With more than 40 years' experience, in the table sports sector between them, father and son duo Stan and David McKenna know a thing or two about how to stand out from the crowd and give the industry product it can trust in.

Stan & David McKenna

Through their latest venture Lifestyle Leisure, based in the north west of England, the pair are aiming to provide both the trade and retail industries with high quality table sports products, accessories and spares at a competitive price as well as plethora of leisure products including everything from trampolines, to garden sports to darts boards for the home.

Established just over a year ago by David, with Stan coming on board just three months ago, the initial emphasis of Lifestyle Leisure was on the retail sector but it has recently also been appointed the official UK and Ireland importer for Belgian billiard cloth producer Simonis, a distributor for Aramith billiard balls (also Belgium-based) and the exclusive distributor for the coin-operated versions of Garlando’s foosball tables. While these deals have got Lifestyle Leisure off to a great start, both Stan and David are well aware of the saying "don’t run before you can walk" and are busy growing their stock levels and building dedicated websites to promote their various products.

While the UK coin-op market has suffered over the past few years thanks to a smoking ban quickly followed by the recession, for Stan McKenna this doesn’t mean the end of business. He told InterGame: "The UK pub market is still really difficult but what tends to happen during difficult times is that people don’t replace their equipment as much but keep what they’ve got running. To do that they obviously have to buy the spares and accessories - there has always been that need.

"Service is going to be key for us," said Stan, "we’re not alone in selling what we sell - for the retail side in particular we are going to have to be able to provide product quickly and have good stock levels while keeping competitive. We’re constantly getting asked about different products and you begin to learn the range of accessories that people want (in the retail side) and it has been surprising how enthusiastic people are. There is a definite market for products and spares - people want the variety."

David added to this, saying: "Even on the trade side of things, when they’ve got more options they’ll be tempted to give things a go."
The retail side of the business has proved very steady for the pair - while establishing a dedicated website has taken its time, it is now attracting daily sales. "We’re not limiting ourselves when it comes to the retail products we will offer," said David, "and this is one of the reasons we came up with ‘lifestyle leisure’ because there’s so much to choose from. We also sell garden games and furniture and as more people are spending time at home we can offer them a really diverse range."

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The offer in a pub has also got to be a bit different, especially at the moment, according to Stan. "If we’re going to keep the machines in the sites we’re going to have to keep updating them and make them more attractive to the players otherwise they just come out - something that is happening more and more. You’ve got to give the players something - some sort of promotion, or better equipment or something eye-catching that makes them want to play."

Starting small to begin with, Lifestyle will focus its attention on the independent operators, particularly the local operators, making it easy for them to call in and pick up equipment and spares. Ultimately the aim is to work with everyone in the UK and Ireland big or small, but for now the pair are well aware of their competition, telling InterGame: "We want to deal with high quality products. We’re not big enough to compete with the big boys in the volume market - selling high volume at lower margins is not an area we can go into. So, looking for value for money products that are of high quality is where we will focus our attention - hence the deals with Simonis, Aramith and Garlando."

Simonis speed cloth is recognised in the industry as the best available and professional and semi-professional players around the world swear by it - it also has benefits to the operators as it lasts a lot longer than other cloths available. The Aramith ball is also second to none and made of a different material that is much stronger than polyester and lasts up to five times longer. "This is product we can sell confidently," said Stan, "knowing we’re not going to have any quality issues."

Italian manufacturer Garlando is synonymous with quality foosball tables and Lifestyle will be responsible for distributing its coin-operated tables to the trade industry while sourcing the non-coin-op versions from the manufacturer’s current UK supplier, to sell on to retail customers. Branded foosball tables will also be an area of focus for Lifestyle - talking to brand and account managers who are looking to offer their clients something a bit different.

"Garlando has an in-house print facility and it is really simple and flexible as there’s no minimum order," said David. "So if you wanted a foosball table for your office canteen or reception area but branded in company colours and logos you would simply send in the specifics, Garlando would come up with a design and print it onto the side of the table - laminating it to make it hard wearing."

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While Stan and David are currently the only two full-time members of staff at Lifestyle Leisure, with the amount of work that has been involved in setting the company up so far, this is something they can both see having to change in the future - if only to help with the packing and dispatching side of things.

"There isn’t much more at the moment we could take on in the foreseeable future," said Stan. "We want to give proper justice to everything we handle rather than it being just another product in the bunch. We want to promote properly and work very closely with our suppliers and get involved in any promotions they may have going on."

"I think the range of product we’re bringing in is also a lot more thorough than anything we’ve brought in before," added David. The Aramith balls are a good example of this, according to Stan, as operators tend to buy red and yellow balls or spots and stripes. The Aramith Pro Cup TV balls are specially made to a higher quality for television with slightly different colours and are proving very popular with players, as is the red spot cue ball, which allows the player to see the side and the swerve easier compared with a plain ball.

With plans to exhibit at the second EAG Expo, being held in London in January of next year, both Stan and David have a lot to keep them occupied over the next six months in preparation for their exhibition debut.

"By this time we should be ready to show our full range and can start flying the flag a bit more for the products," said Stan. "As distributors it is important we represent them well and give the brands as much exposure in the UK and Ireland as we can."

First published June, 2010