Depending on your preference, you can readily find your ideal pool table in a local storefront or online marketplace. As technology continues to reach even the most unlikely users traversing the planet in a few milliseconds, the global marketplace becomes more available for the buyer. Some view this as damaging to the local store owner and the prospect of buying anything expensive sight unseen is scary. We did not always feel comfortable purchasing online as a business either, but time has formed many solid business relationships we rely on happily. World commerce has made available resources in ways never to have been imagined. Yes, there are pitfalls, especially for “Main Street” only because if you do not change you will get passed by. Just like the steam shovel led the industrial revolution, it is change that feeds growth. That being said, the comfort of going to a store and getting to see the real thing is unmatched. As trained pool table mechanics we do take for granted certain things. One of the largest assumptions we have made in the past was a customer’s ability to identify a quality pool table from the hordes of lesser models. There is much information online regarding why a buyer would purchase this table or that, generally as targeted advertising for a specific brand. How do you separate the salesmanship of the purchase from the reality of what you are paying for? As many intellectuals from the past stated; begin with the end in mind. If your first question is “Who will be installing this to my satisfaction?”, would it not also be logical to ask them for a recommendation? We have begun selling pool tables and some supplies recently. Where the storefront goes and how far is up to you, the prospective customer. Our main business is, and will continue to be, service. We have a few mid range and starter tables for sale, but only to represent the bulk of our inquiries into purchasing from our customers. As the business world adapts to the idea of the centralized online marketplace, many more pool table brands will become available online. At the current time, many manufacturers limit sales to franchises or controlled locations (probably cutting down on sales 30-40% in the process). If you have a budget in mind for a pool table as nearly all buyers do, why would you want to see a large percentage of the total price going to the increased logistical demands of a brick and mortar store? Both sides can be argued with valid points, but by reducing the additional costs of running and staffing a store you are spending less on the desired product and more on the sales of the product. We do recommend shopping locally when you can, even at a slightly higher price to support the local economy. If you think about it, when you shop at Target or even eat at an Applebee’s you are only marginally shopping locally as the corporation is taking the profit. In the end, if you are most comfortable with local stores that is who you should purchase from. We are always happy to take time and talk about the options available, though phone calls can be difficult during peak seasons.