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Studies say policy doesn't affect restaurant sales

BY JOHN P. MCDERMOTT
Of The Post and Courier Staff
A stack of economic impact studies have reached similar conclusions: Overall, bar and restaurant owners do not see a decline in sales when smoking is banned in their establishments.

WADE SPEES/STAFF
Dave Snyder lights up Monday night in AC's Bar and Grill on King Street in downtown Charleston.

In a 1998 report, for example, researchers examined tax data from certain North Carolina counties that have passed public smoking bans.

"Conclusion: Smoke-free ordinances do not affect restaurant sales, even in the No. 1 tobacco-producing state in the U.S.," according to literature from Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada.

Other studies found the same trend in places ranging from New York City to the state of California to West Lake Hills, Texas.

Such findings have become one of the key arguments by supporters of a new movement who want to ban smoking in public places in the city of Charleston.

"It is good for business," said tobacco industry whistle-blower Jeffrey Wigand, founder of Smoke-Free Kids, who kicked off the effort last month.

In a revival of an effort that failed in 1999, Charleston's latest anti-smoking crusade appears to be off to a strong start. Wigand's organization received a $2 million check last month from a group of trial lawyers, including locally based Ness Motley, to help fund this and other anti-smoking proposals. At the Feb. 24 public forum, speakers were applauded for their efforts, and several attendees asked how to keep the movement going.

A few dissenters at the meeting spoke out against the idea of a ban. But even they allowed that second-hand smoke may be harmful.

About 60 municipalities and three states -- California, Delaware and Florida -- have enacted ordinances that restrict smoking in public places, according to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.

In California, the ban has been well-received, according to a study by the state Department of Health Services.

The agency said 59 percent of bar customers favored smoking restrictions for bars, casinos and taverns in 1998, the year the law went into effect. By 2000, approval among such patrons had climbed to 73 percent. Meanwhile, sales taxes from California restaurants and bars rose.

A handful of area restaurant owners, including Rick Widman of Circa 1886, already prohibit smokers from lighting up.

"As far I'm concerned, they can go outside," Widman said.

Widman, who also owns several downtown inns, said smokers make up a shrinking minority at his businesses.

"When we opened the King's Courtyard Inn 20 years ago, my guess is that smokers represented 30 percent of our business," he said "They don't represent 2 percent anymore."

When Mondo's Delite opened on Folly Road five years ago, the owners decided to go smoke-free because of space constraints. They have not lifted the restriction, even though their restaurant has been enlarged, said co-owner Josh Montalto.

It has not hurt business, he said.

"People are pretty much used to it, and we can accommodate smokers outside," he said. "More than anything, people really appreciate the policy."

Hospitality Management Group Inc., the owner of Magnolias, Blossom Cafe and Cypress, allows cigarette smoking in its bar areas only, said Tom Parsell, president. "We don't see it as a major issue ... and we really haven't changed our thinking on it much," he said.

Still, he would not be opposed to an overall ban. "We wouldn't have much of a problem with that, and I don't think it would affect our business because we're a restaurant first and a bar second," Parsell said. "If something enhances the food experience, we're more concerned with that. I think we can live with it."