Hello! Give us a brief overview of your business?
I’m Michael Siniscalchi, Founder & President of 810 Billiards & Bowling.
810 is an upscale entertainment, dining and bar experience that focuses on bringing families and friends together for social interaction, friendly competition and great food.
810 takes upscale entertainment, traditionally only available in large metropolitan markets, and makes it accessible and affordable for all markets.
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Company Costs, Fees, and Royalties:
- Founder: Michael Siniscalchi
- Founded: 2015
- Franchising Since: 2019
- Number of Existing Locations: 3
- Total Initial Investment: 1.5mm-2.5mm
- Initial Franchise Fee: $50,000
- Ongoing Royalty Fee: 5%
- Ad Royalty Fee: 0%
- Net Worth Minimum: 1mm
- Agreement Length: 10 years
What’s your backstory?
My background is in finance and I spent my early career largely in Chicago & New York where upscale bowling & entertainment concepts were thriving in high priced, densely populated urban environments.
While visiting family in Myrtle Beach with my wife and discussing potential business opportunities for our next chapter, I came across a dilapidated bowling alley in North Myrtle Beach, SC.
Mostly I just saw a disabused venue that made me think it might be available at a steep enough discount to enable me to make the renovation cost feasible. I was not actively looking for a bowling alley or any other business but am always passively interested in new opportunities and just took it one step at a time, figuring it out as we went.
I am very comfortable with the construction and design process, I studied engineering before moving into finance and always had an interest in design so I knew going into it what I wanted the end product to look like after renovation.
The property was available and we jumped in, purchasing the property and closing for renovations in January 2015. We re-opened in May 2015 having converted a traditional and dated 32 lane league bowling center to our upscale, full-service, mixed use concept featuring 14 main lanes, a 6 lane private back alley, bocce ball courts, ping-pong, cornhole, board games, darts and more.
With a focus on quality food from a scratch kitchen, premium cocktails and bar service, and high end finishes the concept was immediately a hit with customers, most of whom had never experienced this type of concept.
The following two years consisted of refining the concept and it’s offerings, and fomenting consistent and scalable processes that would allow us to bring the concept to new markets.
Having proven the commercial appeal of the concept and validating that the unit economics justified aggressive growth I began scouting new locations in 2017.
At this time I moved forward with our 2nd and 3rd corporate locations, a new construction boutique 12 lane center in Conway, South Carolina, and an outfit of a former supermarket in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
810 Market Common opened in June 2018 and became our flagship store, with live music, 18 holes of mini golf and an arcade in addition to our core offerings.
Soon after our boutique store 810 Conway opened in December 2018.
Tell us about your menu and customer offerings.
We aim to elevate bar food with a focus on shareable plates and signature items made in-house from scratch.
Our pizza dough and sauce are made in-house from scratch, and pizzas are fired in an 800 degree brick oven for unparalleled texture and flavor.
Our 8 ounce chargrilled pub burgers on brioche buns are very popular, as are our wings, fried pickles, quesadillas, and pub pretzels.
What makes this opportunity unique?
UPSCALE ENTERTAINMENT, DINING AND BAR EXPERIENCE – WILL NEVER BECOME OBSOLETE OR REPLACED WITH TECHNOLOGY.
810 takes upscale entertainment, traditionally available in large metropolitan markets, and makes it accessible and affordable for all markets.
With several corporately owned locations franchisees benefit from a seasoned management team in all aspects including marketing, real estate, technology, menu development and design.
810 also brings an exclusive relationship in procuring modern, low maintenance bowling equipment complete with electronics, custom lighting and comfort furniture at a cost far reduced from traditional bowling setups.
810 features different formats including boutique, traditional conversion and big box conversion. All locations feature a private bowl area for parties, corporate events and fundraisers. A broad demographic appeal and diverse offering with attractive margins.
- Diverse revenue streams through bowling, billiards, restaurant, bar and others
- High margins and profitability, stable business model
- Multiple format options (boutique, conversion, big box)
- Retail flight creating attractive location options
- Purchase power and savings through exclusive negotiated rates on lanes, bowling equipment and electronics
- Comprehensive training program takes franchisee through all phases of operations.
- Marketing and real estate team in place to assist franchisees.
- Caters to families, young adults and the casual bowler
- Third party financing // SBA Franchise Directory
What does the future of the business look like?
With threats to many concepts from automation and a shifting workforce, family entertainment is positioned to be around for the long haul. With a focus on affordability, delivering value to customers and developing mid-sized markets there are hundreds of potential markets that the larger footprint privately held competition is not interested in but can thrive under our lower cost structure model.
After getting our multi-unit processes ironed out we began to look at future opportunity and have pursued franchising as our primary growth avenue. We began the process earlier this year and hope to have our first few franchisee’s in place by year end, some of the reasons we believe franchising can be successful
- Diverse revenue streams through bowling, billiards, restaurant, bar and
- others
- High margins and profitability, stable business model
- Multiple format options (boutique, conversion, big box)
- Retail flight creating attractive location options
- Purchase power and savings through exclusive negotiated rates on lanes,
- bowling equipment and electronics
- Comprehensive training program takes franchisee through all phases of
- operations.
- Marketing and real estate team in place to assist franchisees.
- Caters to families, young adults and the casual bowler
- Third party financing // SBA Franchise Directory
- Protected area
We also have an 810 app hitting the app store this fall as part of our new loyalty program roll out, this will manage customer rewards as well as allow people to load digital gift cards etc.
We believe we’re well positioned in the long term as no matter how much our economy is transformed by technology in the coming decades I believe family and friends will always want a fun, clean, affordable environment to spend time together in real life.
What does a typical day look like for a franchisee?
We expect franchisees to monitor the business closely but we do not expect most franchisee’s to be involved in the daily operation of the store, unless they so desire.
All performance numbers include payroll allowance for a full management team with F&B experience, we don’t expect franchisees to bring that skill set to the table.
How much can you realistically expect to make?
We aim for a 2-year payback of the initial cash investment. Revenue per store can vary from 2mm to 4+mm depending on the size of the venue and the demographics of the market.
Franchisees should expect to make $250,000 – $500,000 annually depending on the size of the venue.
What training programs are in place to help franchisees succeed?
Management staff of franchisee owned stores will be trained on site by our corporate team including our C.O.O., Corporate Chef, Director of Sales & Marketing, and Chief Mechanic.
Follow on training will include quarterly visits from franchise support managers and ad hoc training modules as developed.
What are the characteristics of successful franchisees?
Real Estate, F&B, or Marketing experience are all plusses but not required in order to be an excellent candidate.
We believe in focusing on people, if we prioritize treating our employees and our customers properly good things come. If you agree with that management philosophy and can write the checks, we can do the rest!
Where can we go to learn more?
