Pool hall offers smoke-, alcohol-free family fun

Nearly 30 years’ worth of labor in the construction trades had taken a toll on Brian Jones’ body, so when a wayward steel beam fell on his head at a construction site last winter, he was ready to start something new.

“When I got off that ladder, I’d decided I’d had enough,” he said.

Leaving the business he’d known for most of his life for a nascent idea wasn’t something Jones, 52, did on a whim, but was rather the last step in something he had been mulling over for a number of years.

For his new venture, Jones drew inspiration from his childhood in Southern California and from his and his wife Karen’s own two children, Daniel and Tyler, who are now both adults.

Sitting on a bench in his new, 2-month-old shop, BJ’s Family Billiards on Harrison Avenue in Coeur d’Alene, Jones described how he came to be the owner of the first family friendly pool hall in town. It all started in California in the ‘60s, he said, where as an 8-year-old he took up a job in a family pool hall. Having a place where kids could go and hang out in a welcoming atmosphere was something he really liked about his childhood. And it was something he wanted for his own and other people’s children in Coeur d’Alene.

“I came up with this idea basically because of my children, and they didn’t have a place to go at night,” he said.

But before he started the billiard business, Jones first ran the idea by his children.

“They loved it,” he said, “They were like ‘That is exactly what this town needs.’ “

Pool halls, well-known around the country as alcohol-serving, smoke-filled and sometimes seedy places that cater to an older crowd, are a tough business to approach as a family friendly endeavor. Jones, though, knew what he was getting into and moved ahead. BJ’s offers a smoke-free atmosphere, five professional-quality pool tables, two flat-panel TVs, a digital jukebox, several arcade games and an otherwise immaculate and spacious interior.”

Starting a pool hall that doesn’t serve alcohol, yet still appeals to kids and adults alike, was an untried and uncertain undertaking for the area, but it is something that Bill Bauer, 74, has seen done successfully in other parts of the country. As a professional trick-shot artist for nearly four decades and a billiards player since 1948, Bauer has traveled extensively showing his pool-shooting prowess in pool halls across the country. Now Bauer is providing his billiard knowledge to BJ’s through private lessons to customers.

“I think it’s a real fine establishment,” Bauer said, adding that the family friendly atmosphere “will make it a really strong business. I really think it will do fine, and I’m looking forward to helping him build it.”

Lining up a shot on one of BJ’s tables in the afternoon was Jim Johnston, 62, a retired Coeur d’Alene resident, ardent pool player and frequent customer to the new establishment.

“It’s just a nice atmosphere,” he said, further describing the tables as “as good of pool tables as you can get.”

That friendly atmosphere is what Jones hopes will lure in more customers. When kids tell their parents that they want to go hang out at a pool hall, Brian said that he hopes moms will come to the door and see a place that’s clean and comfortable.

“I want that to be the prevalent thing, that families feel welcome here,” he said.

As for starting a new business, Jones advised others with the entrepreneurial itch to not make decisions on wishful thinking.

“Do your homework,” he said. “Plan for both success and failure, and always have a backup plan.”

Asked if he is glad to have left the physically taxing construction business, Jones said that he is enjoying being his own boss.

“That’s the American way of life, the American dream,” he said.