Nashville Billiard & Patio is, indoors and out, all about recreation.
And since 1953, it’s been brought to you by the Gilchrist family.
In the late 1940s, Ray Gilchrist got his start in the billiard table business at the Saunier-Wilhem plant in Alabama. Several years after that, he moved to Nashville and took a full-time job by day; by night and on weekends, he worked on his own, traveling about to small-town poolrooms recovering used pool tables.
The Gilchrist brothers: Ronnie, Glenn and Cliff
By 1953, Ray had opened a poolroom in west Nashville, where he sold pool tables. His three sons, Ronnie, Glenn and Cliff, would join him in the business — and would then take over daily operations when he retired in the early 1990s.
Ronnie Gilchrist said that the store was primarily billiards, billiard tables and games, shuffleboard, theater seating and a few arcade games. Then, in 2013, customers started asking about outdoor furniture, and the Gilchrist brothers decided to take it outside, first with outdoor games to go around pools and then with outdoor furniture.
“We decided to move the indoors outside,” says Gilchrist.
The brothers decided that the store would specialize in being the best high-end patio furniture store in Middle Tennessee, assembling the best brand-name designers and manufacturers, including Tropitone, Patio Renaissance, O.W. Lee, Breezesta, Woodard, Jensen Leisure and Erwin & Sons, among others.
Business today
Gilchrist says this year is going to be a challenge, due partly to high levels of inventory. Merchandising and pricing is going to be key to get the surplus moved out, he says.
“We can’t wait forever to get rid of what we have,” he says. “Sales are slowing down, but our dining and indoor stuff is pretty consistent year-round. We have a good backup when patio is slow.”
Gilchrist says that the store is having to deeply discount some products and will not be buying more of certain items.
“We’re not going to hold onto a lot of inventory; it will probably take a little while to get the inventory down, but we are slowly getting there,” he says. “Most people bought during Covid and now they are coming back for umbrellas. We feel the people bought during that time and so some of the slowdown is that they already have their furniture.”
Even so, special orders are going well.
“Quite a lot of people are special ordering and now, we can get it in six weeks,” says Gilchrist. “I am pleased at what I am seeing.”
Choosing what to carry means looking at 10 or 12 mid- to high-end manufacturers, all of whom have a good reputation for quality and servicing customers.
“We need good service if I have a problem,” he says. “They need to be easy to get in touch with if there is a problem, to call and email me back fairly quickly. I do not want to wait for two days to get an answer. For the most part, it’s been good.”
Similarly, Nashville Billiard & Patio goes with the tried-and-true of advertising on television and through some social media.
“We are not price-driven,” said Gilchrist. “Price matters. We look for products — all mid-to-upper end. It’s better merchandise. Online, we have to price it out at full retail and it is always less expensive when you buy it online. But people want to sit on it. If they are price-driven, they won’t shop at our store. They will make a circle and walk out. We are not for everybody.”
Gilchrist says it works well to sell indoor furniture, gain a customer’s trust and then they will be more likely to buy outdoor furniture.
“A lot of people buy indoor and outdoor from us on the same ticket,” says Gilchrist. “At least we get a shot at them and if they do get in the market, then hopefully they will come back in and give us a shot.”
Any advice for a struggling casual retailer?
“This is a fun business,” says Gilchrist. “Everything we sell is fun. Be ready for ups and downs. Customer service means a lot and you have to watch out for that. We really always think about these reviews. You are not going to satisfy everybody — we do the best we can on that. We have lots of return customers. When people have friends over, they see the furniture and they like it and they ask, ‘Where did you get this?’’
