Brunswick Purchases Valley-Dynamo

[Fred Agnir]

From rec.sport.billiard

ga80486@aol.com (GA80486) wrote >
>
> Brunswick Acquires Valley-Dynamo For $34.5 Million
>
> LAKE FOREST, IL -- Brunswick Corp. (NYSE: BC) announced today that it has
> acquired the assets of Valley-Dynamo LP for $34.5 million from private
> investment firm Fenway Partners Inc. and an individual investor, each of which
> had owned 50 percent of the company. “Brunswick is the leader in the
> commercial and home billiards market,” said Brunswick chairman and CEO George
> W. Buckley, “adding Valley-Dynamo, the leader in the coin-operated
> tables, to the Brunswick family provides us access to this attractive
> (coin-op) channel.” John Stransky, president of Brunswick Billiards, added:
> “Valley-Dynamo enjoys huge brand equity in the markets it serves.

I hope this bodes well for the 39MM+ "pool players" out there whose only experience in playing this game has been limited in the closed arena of bar pool. Does anyone know if Brunswick has any intentions in improving the Valley-Dynamo designs to incorporate some of the features that better pool players enjoy? Cue ball, cushions, raised metal corners, the list goes on..

Personally, I thought the recent change to the magnetic cue ball (blue/green Aramith logo) for the Valley/Dynamo tables was a half-assed attempt. I would love to see Brunswick with all their resources to provide a ball return system that would use a regular cue ball. Then they could retrofit the entire nation, or at least offer it on new bar boxes. Maybe then, the masses who are counted as playing this game can truly understand the beauty of it.

Anyone have inside information on Brunswick's plans? Should we all mass e-mail them to let them know that pool players want changes? Do we want changes? Does anyone else out there give a damn?

Fred <~~~ gives a damn

[Ralph S.]

Fred, I, like you give a damn. I would like to see advancements made to the bar tables. Diamond has already been doing this but unfortunately, it is hard to get places to change out tables, especially when there is an expense involved. The biggest improvement I would like to see on a Valley bb is better playing surfaces and tables that arent so prone to becoming unlevel so easily.

[Eric.]

Fred,

You beat me to the punch on this post.

I had a conversation with Greg Sullivan/Diamond billiards, yesterday. Coincidentally, one of the topics was "What if Brunswick, the "800lb Gorilla in the Pool industry, were to improve the Valley/Dynamo barbox? What if the standard of Barboxes were close to the regular size tables (ala Smart Table) where you played on Simonis cloth with normal cueballs?

I think this is the right time. The Golden Opportunity for amateur poolplayers to possibly make an overdue change in the game. Maybe if Brunswick received enough e-mails concerning the Valley tables, they might consider a mini Gold Crown? I would love to play on a "Gold Crown Barbox".

Any thoughts or opinions? E-mail Brunswick. Who knows, they might listen.

http://www.brunswick.com/ (click Contact Us on the bottom)



Eric

[Steve Lipsky]

I don't know... I find it pretty telling that Brunswick has bought a possibly sinking ship. From a business standpoint, how can they justify buying a product that has just been proven obsolete?

They can say all they want about how Valley is entrenched in the bar table market, but how long will this last? With Diamond revolutionizing the arena, it is only a matter of time before the Smart Table eats away that Valley market share.

I also do not find it surprising that Valley chose this time to sell. They had a good run, probably realized it wasn't looking as promising anymore, and hurriedly found a buyer.

If Brunswick had tried to buy Diamond (and I don't know, maybe they did), that would have boded well for the future of this game. It would have indicated - even if Diamond had rejected the offer - that Brunswick understands where the game is going.

If Brunswick truly intends to transform the Valley into a playable table, I would be shocked. Why not just come out with their own, and then use their considerable muscle to break into the market?

- Steve

[Wally_in_Cincy]

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote Steve Lipsky:</font><hr>

...Why not just come out with their own, and then use their considerable muscle to break into the market?

- Steve <hr /></blockquote>

Easier to buy an estabilished product than go thru the grief of breaking into a sewn-up market....I guess /ccboard/images/graemlins/confused.gif /ccboard/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Tom_In_Cincy]

Fred,
I posted my thoughts about this Old Post (http://www.billiardsdigest.com/ccboard/showthreaded.php?Cat=&amp;Board=ccbboard&amp;Number=55358&amp; Forum=All_Forums&amp;Words=bar%20tables&amp;Match=Entire%2 0Phrase&amp;Searchpage=2&amp;Limit=25&amp;Old=allposts&amp;Main=55 358&amp;Search=true#Post55358)

Not too many posters seemed interested.

But to have a bar table that has, at the very least, similar conditions from one bar to another (or even in the same bar for that matter) would just be a positive for the industry and poolplayers.