Why 810 Billiards & Bowling Is Positioned To Dominate the Booming Dallas/Fort Worth Market

810 Billiards & Bowling, an upscale entertainment, dining and bar experience based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is sizing up a Texas-sized expansion to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where the booming Southern city is calling out for new entertainment venues at a value price point. 

810 Billiards & Bowling combines a restaurant and bar concept with bowling, pool and several types of games that are cheaper and better integrated into the design of the locations in a way that competitors like Dave & Busters or Main Event Bowling can’t match. 

The key to the brand’s success in South Carolina lies with CEO Mike Sinisalchi’s innovative design. Sinisalchi has crunched the numbers to devise a business model with franchising built into its DNA and he’s ready to spread it across the country. 

“We’re a nationally structured supply chain with proprietary equipment,” said Sinisalchi. “ We took a ‘value engineering’ approach to the store build-outs, and it shows in our margins.”

Currently, 810 has three locations in South Carolina and is working on opening two more in Phoenix and the surrounding area. While the locations may be spread across the country, the markets they’re in share at least one thing in common: opportunity for growth, growth and more growth. South Carolina and Arizona both hold some of the fastest growing suburbs in the country.

Of the booming cities where 810 hopes to develop may also be one of the fastest growing cities in the country: Dallas, Texas. A study recently found that 1.35 million people moved to Dallas since 2010, and another 1.3 million could be on their way in the following decade. 

But while the population grows, entertainment options for families, friends and coworkers have not kept pace. This is where an entertainment concept like 810 can quickly dominate the market. 

“Dallas is a booming metropolis with hard-working people who value their time and money,” said Sinisalchi. “That’s why the 810 Billiards & Bowling is primed for success. The competition just can’t match our value.”

Ultimately, Sinisalchi designed his brand as a nationwide category-killer that’s perfect for the Dallas/Fort Worth market. When Sinisalchi’s team signed a franchisee in the Phoenix area, he had a real estate team on the ground the next week. The week after that, he was there in person readying a corporate location nearby to support his first franchisees. Positioned between the corporate hub in South Carolina and the new locations in Arizona, Dallas/Fort Worth represents an ideal location nested comfortably in the middle of an expanding city close to leadership and with great access to the national vendors. According to Sinisalchi, it’s only a matter of time before the concept locks down the best territories across Dallas.

“Every franchisee gets 15 miles of geographic protection,” said Sinisalchi. “It’s an in-person brick-and-mortar entertainment chain that needs a larger footprint to draw customers from miles around.”

For that reason, Sinisalchi says franchisees should lock down prime locations before the best territories have been claimed.

810 Billiards & Bowling doesn’t skimp on quality. Its menu features craft beers and gastropub style burgers and salads, that appeal to all age groups. 810’s pizzas also provide a sharable, fun meal that kids are sure to love.

But instead of relying on food and beverage sales, the concept creates value through a business model painstakingly crafted to scale across the country. 

“Our brand’s concept transplants anywhere in the U.S. pretty seamlessly,” said Sinisalchi. “Our supply chain and vendor agreements are at national vendors that can support units anywhere in the country, meaning overhead on games becomes cheap and easy to source.”

810 Billiards & Bowling finds games with extremely low costs, like darts and cornhole, and pairs it with a totally flexible service model.

Guests at 810 can feel free to wander about the floorspace without worrying about losing track of their waiter or bar tab because any server can take any order at any time. This leads to more sales on high-margin games like pool, bowling, and arcade games. 

“In addition to a competitive pricing model that’s hard to compete with, our other selling point is customer service,” said Sinsalchi. “We designed our support infrastructure from the ground up to support a mixed-use entertainment concept in a way that allows us to deliver better customer service. Any server anywhere in the building can help a customer.”

In his search for the ideal franchisee for the opportunity, Sinisalchi says food and beverage experience helps, but most of all you’ll need a vision for growing your 810 empire.

“Really all that’s required is someone who sees the long term viability of the upscale entertainment concept,” he said. “We’re looking for someone who wants to create a great venue for local friends,families and other residents of the market to come out and enjoy a great time together. They have to want to develop a concept that’s going to be a major center in the community. This is where kid’s birthday parties, corporate team building parties and first dates will happen for years, and we want someone who is going to be a major booster of that.”

With a foothold in two of America’s fastest growing cities, Sinisalchi sees Dallas/Fort Worth as its next easy layup and a great chance for local entrepreneurs to cash in on a waiting opportunity.

“In the Dallas/Fort Worth market we’ve seen that the incredible growth over recent years has been underserved by entertainment concepts, and that’s our chance to bring in a potential franchisee partner to take advantage of it,” he said.

To learn more about franchising with 810 Billiards & Bowling, visit https://www.810bowling.com/franchising/