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What happened to Dufferin Games? Yes, Dufferin games was a chain retailer that you would typically see in your local mall where you could buy all of your billiard and other gaming supplies. You probably noticed that sometime around 2004 they disappeared. Did Dufferin Games go out of business? Yes, Dufferin Games filed for bankruptcy in Canada in 2004. Here is a little history of the company whose slogan was Quality, Tradition, Family and Fun.
Out of a single wood specialty business had grown four highly successful companies; Dufferin Cue Ltd., Canada's largest manufacturer of billiard cues; Dufferin Leisure Ltd., Canada's largest billiard table manufacturer; Selinger Wood Ltd., a hardwood custom dimension mill producing woods for billiard cues, billiard tables, bowling lanes and other leisure items; Dufferin Games Ltd., a national retailer of family games and billiard equipment with many retail stores across Canada.
The roots of Dufferin Games began when founders Al and Elizabeth Selinger purchased a small custom wood business called Dufferin Patterns & Wood Specialties in Toronto, Canada in 1967. Renaming it Dufferin Cue, the Selingers focused on producing the highest quality billiard cue at the best possible price, manufacturing 5,000 cues in the first year.
To produce the straightest cues, the Selingers hired expert wood craftsmen and built their own custom cue manufacturing equipment. Today, Dufferin Cue is the most technically advanced volume cue manufacturing facility in the world, producing more than half a million cues annually in 50 different models. Three-quarters of the Dufferin Games cue line are distributed on every continent worldwide including U.S., Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Central America, South America, and the Far East.
The Dufferin Games one-piece Hi-Run cue is an industry standard and is considered the standard "house" cue purchased by most commercial establishments worldwide. An estimated 75 per cent of North American clubs insist on Dufferin Games cues.
In 1978, the Selingers purchased a woodworking facility in Goderich, Ontario and established Selinger Wood Ltd. to ensure consistent supply of the highest quality hard maple for cue production.
In 2000-2004, Dufferin's Wood Products Division processed 5 million board feet of wood per year. The wood was used as raw material for Dufferin Games cues, billiard tables and accessories as well as flooring, toys, furniture, tool handles, bowling lanes, bowling pins and other leisure items.
Six years after acquiring the hardwood custom dimension mill, the Selingers continued to expand their business and their presence in the Canadian billiard industry with the purchase of a small plant that produced about 300 billiard tables per year. Dufferin Games is now Canada's largest billiard table manufacturer producing more than 5,000 tables annually in several different models. Dufferin Games also produces billiard room accessories such as game room furniture, cue racks and scoreboards.
Over many years, Al and Elizabeth Selinger built Canada's leading billiard-manufacturing enterprise. In the mid 1980's they launched a chain of Canadian-based retail stores. This retail division is now a highly successful chain of franchised and corporately owned locations called Dufferin Games. The stores offer all the essentials for a great time with family and friends - from Dufferin Games billiard tables, cues and game room furniture and accessories, to table tennis, foosball, table hockey, dart boards, board games, electronic games, puzzles and novelty gifts. Today Dufferin Games is a leading Canadian retailer setting new standards of excellence and winning awards for its innovative concept and retailing strategies. In 1996, Dufferin Games won the Retail Council of Canada's Excellence in Retailing Award for Staff Motivation and Development. Additionally, in 1996 and 1997 the company was a Finalist in the Retail Marketing and Advertising category, and in 1997 and 1998 the company was a Finalist in the Store Design and Layout category. In 1998, the company was a Finalist in the Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year Award competition
Before bankruptcy, they had a rosy vision for the Future. Since the early attempts to produce the world's straightest billiard cue in 1967, over 30 years later the Dufferin Games brand is now considered synonymous with the "best" in billiards around the world. With the recent amalgamation of the Dufferin Group of Companies, Dufferin Games Ltd. is poised for continued success including growth in the export markets and strategic expansion of the Dufferin Games retail chain. It's a Canadian success story based on the principles of quality, tradition, family and fun.
Others have claimed that Dufferin has not gone out of business. On a cue sport forum thread I was reading, there was indication that they have moved their operations to Japan. The person claims to have found several websites online in 2005 selling Dufferin cues they say are new 2006 models. I have yet to verify this information.
Another forum poster claims that Cue & Case has purchased Dufferin's brand name and will be making Dufferin one piece bar cues in China which will be sold at retail in North America. Apparently they wanted to capitalize on Dufferin cue's excellent reputation. That poster claims "As to the quality of these "New Dufferin cues" I can't say as I have not seen them yet for testing."
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This content What Happened to Dufferin Games was created by Billiards Forum Editor on 6/7/2008 9:26:00 AM, and was updated on 6/7/2008 9:26:00 AM.
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