Lucky Dog Billiards shows determination while opening during COVID-19 pandemic in Las Cruces
Owners Alán and Sara Armijo stand in front of Lucky Dog Billiards, 245. Lohman Ave., in Las Cruces on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2020. [Nathan Fish / Las Cruces Sun-News]
LAS CRUCES – There is no crystal ball when one decides to open a new business. It can take a long time, and there’s no telling what the future may hold. It’s a lesson that Sara and Alán Armijo have learned all too well as they try to open the city’s only pool hall — behind the 8-ball.
But, with the support of their community, they hope to survive the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and establish Lucky Dog Billiards as a national — or international — destination for billiards and darts competitions.
A plan in place
“We were set to open in March,” said Sara Armijo, who owns the pool hall with her husband, Alán. “Like all good dreams, when dreams come true, it usually doesn’t happen overnight. These things take time.”
When the couple learned that Q-Time, inside 10 Pin Alley, had closed — Alán, a dedicated pool player, grew sad.
“He’s been a pool player for about 15 years,” Sara explained. “I call him my pool player by night, my real estate appraiser by day. He owns his own real estate appraising company that he started in his early 20s. But this was his dream; it was his dream to own a pool hall, and we always thought we had to win the lottery. When we saw the bowling alley close, he was really sad and wanted to move out of state. I convinced him that we could do it on our own — if we had the right game plan, the right mentors and the right formula.”
““We were set to open in March. Like all good dreams, when dreams come true, it usually doesn’t happen overnight. These things take time.””
And Sara, who had experience in grant-writing, fundraising and community development in the local nonprofit community, helped create that formula, and put together a business plan.
“So I guess, personally, that I was confident in my husband’s dream because I had experience in writing grants and fundraising,” Sara said. “And I thought, ‘If I can fundraise for nonprofits, which are literally charities that just give away (money) — people are asking for a pool hall. That’s all I’m trying to illustrate.’”
Securing financing
Sometime between July and September of 2018, Sara took the couple’s concept to another local entrepreneur, Marci Dickerson.
“And she felt that what I was offering was a decent concept. She thought that I could get local support — like (Small Business Administration) loan support and stuff,” Sara said. “And the caveat was hard — because I’m not from New Mexico, I’m from Nevada. And the way business is done in Nevada is very different. I’ve been here since 2013, and I understood the complexities — the unique process that guides, for example, getting a liquor license.”
With Dickerson’s help, she was able to establish a relationship with Pioneer Bank, obtain an SBA loan and secure a liquor license.
“I have a great relationship with (Pioneer Bank),” Sara said. “I think it’s really hard for people who never have developed a relationship with a bank before to understand the rock-and-a-hard-place that a small business owner is stuck between — because communication and accountability are two incredibly important things to abate. And they were willing to give me a loan — like the type of loan you’d need for a house — but they gave me a $250,000 loan. I’m hoping I can show enough good will, and enough good faith, that the next time I need a loan, they’ll feel comfortable giving me $2 million. Or $4 million.”
Nevertheless, more money was needed to renovate the location, at 245 E. Lohman Ave. — including the addition of a bar, a commercial kitchen, equipment and the securing of a liquor license. That’s when Dickerson went from mentor to investor.
“I had met Sarah several times, through several community things she had done,” Dickerson told the Sun-News. “She came to me in late 2018 and told me she had an idea for a pool hall. And, at first, I kind of said, ‘Sure, I’ll be your mentor; I’ll help you with it.’ I feel very fortunate because, as I was young and starting out, people helped me and provided guidance and financial support.”
As the hurdles to opening began cropping up, Dickerson decided to invest more resources into the pool hall. She also agreed to lease the Armijos a liquor license.
“Many people have questioned why you would open in the middle of a pandemic,” Dickerson said. “But what people forget is that it has been a two-year road to get to this point. Once those assets are acquired, payments have to be made — rent has to be made, insurance has to be made. All these payments have to be made. You have to do something, instead of just sitting there, waiting.”
“I feel very fortunate because, as I was young and starting out, people helped me and provided guidance and financial support.”
High-quality billiards
The goal of Lucky Dog Billiards is to create a pool hall unlike any Las Cruces has seen. In doing so, the Armijos have invested in top-of-the-line Diamond 7-foot billiards tables. Because Diamond-brand tables are used in most regional and national competitions, they feel it could give Las Cruces players a competitive edge when competing at the national level.
“We were trying to create a space that was attractive to highly-competitive players,” Sara said. “But, because we have league teams that go play in Vegas — in the past, they were playing on billiards tables that were not the same billiards tables that they would play on in national (competition).”
If they practice on that equipment year-round, she explained, they may get higher rankings in the national tournaments.
Brand new Diamond pool tables are on display at Lucky Dog Billiards, 245 Lohman Ave., in Las Cruces on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2020. [Nathan Fish / Las Cruces Sun-News]
“We’ve had teams and individual (players) who have ranked very high; we even had a professional player who lived here — Tommy Najar — who was part of the family that owned Q-Time,” she said.
“I wanted these tables, specifically, because we would practice on other brands and go compete on Diamonds, and we’d be at a disadvantage,” added Alán, who has played competitively for many years. “The rails react differently; the pockets are cut to a slightly different shape — just little things that can be a big deal. The tables are really one of the things that make this a great place to play; plus, they’re just beautiful. They look so nice.”
The couple also hopes the investment in high-quality billiards and darts equipment will help attract national and international tournaments to Las Cruces.
The hall’s entire back room is set up with four steel tip dartboards, and they’ll be putting in an electronic, soft tip dartboard. There’s also capacity to hang additional boards, “if we want to have some bigger events,” Alán explained. “(The local dart players) don’t really have a formal league; they just sort of get together and do a blind draw and make something up every week. But I want a league with seasons, payouts at the end and qualifying events. They deserve a better structure.”
Currently, reservations are encouraged but not required. The reservations help ensure the owners abide by COVID-safe social-distancing measures and state-mandated occupancy restrictions.
“We’re trying to do a few things that are kind of unique; there’s no sense trying to compete with all of the great Mexican restaurants around here, because they already do it so well.”
Restaurant and bar to come
If all goes according to plan, the Armijos hope to have a grand opening on Wednesday, Sept. 23 — as long as New Mexico continues making progress on the COVID-19 front. This will include the addition of the full bar and restaurant, which will mostly serve bar- and finger-foods.
“We’re trying to do a few things that are kind of unique; there’s no sense trying to compete with all of the great Mexican restaurants around here, because they already do it so well,” Alán explained. “We want to do some things that are easy to eat, and not get your hands too dirty. We’ll have various pizzas, most of them personal-sized. We’re planning to do pretzel bites, with flights of dips that you can have with them. We may consider doing soups, once it starts to get a little colder.”
A restaurant and bar inside Lucky Dog Billiards, 245 Lohman Ave., in Las Cruces on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2020. The venue is planning to begin food and drink service later this month. [Nathan Fish / Las Cruces Sun-News]
While they’re still finalizing the menu, they’re also hoping to do baked wings and salads.
Because Lucky Dog is not a taproom, it didn’t qualify for a brewer’s license; and because the Armijos couldn’t demonstrate that most of their income would come from the restaurant, they didn’t qualify for a beer-and-wine license. So, the more expensive full liquor license was their only alternative.
Committed to success
“I’m all in,” Sara told the Sun-News. “My husband and I are all in. This is it. I just know that I’m not going to give up, or let the business go out of business. That’s not going to happen. We’re all in this — Pioneer Bank is in this, Marci (Dickerson) is in this, the landlords are in this.”
Too many people have committed to the project to allow it to fail, Sara explained.
“Everyone is committed to seeing this through,” she said. “And, from my standpoint, I don’t want to let these people down. I’m way too tenacious to get this far and just let it blow up. I’ve really tried to show good will to the bank, and good will to my investors, by trying hard and giving it all I have. My husband and I wanted to create something that will benefit Las Cruces.”
Alán agreed, adding that the local billiards community is desperate to compete and play.
Las Cruces native Mickey "Big Mick" Provencio shoots pool at Lucky Dog Billiards, 245 Lohman Ave., in Las Cruces on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2020. [Nathan Fish / Las Cruces Sun-News]
“They’ve contacted me constantly through construction,” he said. “They’re passionate, and they’re deserving of a good, clean place to play with top-of-the-line tables.”
Dickerson said she, too, has no plans to give up on the project.
“I am personally, actively working with Sarah and Alán to help them get set up,” Dickerson said. “It is their project, but I treat it as if it’s mine. We’re right there next to them, and helping them get set up for success — help them learn the lessons that I learned myself. I’m very dedicated to their success. We want them to grow the company and fly on their own wings. We want them to expand; I think that’s important.”
A community’s support
“We’ve done everything possible to delay the start of their payments to make sure that they were able to open and be successful,” said Pioneer Bank Executive Vice President/Las Cruces Market President Kiel Hoffman. “They didn’t finish the project until the COVID shutdown had already started. We were able to offer forbearance, in order to give them time to open.”
“They’ve been amazing, as a bank,” Sara added. “They’ve been incredibly understanding and flexible. We’re constantly in communication. They really have been supporting some of the staple businesses in our community.”
Customers play darts at Lucky Dog Billiards, 245 Lohman Ave., in Las Cruces on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2020. [Nathan Fish / Las Cruces Sun-News]
Sara said that everyone — from their landlord to their lenders and investors — have been willing to work with them, with hopes that the business will soon be able to achieve its full potential.
“We really had planned to bring something great to the community. And then COVID was like, ‘That’s cute. You wanted to bring in tourism, and start something cool here? Awww…’”
Regardless of what the COVID-19 pandemic may bring, the Armijos are committed to ensuring that Lucky Dog Billiards is not a “scratch.”
If you go:
What: Lucky Dog Billiards
Where: 245 E. Lohman Ave.
When: Monday-Sunday: 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Contact: 575-694-6990
Online:
Facebook: Lucky Dog Billiards
Twitter: @LuckyDogLC.
Damien Willis is a Lead Reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at 575-541-5443, dwillis@lcsun-news.com or @DamienWillis on Twitter.
This story originally appeared in the Las Cruces Sun-News on Sept. 7, 2020.
