- Michael LeBoeuf
Posted on 11/06/2003 7:28:30 AM PST by SheLion
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| Every company's greatest assets are its customers, because without customers there is no company. - Michael LeBoeuf |
Businesses Harmed by Smoking Bans
Anti-smoking organizations insist that bans are somehow good for people in hospitality businesses. This chart shows otherwise. These businesses have lost a significant portion of their business as a direct result of smoking bans. Many are closed. Many that are still open have told us they doubt they'll survive much longer.
Most of this information comes directly from businesses that have contacted me or my colleagues. Some comes from newspaper articles. Blank spaces in the chart represent data that is unavailable, or that doesn't apply. (For instance, a distributor doesn't receive tips, and many owner-operators of small taverns don't have any employees other than themselves and family members.)
Business Type Of
BusinessClosed? Business
LostTips
LostJobs
LostCity State
Crocodile Cafe Restaurant Closed 100% 100% Tempe AZ Pooch's Easy Street Billiards Pool Hall Closed 100% 100% Tempe AZ Laurel Bowl Bowling Alley Closed 100% 100% San Luis Obispo CA 385 league bowlers quit when the smoking ban went into effect, with a loss of $200,000. Laurel Bowl had been in business for 37 years before the ban. Alexander Mackenzie Inn Hotel Not Yet 92% 16 Fort St. John CAN "Since we were `beaten' into compliance by the WCB, our business has dropped in the lounge from $1,000 a day to $80. " Beacon Hill Arms Tavern Closed 100% 100% Ottawa CAN Dave O'Connor, who successfully ran Ottawa's Beacon Hill Arms pub for nine years, said the ban forced him out of business. "From September to February, we lost close to $80,000 in sales" Bud's Place Tavern Not Yet 23% Cambrage CAN Gardeli's Bar/Restaurant Closed 100% 100% Castlegar CAN Hemingway's Bar/Restaraunt Not Yet 40% 6 Ottawa CAN MacKenzie Lounge Tavern Not Yet 80% Yellowknife CAN Mingles Coffee Shoppe Coffee Shop Closed 100% 100% Kitchener CAN Rupert Pub Tavern Closed 100% 100% Prince Rupert CAN Sky Garden Restaurant Closed 100% 100% 6 Ottawa CAN "It was 100% because of the bylaw. Sales dropped 50%. Our cups of coffee were down 400 to 500 a day, our meals 20 to 30 a day." The Patch Tavern Not Yet 70% St. Albert CAN Tubbys Pizza Pizza Parlor Not Yet 20% 2 Crescentwood CAN Back Stage Cafe Bar/Restaurant Closed 100% 100% 20 Wilmington DE Coach House Bar/Restaurant Closed 100% 100% 8 Wilmington DE Just Mugs Saloon Tavern Not Yet 33% Bear DE Naamans Cafe Restaurant Closed 100% 100% 8 Wilmington DE Elks #1795 Lodge (Private Club) Not Yet 40% 22% Fort Walton FL "Charity money is down 45%. Our Charities are Kids of Florida and the Veterans. That is who is really getting hurt the most by this!" Elks #2256 Lodge (Private Club) Not Yet 20% 30% Pensacola Beach FL "We've lost 70 members because of the ban" Elks #2273 Lodge (Private Club) Not Yet 60% 60% 1 Plantation FL Melons Bar & Grill Bar/Restruant Not Yet 50% Port Charlotte FL The Falls Restaurant Closed 100% 100% Naples FL "We lost 70 percent of our income," Renzello said. "The law put us out of business." 90 percent of her customers were smokers. Bart's Bar/Restaurant Closed 100% 100% Louisville CO Bart's had been in operation for nearly 30 years. Gold Mine Restaraunt Bar/Restaraunt Not Yet 50% 50% 2 Fall River MA "There should be places for both the smoker and nonsmoker. I do not smoke but you are killing our business!!! " Buffalo Wings and Beer Bar/Restruant Not Yet 50% Gaithersburg MD Gentleman Jim's Restaurant Not Yet 40% Gaithersburg MD J.J. Muldoon's Bar/Restaurant Not Yet 20% Gaithersburg MD Middlebrook Restaurant and Lounge Bar/Restaurant Not Yet 50% Germantown MD "I'm so bitter today because I have worked too hard to keep this business going. It's just not fair." Pelican Pete's Restaurant Not Yet 60% Germantown MD Tommy Joe's Restaurant Restruant Not Yet 30% Bethesda MD Nutshell Tavern Tavern Closed 100% 100% Biddeford ME Village Variety Closed 100% Fryeburg ME Grandma's Restaraunt Not Yet 33% Cloquet MN Perkins Restaraunt Not Yet 26% Duluth MN Aessa Bar/Restaurant Not Yet 35% 6 New York NY Argyle's EasyStreet Tavern Tavern Not Yet 12% Cortland NY Athens Cafe Restaurant Not Yet 55% 10 Astoria NY Blessed Sacrament Church Bingo Not Yet 50% Albany NY Brazen Head Pub Tavern Not Yet 40% Monroe NY Brown Shanty Tavern Not Yet 20% 1 Watertown NY Champions Billiards Cafe Brew Pub/Pool Hall Not Yet 33% Parkville NY Chili American Legion Post 1830 Private Club Not Yet 70% Scottsville NY Coleman's Irish Pub Bar/Restaurant Not Yet 19% 4 Syracuse NY Crossroads Steak House Restaurant Closed 100% 100% Kennedy NY Delmar Sportsman's Tavern Tavern Not Yet 30% 1 Massena NY "We had hoped...nonsmokers who haven't been frequenting taverns due to the smoke-filled air would make up for at least some of the financial loss. Unfortunately, at least in our place, this has most definitely not happened. Our sales are at an all time low" Desperado's Tavern Not Yet 90% Wallkill NY "I can count on my fingers the people who don't smoke who come in here. The regulars say they won't come." Dodesters Tavern Not Yet 9% Syracuse NY Eagle Beverage Company Distributor Not Yet 25% N/A Oswego NY "Deliveries to pubs and taverns have decreased substantially, greater than 25 percent." Edigan's Restaurant Closed 100% 100% Binghamton NY End Zone Bar/Restaurant Not Yet 30% 1 Liverpool NY Euzkadi Restaurant Not Yet 50% New York NY Fiddler's Green Tavern Closed 100% 100% New York NY We have just lost too many customers to this law, which I did not vote for, bar owners did not vote for, bartenders did not vote for, and the public did not vote for." Finish Line Bar/Restaurant Not Yet 40% 2 Bellerose NY Fountain Bowl Bowling Alley Not Yet 40% N/A 8 Jamestown NY Golden Rail Ale House Tavern Not Yet 75% Newburgh NY Harry's Hanover Square Bar/Restaraunt Closed 100% 100 New York NY "Overnight, we lost 60 percent of our evening bar trade. For the bar, it was the difference in profit and loss. Sales of expensive cigars had been almost as important as the sales of Scotch" Harry's had been in business for more than thirty years Holmes & Watson's Tavern Not Yet 30% Troy NY Hotel McDonald Hotel Not Yet 70% Bath NY Just One More Tavern Not Yet 30% Bath NY Liberty Lanes Bowling Not Yet 27% Camden NY Mama Lena's Restaurant Closed 100% 100% Binghamton NY Mama Lena's had been in business for more than 40 years. Mel's Place Tavern Not Yet 78% 100% Falconer NY "When we bought this place, we throught we were buying our American Dream. We ran it successfully for 10 years. Now the government is stripping us from making a living. " Middleport Inn Bar/Restaurant Closed 100% 100% 13 Middleport NY "This damn state really knows how to kill people's dreams." Millennium Restaurant Not Yet 40% 3 New York NY Nibsy's Pub Bar/Restaurant Not Yet 18% Syracuse NY Rafferty's Bar/Restaurant Not Yet 35% 2 Syracuse NY Richard's Ole Timer Bar/Restaurant Not Yet 17% 1 Clay NY Roesch's Tavern Tavern Closed 100% 100% 5 New York NY This had been a family business for more than a century Salingers Tavern Not Yet 35% 2 Rochester NY Sevens Bar Tavern Not Yet 10% Malone NY Shamrock Tavern Tavern Not Yet 50% Oswego NY "It's not right. Our livelihood is being taken away." Slade Restaurant Not Yet 40% New York NY Slick Willie's Billiard Hall Not Yet 25% Tonawanda NY Stumble Inn Tavern Closed 100% 100% Champlain NY Taylor's Trackside Bar/Restaurant Not Yet 50% Remsen NY Temple Israel Bingo Not Yet 50% Albany NY According to Herb Holland, some of the regulars told volunteers that they would abstain from playing bingo, to protest the smoking ban. He hasn't seen them since. The Lilly Pad Tavern Closed 100% 100% Falconer NY The Lodge at the Lake Inc Bar/Restaurant Not Yet 50% 1 Broadalbin NY The Loft Tavern Not Yet 30% Frewsburg NY "Our town has no attractions to draw in outsiders. We have only locals to rely on as patrons and 95% of them smoke. It will be worse when the snow sets in." The Roadhouse Tavern Not Yet 40% Brewster NY Thompson Road Tavern Bar/Restaurant Not Yet 25% Syracuse NY Village Tavern Bar/Restaurant Not Yet 10% Marcellus NY Bliss' Steak Ranch Restaurant Closed 100% 100% Eugene OR Closed after 32 years in business Doc's Pad Tavern Closed 100% 100% 24 Eugene OR "Let's face it, the economy is horrible. But for us specifically, the smoking ban was the knockout punch." The Olsen family had owned Doc's for 16 years. Max's Tavern Tavern Closed 100% 100% Eugene OR The Peacock Tavern Not Yet 40% Corvallis OR Connor owned the Peacock for years - and says it was the ban that caused him to sell the bar. He says business gross fell from $1.5 million in 1997, the year before the ban went into effect, to $900,000 last year. China One Restaurant Closed 100% 100 Round Rock TX
CAN=Canada
If your business has been harmed by a smoking ban, or if you know of one that has been, please let us know. If possible, have the owner contact us. Newspaper articles are also welcome. Please include the URL. .
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Last Update: Saturday, November 01, 2003
I am rather surprised that the State of Florida has a total smoking ban. How did such a bill bass in such a conservative state?
ok, I know this one does not back up his statements with fact, however I will bite....this is based on? Go ahead educate me as I am just a dumb constitutionalist.
In MA, Brookline (along with parts of Cambridge)is the root and source of anti-smoking Nazi activity and has been for years. I would be surprised to hear that there actually were more than one or two smoking restaurants in Brookline prior to the ban, and those in the declasse section.
I personally was lied to by several of them, as were some owners of bars and restaurants that I know.
I think they just waaaaaay overestimated the number of people who stayed away from bars/restaurants because of the smoke.
I agree with you. and they totaly UNDERestimated the number of people who would stay away if the ban went into effect. nearly all of my non-smoking friends don't go out as often as they used to for reasons that I posted in another post - includingthe fact that most of their smoking friends are not going out as much and the local hotspots are no longer so hot.
A study by Cornell University researchers found that a smoke-free policy attracted more businessand revenue to restaurants than it drove away. The study examined how New Yorkers’ dining habitsand spending patterns changed in the four months following New York City’s Smoke-Free Air Actimplementation. The results showed that non-smokers are eating out more, and are more thanmaking up for the lost revenues caused by smokers not eating out as frequently. (David Corsun et.al., “Should NYC’s Restaurateurs Lighten Up?” Cornel Hotel and Restaurant AdministrationQuarterly, April 1996.)•
Bogus, New York City didn't really have what you could consider a smoking ban at this time. Smoking was only banned in the dinning areas of restaurants that had more than 35 tables (which is a pretty good sized restaurant) and you could smoke at the bar or lounge.
A survey of Massachusetts adults, published in the American Journal of Public Health (Dec. 1997)found that an overwhelming 89% of respondents would go out to bars more often or the sameamount if all bars in the state were 100% smoke free.•
Bull, A push poll. 89% of the adult population doesn't go out to bars to begin with and won't no matter what the smoking policy is.
A study of the aggregate restaurant sales data from West Lake Hills, Texas (a suburb of Austin)found that the city’s smoke-free ordinance enacted in June 1993 did not decrease sales revenueamong restaurants. (“Assessment of the Impact of a 100% Smoke-Free Ordinance on RestaurantSales West Lake Hills, Texas,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Centers for Disease Controland Prevention, May 19, 1995.)•
Really than why are there no restaurants in Wake Hills Texas left?
A study of the economic impact of smoke-free bar ordinances on bar sales in seven Californiacommunities found no significant impact on business. Published in the American Journal of PublicHealth, the University of California study (Dr. Stanton Glantz and Lisa Smith) examined sales taxreceipts for five California cities and two counties that have laws requiring bars to be 100% smokefree. They found that none of these communities suffered any significant loss of business due to thesmoke-free bar ordinances. In fact, relative to total retail sales, bar sales actually increased in all butone of the communities.• A study of 15 communities in California and Colorado concluded that smoke-free ordinances donot hurt restaurant sales. (Stanton Glantz and Lisa Smith, “The Effect of Ordinances RequiringSmoke-Free Restaurants on Restaurant Sales,” American Journal of Public Health, July 1994.)• The publishers of Zagat Restaurant Guides found in their annual survey of more than 16,000 NewYork City restaurant patrons that eating out had increased in the six months since the city’s cleanindoor air law took effect. (Nov. 15, 1995, Press Release, 1996 Zagat NYC Restaurant Survey.)•
Stan the sham Glantz is not a doctor he's an electrician, He is lying. Nuff Said
A study of the aggregate meal tax receipts in Brookline, Massachusetts found that a smoke-freepolicy for all restaurants did not have a measurable immediate effect on the city’s total restaurantbusiness. (“Preliminary Analysis of the Economic Impact of Brookline’s Restaurant Smoking Ban,”Health Economics Research Inc., November 20, 1995.)•
Garbage again because they only measured "Meal Tax receipts"
Why didn't they measure the whole restaurant buisness? The obviously reason is the restaurants were hurt. A restaurant can lose a significant part of their profits and the Meal tax receipts won't necessary change. Plus that includes things like McDonalds.
A study of restaurant sales data in Flagstaff, Arizona, found that the city’s restaurant smoking bandid not adversely affect restaurant sales. (John Sciacca et. al., “Prohibiting Smoking in Restaurants:Effects on Restaurant Sales.”)
Just like NYC previously there is no real smoking ban in Flagstaff, The ban is only for the "Dining" areas of restaurants. So you can still smoke at the bar or lounge.
Now look at the current NY studies.
One in 10 jobs in the New York pub and bar sector have been lost since the city introduced its ban on smoking in the workplace in March.
http://www.thepublican.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=11342&d=32&h=24&f=23&dateformat=%o %B %Y
Cig Ban Leaves Lot Of 'Empties'
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/75483.htm
Plus is Smoking is so unpopular than why are New Jersey Bars booming? If people were looking for smoke free places than New Jersey should be hurting because the non-smokers would be going to New York, but that isn't happening..
New York's smoking ban is a boon for out-of-state bars and restaurants
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/08/02/national0357EDT0441.DTL
Butts ban in city a boon in Jersey
There is nothing in cigarette smoke to cause an increase in histamines, so you are not allergic to smoke.
I know you won't believe this because it doesn't suit you. People like you never let facts get in the way of whining.
You mean it is the nanny-state when 89% of the population and the Restaurant Association support a law?
Excuse me?
ETS does not CAUSE asthma. Period.
It may cause an asthmatic reaction but it does not cause asthma.
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