I am a newbie to this industry. Let's just get that out there, because I am not going to pretend to even have a clue about what it takes to run a successful bar.

What I do know is that I love people, social gatherings, customer service, managing business, and sharing a good drink with friends. I also happen to enjoy video games, and so do so many of my friends and family; especially when they've had a few drinks.

For a long while I've been thinking of the idea of opening a bar/lounge centered around great drinks and playing the latest video games on consoles such as Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360. Recently I've been considering this more and more, and have started establishing a business plan and getting research done. But, I still have some questions, and with this being a seaminly untouched idea, I am honestly a bit on the fence about it.

Here's the breakdown so far so that you know where I am:

- Free to enter, free to play.
- Found a company that negotiates licenses for these purposes.
- Typical drinks, with a few specialties thrown in.
- Smaller venue (100-200 max occupency).
- Any where from 5-9 screens dedicated to the games, with couches complimenting these sections.
- Friendly competitions on the more popular games (CoD/Madden/FIFA/etc).


This is the extreme basics. A lot more indepth planning and research on my part has been done, such as ways to keep the customers cycling in and out of games to keep everyone happy, having pool tables setup for people to play while waiting, types of food to serve, ways to avoid theft of machines, financials, etc.

What I am looking for is a little insight from the experienced folks of this board. Has this been done to any degree? Was there/has there been success with this? Questions more along the lines of the feasibility of it.

Also, through my market research it does look like there is a strong market for this. We have nearly a dozen colleges out here with a heavy drinking/partying population, and my main market is going to be twenty-something year old college students.

[David]

I think that there's still room for another concept.

Dave & Busters and Chucky Cheese have been doing the stand alone machine for a while and they are very popular. Why not do the Video Game program in a bar.

I know that there are a few bars that have Wii and do bowling and such to keep people involved.

Did you know that Bowling and Boweling are only an e away.

[stevenwhite10]

Thank you David.

Yea, Dave and Busters have had success in the past, but I am trying to make a little bit of a different feel to this. I want it to be a smaller scale feel with more of a focus on the bar part of it. The games would be a big attraction, but I don't want it to feel like a place where you go to pretend you're 13 again, which has always been the way Dave and Busters has came off to me.

Still, I really like the idea, and so far I've been talking with people about it trying to get a basic feel for the interest, and it's been accepted well for the most part. I just am having a really hard time getting ahold of anyone in the bar industry to talk about this. Thankfully I have these forums. :)

[seed]

When we first open we had an Elvis pinball machine that was paying. I put in five more pinball machines, had a big pinball revival story in the news paper and started having tournaments. 15 - 20 players a week since October. We also have a golden T.

My wife wanted to put in a wee but personally It was not the adult entertainment I was looking for. You can play wee at home or a friends house and the pinball is nostalgic. Take something old and make it new. Currently there is a student from the collage shooting a pinball documentary. Good luck and keep pursuing your vision.

[bruce]

We tried the hunting and Golden T with poor results. We brought in the Wii and an eight foot wide screen that doubles for tv and/or any other video. Comparing a 55" tv to the big screen is like comparing a Ford to a Rolls Royce. You can do the same thing with either, but it is just not the same. The Wii has way more to do than any ten pinball machines and can be added right in with those programs easily. Our projector had 4000 hours the first year and more than half was from the Wii and it still get used almost every day. Not saying a lot, but it does get used by about a third of our customer base. It is well worth the thousand or so dollars I have invested in it.

[KeystoneDerby]

We did a "Rock Band" Night and Madden tourneys with some success. I would however worry about A wiimote flying out of a patrons hand and into that big screen, or drinks being spilled on the consul, damage the the console if there was a disturbance, theft ect.

[stevenwhite10]

Yea, Keystone that is a worry of mine, too. There are remote covers for the Wii which protect the controller as well as anything/anyone it might hit if it slips out of someone's hand. Generally speaking, though, it's going to happen at some point, and it's just a matter of me being aware as well as any employees I have to be sure we are watching for that sort of thing.

With that being said, I actually was curious to know if anyone with a smaller venue (100-200 people max occupancy) like my proposed one would mind telling me how many customers they see per month, on average.

That is one thing I am trying to nail down, and with very little co-operation from the local bars, it is hard to get a good estimate. I have a feeling this might be too abstract of a question and is completely subjective to where I am living, but I just really could use the help of some people willing to help me with getting strong estimates for the finances part of my business plan. I really would like to get some budgeting estimates/ideas on paper so I now where I can start when it comes to start up expenses as well as preparing for 6 months out from open date.

[KeystoneDerby]

Yea, Keystone that is a worry of mine, too. There are remote covers for the Wii which protect the controller as well as anything/anyone it might hit if it slips out of someone's hand. Generally speaking, though, it's going to happen at some point, and it's just a matter of me being aware as well as any employees I have to be sure we are watching for that sort of thing.

With that being said, I actually was curious to know if anyone with a smaller venue (100-200 people max occupancy) like my proposed one would mind telling me how many customers they see per month, on average.

That is one thing I am trying to nail down, and with very little co-operation from the local bars, it is hard to get a good estimate. I have a feeling this might be too abstract of a question and is completely subjective to where I am living, but I just really could use the help of some people willing to help me with getting strong estimates for the finances part of my business plan. I really would like to get some budgeting estimates/ideas on paper so I now where I can start when it comes to start up expenses as well as preparing for 6 months out from open date.

The pub I ran had about 150ish. Keep in mind we were in a college town. The best thing i EVER did was do a karaoke night, we not only had to open our other room for more occupancy but we had a line.

Now the bad news, as with any college crowd, its the cheap drinks that sell, your bathrooms get trashed ( always the ladies room too...) and there are some scuffles. Did it help out our food side (lunch and dinners)...no... but boosting your bottom line was great.

Depending on your location will really change that answer. On off nights, we would do maybe 50 people, during a big event, show or the college stuff...300 no problem.

[stevenwhite10]

I am also in a college town. Roughly 8 or 9 campuses in this area that I know of. The bar hopping crowd is pretty big, and I knew going into this that the college crowd was most definitely the crowd I'd attract.

I have also noticed how popular karaoke nights can be. That is something I am planning on doing. The best part is, a game like Rock Band is such a great compliment to this, and I've had a lot of requests for this game.

I've budgeted for roughly 1600-1700 people a month. Spending an average of $6 seems like a good fit too, but if you think I should maybe tone it down a notch to get a better estimate, I'd love to hear it.

So far, given the budget I've put together, I'm looking at like $90k - $100k in start up costs, which also includes the necessary capital to last me 6 months.

[Ruben]

Since your a bar and people come to drink relax nothing to highend/dancing, the video games are good idea! You can run tournaments on different consols. for example since superbowl passed you could have ran a xbox360/ps2 madden 2010 match up winner gets something. Each contestant puts 5$ or so to the pop and they get a chance to play to win that large pop. You take a % and winner gets the rest. It gets people moving and busy drinking they want to see ppl facing each other intense match ups etc. Something along those lines. Now you have NBA play offs soon coming you can do something of that sort. You can even contact Microsoft or Sony to maybe even sponsor the event :)

[stevenwhite10]

Yea, that is the hope, Ruben! I have been getting a lot of good insight, from this site and some other sources. The hardest part is still ahead of me though, which is funding and the liquor license.

Anyone have any tips to share on getting SBA lending?

[Rainee]

There is a place in Brooklyn called "Barcade" that has probably about 40 old-school coin op arcade games (mostly games from the 80's). They keep all the prices at a quarter.

I would guess the capacity is somewhere around 100 or just slightly larger, and the place is pretty popular. I have no idea what kind of revenue they are pulling in, but its been around for a few years and seems successful. Gets mostly a mid 20s to mid 30s crowd who like the nostalgia aspect.

Anyway, my point is that they have taken this chuck e cheese concept and made it appeal to adults in a unique way. While you don't have to go to the extent of finding dozens of old arcade games, I do think you have to do something to differentiate the experience from something people can do in their living room at home.

Regarding an SBA loan, good luck with that, I wouldn't hold your breath unless you have collateral you are willing to put against it.

[plowery_lounge]

I've thought about this concept a few times, though probably not a place as dependent on it as a draw. I've been to a few small bars in SF in the past that had consoles set-up for customers. They were fun, but don't know if they're still operating with the same idea. I'm actually in Oakland and have access to some capital to invest. If you'd like to talk some offline, send me a reply and maybe we can exchange contact info.



Cheers,
Patrick