“We relocated our business, which is publishing Pool & Billiard Magazine, to the Summerville Historic District when we decided to add a retail store, The Sporting Gift Shoppe. We’ve been in the magazine business for 22 years and thought it would be a nice add-on.

“We’ve been here a year and a half, and we’re very pleased. The historic district has made a lot of improvements over that time with parking, accessibility to the stores, and walkways alongside the parking areas.

“Part of the building we are in was once S&S Billiards. Trident Community Center is our neighbor and they’re in the majority of what had been the billiard room, but we’ve got a third of it.

“Originally, I’m from Illinois, the Chicago area. I grew up enjoying the game of pool because my father and grandfather were participants in the sport. I got out of the Navy in ’63, had a table at home, and the kids all enjoyed playing on it. I decided to get into the billiard business in 1976 by opening a billiard room in a Chicago suburb. We had that as a family business for 20 years until we relocated our magazine down here. My oldest daughter, Shari, and I started the magazine in 1984.

“We got into the magazine business because we were very active in the organization of the sport back in the early ’80s. Local pool room organizations were holding tournaments throughout the Midwest. These various room owners started an association for organized competition and we got involved in that to the point where we started doing a newsletter for the organization. The newsletter is what eventually evolved into the magazine.

“We ended up down here because when my daughter and her husband visited Hilton Head for a billiard industry conference, they spent time in Charleston and really liked the area. Shari’s husband and son both love outdoor sports and up north, you can’t do much outdoors October through April. Her daughter, who is at the College of Charleston now, owns and events horses.

“So, since we could publish our magazine from anywhere in the country, we chose to move to a place that is very nice, a great area for a family.” —as told to Jason A. Zwiker

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