The Barstool Fund - Banks Billiards
Up next: Banks Billiards (Banks, OR)
A local favorite, Banks Billiards offers everything you need for a fun night — a full service bar, two pool tables, a shuffle board, six lottery machines, and plenty of space for outdoor drinking.
Reader Email
I’m originally from Fitchburg Massachusetts and my husband Adam Is from Vancouver Wa. We left our jobs, sold our home and used The equity for a down payment to purchase the bar which came with a small house behind the bar where we currently live.
Banks Billiards is a 100 year old bar, the only bar in our small town. We have a good size menu which serves food like pizza, burgers, phillys and halibut. We have a great customer base of locals and beach traffic. Recently we were granted the ability to allow people with children to dine during specific hours. We also have the oregon lottery with video poker that was bringing in $10k in commission income. Since being forced to close lottery has been turned off as well.
We cashed in our 401(k) to buy inventory to open in June 2016. In March 2020 our Oregon governor declared a Covid pandemic forcing the shut down of bars and restaurants. We were allowed to do take out and delivery of our food and sell growlers until we were able to re-open in June 20 20 with limited hours and limited seating per our governor. On top of this, our walk in cooler compressor failed and will be a $10k fix, our fryer caught on fire and half of our burger grill is broke. We met and interviewed with the bar rescue producers 4 times and were in the running and because of COVID they dropped us. All causing us financial strain. In November 2020 our governor shut us down again because it was right before the holidays take out and delivery orders have been very slow. The Oregon lottery shut the machines off during the governor ordered shut down. We have about two months worth of savings left. We’ve been told that the governors order expires March 3 and that she’s most likely going to renew it not allowing bars to open until June or July 2021. We will not have the money to pay our mortgage by then. If we lose the bar we will also become homeless or be forced to move in with my parents in Massachusetts as our home is attached to the bar. This is causing tremendous stress in our lives and in our marriage. Neither of us can get a secondary job as we have to work in the bar to push take out and delivery of food during the closure. We are in a very tough spot. Anything helps.
