SmallBiz: Bar boosts Cleveland billiard community

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo Hal Killam, manager of the Cleveland Billiards Club, brushes a table. The bar sometimes hosts pool professionals to play against customers.

Name: Cleveland Billiard Club

Location: 185 Inman Street East, Cleveland

Hours: Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 a.m., Sunday 12 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Contact information: 423-790-7887

Products/services: Cleveland Billiard Club is a pool bar that serves lunch and dinner. They also sell a variety of cigars.

Age: Almost one year

Cross-generation location: Cleveland Billiard Club is the third CBC in the area. The other two Chattanooga Billiard Clubs, all under the same owner, have similar layout and atmosphere. Hal Killam, a manager at the Cleveland site, said the club draws a variety of people, from the younger Lee University college students to the community's experienced billiard pros.

Professional players: CBC occasionally brings in professional pool players to show off to or play against its customers. The bar has drawn large crowds to play against some of the pros, even though Killam said almost everyone loses.

Selling cigars: Killam's favorite part of the business is the cigar shop. Killam, a cigar aficionado, fell in love with the high-end product when traveling in Switzerland. He uses his passion to curate the shop's selection and help customers pick the right cigar for them.

Future goals: Continue to increase nighttime customers while drawing a bigger lunch crowd. CBC serves plenty of pub food, including hamburgers made from beef ground on-site, but getting people into the space has been challenging. "It's slowly growing," Killam said. "People work. They're not going to be at a bar during the day."