Aiming to pool in business

Paul Clinton

With people staying at home for entertainment in the post-Sept. 11

world, Joe Fiscella expects a merry holiday season for sales of pool

tables and other gaming equipment.

If his projection materializes, it would be a dramatic turnaround

from last year’s dire winter at Triangle’s Game Room Gallery.

“Last Christmas was the worst I’ve ever seen,” Fiscella

said.”[Sept. 11] just gave it the one-two. It just killed everybody’s

Christmas spirit.”

And even though the economy is still slumping, Fiscella has seen

his sales pick up, especially from customers who have recently bought

homes in Newport Coast and are looking to Fiscella to stock their

game rooms.

He derives about a third of his yearly sales from the months of

November and December.

In addition to pool tables, Fiscella offers jukeboxes, darts,

foosball tables, air hockey games and shuffleboard. He also sells

much of the accompanying accessories, including cue-stick wall racks,

balls, lighting, bar stools and even large faux marlins for wall

decorations.

Of course, the pool tables are his bread and butter.

As the exclusive Orange County dealer for the Brunswick Corp.,

Fiscella offers a wide range of tables -- everything from the solid

mahogany Windsor and Montebello -- selling for $7,000 and $9,000,

respectively, to The Anniversary, a 1940s-style table with a $7,000

price tag.

His average table sells for $3,000 to $5,000, with a range of $300

to $25,000.

Even though many of his tables sell as luxury items, Fiscella says

he still tries to give his customers a lot of bang for their buck.

“We like to give people good value,” Fiscella said. “We have to

service the community. We’re here to bring a little joy and fun into

people’s lives.”

Fiscella, who also owns a store in Orange, sold his first pool

table in 1978, a $300 Falcon table.

As for the table in his Garden Grove home, Fiscella, 50, said he

owns The Cardinalle, a hand-carved 1978 model created by master

carver Raymond Enkeboll.

There are only several hundred worldwide.