This gun owner and 2nd Amendment activist will never ever support him or his cronies again!
Posted on 10/19/2004 8:00:49 AM PDT by Phantom Lord
Bright light of Elmwood darkens with parting shot at government
About 8:45 a.m. Monday, just moments before he officially closed Jimmy Mac's, owner Richard E. Naylon Jr. turned to his wife, Michele, and said, "I feel like I'm about to euthanize an old friend."
Fifteen minutes later, Naylon pulled the plug and began calling his 35 full-time employees, thus ending the 23-year run of Jimmy Mac's, a popular watering hole at Elmwood Avenue and Anderson Place.
During its lifetime, Jimmy Mac's became a symbol of Elmwood prosperity, stretching the reach of the trendy strip farther south, below West Delavan Avenue and West Ferry Street.
Jimmy Mac's catered to an eclectic clientele, everyone from happy-hour yuppies to police commissioners and old pols, with a smattering of middle-class folks drawn by the upscale bar and an inexpensive menu.
In its death, Jimmy Mac's became a symbol of something else - a victim, in Naylon's mind, of oppressive state and county governments that choked the life out of Jimmy Mac's with their enforcement of the state's smoking ban.
"I never anticipated my Jimmy Mac's career ending quite like this," Naylon said Monday in front of the now-dormant bar. "There's a thousand ways to go broke in the bar business. I just never anticipated it would be at the hands of the government."
Jimmy Mac's, though, may not have taken its last breath.
Naylon said he has a letter of intent from Mark Supples, owner of Mother's Restaurant on Virginia Place, to lease the space from Naylon and his limited partnership that owns the building.
"We're working toward a deal, but as of yet, we don't have one," Supples said late Monday.
Naylon said he is negotiating to sell the business to Supples for $100,000. Before he went public with his battle over the smoking ban, Naylon said, he could have sold the business for $300,000 to $350,000.
"It's hard to demand a big number when you've been all over the newspaper and TV complaining about all the money we've lost," Naylon said.
The bar's history dates from at least the early 1970s, when the Shamrock Bar moved to that location and opened as a neighborhood tavern. In 1981, Naylon and Jim McLaughlin bought the Shamrock and changed the name to Jimmy Mac's. At the time, the Elmwood bar scene revolved around five bars - Cole's, Mister Goodbar, No Name, Bullfeathers and Casey's - all located between West Delavan and Forest.
The new bar helped the Elmwood strip become the place to see and be seen.
"Jimmy Mac's wasn't just another business on the street," said Robert Franke, executive director of Forever Elmwood, an organization that boosts business on the strip. "They played a leadership role among the other restaurants and retail shops, particularly around that end of Elmwood."
Some customers and business sources have questioned whether the smoking ban really knocked Jimmy Mac's out of business. They speculated that Naylon, who got married a few years ago and has two younger children, tired of the long hours and hands-on approach his business required.
Those sources said that even after the smoking ban was enacted, Jimmy Mac's still seemed to do a pretty brisk business.
"The place wasn't and isn't dying, but as in any business, there's a break-even point," Naylon replied, citing his gross revenue of about $90,000 per month.
When the business was going well, early in 2003, after surviving its post-9/11 problems, Jimmy Mac's was grossing $100,000 to $115,000 per month, enough to pay its bills and turn a profit, Naylon said.
Since the smoking ban went into effect in July 2003, the bar-restaurant has grossed consistently in the low $80,000s, translating into losses of about $10,000 per month, Naylon said. "What I've grown tired of," he said, "is coming in here and working for no money. If I had been making a living, I probably would have run the place indefinitely."
Naylon became the most vocal local spokesman against the smoking ban, even letting customers smoke in the bar, once they signed a slip acknowledging that they were in violation.
Last spring, Jimmy Mac's was granted a six-month waiver from the smoking ban, but an appeals court later suspended that waiver. On Oct. 1, in a hollow victory for Naylon, a state appellate court agreed with him that Erie County health officials had exceeded state guidelines in their rigid procedures for granting waivers, but the court directed only that Naylon's waiver bid be reconsidered.
Naylon still refuses to pay a $2,000 fine to the county Health Department for allowing customers to smoke.
It's just another money grab in New York.
They're 'plan' was to ban smoking and the issue 'waivers' (at a cost, of course) to any bar that applied for them.
Of course, there were townships and villages that passed their own 'bans' and therefore would not allow smoking, even with a state 'waiver'.
This plan has been a money grab ever since the states started suing the tobacco companies over 'health' issues.
But if you check the record. You will find that very little of the settlement money is used for 'health'.
Snort! Yeah right!
He still has 35 full time employees? Sounds to me like he did not make any adjustments for the drop in revenue. I would say that his management decisions may be just as at fault as the smoking ban.
For those outside of Buffalo, Jimmy Mac's was a place you'd go for lunch on a Saturday afternoon then wind up sitting at the bar for hours, a real "regular guy's" kind of bar with great food, wooden booths and a fantastic jukebox. There's nowhere else on the Elmwood strip to drink now, except if you like froufrou places like Toro (Tapas Bar) or Nektar (martini bar) where you can pay $7 a drink.. No thanks. I guess there's Merlin's but it's a much younger crowd and is kind of icky.
The only reason for us to travel into the city (besides the Sabres, another minus this year due to no hockey) is now gone. This is very sad, and I'm embarrassed to say I volunteered for Pataki's reelection, after which he signed the smoking ban.
God help the state of New York. It can't get much worse. Actually, if John Kerry gets elected, it will get worse.
BUFFALO residents, please don't forget to vote for Nancy Naples and Tom Reynolds... they're our only hope!!!
Screw these types! Out them with ridicule and resist their dictums.
I used to play at Merlins on Wednesday and Sunday nights.
People can still go drink at Bullfeathers and a couple other places, unless they have gone under as well.
I used to live next to Bullfeathers and would eat at Pano's almost every day. I enjoyed going to Bullfeathers to see Geno McManus play.
PING!
This gun owner and 2nd Amendment activist will never ever support him or his cronies again!
He's the victim of his own stupid negotiating strategy
On the contrary GOVERNMENT takes in more profit on the sales of tobacco than the tobacco companies ever dreamed of.
I ain't figured out why the state is so all-fired determined to protect the health of a bunch of drunks.
Its about the health of the employees according to the state. They shouldn't have to be exposed to cigarette smoke at work.
"He's the victim of his own stupid negotiating strategy"
If he is really losing 10,000 a month, I am surprised he can sell the business for even 100,000. Business's that lose money are only worth the equipment and fixtures minus the debt. Can't be worth much.
A fully stocked bar/restuarant can easily approach 100K in equipment and inventory. Especially if it has a large full service kitchen. Ever try to price commerical stoves, ovens, walk in fridges and freezers?
"I am surprised he can sell the business for even 100,000. Business's that lose money are only worth the equipment and fixtures minus the debt. Can't be worth much"
You obviously haven't tried to set up a bar/restaaurant business with all the furnishings and fixtures.
It's worth even more to someone who wants a turnkey operation. And yes, there are people who always think they can make a go of a losing proposition, usually because they have no experience in the business and think they have a better idea.
That is not all he is stupid about. See also my post #4
Yeah, Bullfeathers is still around, and of course Coles, Nonames and what's that place next to Coles? Can't remember. Anyway, we never hit these places much because it's always college kids in there. I don't need to be reminded how old I am while enjoying a Manhattan!!!! :-) May as well go hang out at Chippewa for that reality check!
The anti's plan goes forward.
I sometimes wonder if the chains restaurants aren't backing the anti's to drive others (nonchain) out of business.
She, Gabz, either of you got a breakdown of where the anti's get their money?
I will check my files and see what I can find, Joe! Thanks for the ping. I would have missed this one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.