The owners of Westminster's Billiard Club in Over-the-Rhine will auction their business this morning after a year of trying to sell the bar.

        Chris Gruenke and Jack Kuntz will auction their business, 1140 Main St., at 11 a.m. The partners have owned the bar for five years.

        Westminster's will be sold in its entirety while its doors are still open. As a result, the sale has generated many inquiries from potential buyers, said Bryan Worley, whose company, Worley Auctioneers and Appraisers, will conduct the auction.

        The auction is “not a "one bar stool at a time' kind of auction,” Mr. Gruenke said.

        April's race riots hurt the club's business, but were not the sole reason for selling. “We have been looking to exit for awhile. As we went through the (riots) aftermath, it seemed like a good time to find new blood,” he said. The riots forced Westminster's, along with other businesses, to close for a week in accordance with city curfew.

        The owners declined to give dollar figures, but did say profits dropped 50 percent in April and reached approximately 75 percent of the average level for May. June profits are nearing normal levels, but the summer months are usually slow, Mr. Gruenke said.

        Mr. Gruenke worked at the bar full-time for the first two years of operation. But for the last three years, the owners have focused on their day jobs and don't have the time to invest in the bar, he said. Mr. Gruenke is a senior vice president for Globe Business Resources and Mr. Kuntz is chief executive officer of Intrieve Inc.

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