Slate Bed Pool Tables success in France

UK Slate Bed Pool Tables - Success in France

Slate bed pool tables—It is a great feeling to be at the beginning of a trend that takes a whole country by storm. That’s what it felt like in the 1980s when UK Slate Bed Pool Tables literally took over the entertainment in Bars and cafes throughout France and have sustained that popularity to this day.

Like most ideas, it came from humble roots. Two people, one a French engineer working in Jersey repairing machines such as pinballs and the other an English owner of a coin-operated machine business, also in Jersey, decided to try operating a few UK-spec slate bed pool tables in St.Malo in France, a short hop across the water from Jersey and the hometown of the Frenchman in question.

France at the time only had American-style big-ball slate bed pool tables that ticked along in bars, so the two friends decided to take the UK small ball game into the town and put plenty of promotion behind the venture. Little did they realise what they were creating.

The idea was simple: put a UK slate bed pool table in a bar, operating on coin operation, at no cost to the bar owner other than providing the space. The bar owner and the two friends and business partners would share any income from the pool table.

The big secret that created the phenomenon was simply promotion! Of course, they had to have an excellent product to make it happen, and they chose the market-leading UK slate bed pool table at the time, the Superleague pool table. They introduced the game as a new form of pool using red and yellow pool balls and simple rules.

That’s it! Well, almost. The main difference was that when they installed the slate bed pool table, they would go to each bar every night and play free games with customers to create awareness and teach players the rules. After the first week of installation, they would give the bar a promotion pack to run mini leagues in-house and then run inter-bar local events to create loyalty to the game.

The two businessmen then took another partner to increase the marketing and exposure. They also asked permission to use the pool table brand name in their company name, and hey presto, Superleague France was born.

Hazel Grove Music Company, which made the Superleague UK slate bed pool table, was selling tables to France as fast as they could produce them and helping the French company build its business with promotional support. The first “Superleague France Billard Anglais” pool finals were held very soon in the Palais du Grande Large Casino in St Malo. The event was small but created massive interest, and within five years, it was so big that it had to move to Paris to house the number of players and operators who wanted to take part.

French players then started to play in the UK Bapto Pool championships held in Blackpool, and initially, they lost in the early rounds. Not so today—the French players are now superb and a force to be reckoned with.

Who would have thought that from humble beginnings in Brittany, the new game would change the face of pool table operating and bar entertainment. It is still played throughout France today, with its traditions carried on by the SLF Company, now based in Rennes.

A simple idea still sustained and thriving.

Slate bed pool tables are available at a great price. We stock a vast selection on our website, www.pooltablesonline.co.uk.