- 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
Hahaaaaaaaa that's a HOOT! hehe!
;<)
I don't think so, we have had a ban for over 2 years now, and I have only dined in town once, and that was under duress.
Driving cars isn't a constitutional right either.
That appears to be a little over-reaction to someone not agreeing with your proposition for smoking licenses, wouldn't you think? Phantom Lord wasn't being snotty with you, and he even identified some very valid points of the pitfalls of licensing schemes, and you come back with that kind of retort? He was 100% right that rights have been eroding. Anti-smokers took the gloves off years ago and are not willing to compromise. Put in smoking areas they said. Spend money for separate ventilation systems for smoking areas they said. Aw hell, forget about it, we'll just ban it all, they now say. That constitutes nothing less than governmental taking of privately owned property without just compensation.
Fact is that it's "people like you" who are asking someone else to take care of your problems for you. Smokers are not asking for accomodation. I could care less if places banned smoking on their own, and I've been in plenty which have done just that. I used to at least have at least one drink before moving on for more ameniable accomodations, but now I don't do that anymore since anti-smokers are now telling us it's all smoke-free or nothing wherever they can. Now I walk in and say how nice, but I have to move on. Do you think any the anti-smokers crying for smoke-free places should open a smoke-free place of their own or continue to whine loudly that the business owner who put his own capital and sweat equity on the line should have a law forcing him to do it?
Oh, BTW, I didn't know private property rights were up for votes, negotiations, and compromise, especially those that belong to someone else, not you. Zoning laws are excepted to keep some things like strip clubs out of residential areas, since property owners usually know what activities are allowable in the community before they purchase the property. But to take away rights is abominable. I don't know if you do own your own business, but it is very sad how it's mostly those without their own business to worry about who are so quick to vote for such restrictions on those who do.
Actually it further supports my arguement because the DRA represents less than 400 establishments owned by less than 200 people - the vast majority of which are the big chains. There are more than 1700 restaurants in Delaware.
The only reason the DRA agreed to stop fighting the ban was because the bars were added to the ban. There are only 101 of them in Delaware. The small business man gets screwed again with the blessing of people like yourself.
I've got an idea: I don't know Florida politics and since you live there you may or may not. You don't know Delaware politics, but I have spent the past 20 years involved in it. You stop spouting crap about the Delaware smoking ban unless you have all of your facts and history correct and I won't discuss the smoking ban in Florida with you.
You have no clue what you are talking about when it comes to the Delaware smoking ban - NONE WHATSOEVER.
The truth of the matter is that the only reason it passed when and how it did was a demonRAT double cross on the GOP House majority leader by the retiring RAT Senate pro-tem.
There was no strong public or commercial support for this ban except from the paid out of state antis.
I worked this and I lived this and I lived in Delaware - I know exactly what went on. Please don't make declarative statements about things you don't know about.
It is not an over-reaction, it is the truth. I live in Los Angeles and have many friends who smoke and it does not even bother me. I also travel often to NY and other cities. The smoking ban in LA is great. There is no loss of business on a scale people are claiming. (So those 'the sky is falling' claims are BS.) Did some go under, probably. (not under my plan they wouldn't) When I travel to cities with no ban, I realize how nice it is in Los Angeles. Here I am, a non-smoker, with no real problem with smoking, suggesting that any business that wants could get a license to allow smoking on the premisis. And I am the one with the unreasonable position? Lol, I get what I want either way. Many smokers insist on getting it their way or nothing. I merely said too bad, because people like me, who are on your side, will vote to keep a ban over elimiating it completely.
Many here are crying about a regulation - as though there are not regulations on all types of businesses and the like. If half of these people believed what they said they would fight liquor licenses and most other regulations. That is not what they are fighting, they are fighting the ban on smoking. Well, I think the government has the right to ban it - I just think it is dumb and that there is a middle ground that comes close to satisfying both sides.
Fact is that it's "people like you" who are asking someone else to take care of your problems for you.
Lol, hardly. And you want no government inspections of restaurants and no minimum sanitary regulations, etc. Well, sounds nice on paper - I prefer some government regulations to none.
And the all you can drink special may or may not be related to the smoking ban. It is not all that uncommon for bars to have a one price, all you can drink night. The bars I used to go to in Buffalo were only $5!!! $10.95 is highway robbery!
How about giving ALL the relevant information of the Coach House????
You won't because you can't, because you don't know it.
Since I am familiar with the Coach House and have both eaten and spent time in the bar there I'll fill you in.
The Coach House did close because of the smoking ban - they were harrassed so badly by the smoke-snitches the owner decided it wasn't worth bothering with anymore, he had other business interests, so closed it and put it on the market for sale.
Because of the archaic nature of Delaware liquor license laws it was far easier for the purchasers to keep the name when purchasing the property and liquor license.
The last time I was in the Coach House prior to it's closing there was only one couple in any of the dining rooms. Every table and every seat in the bar area was full and all were enjoying the fabulous food.
On a Saturday evening the non-smoking dining rooms are empty, but the smoking permitted bar areas were packed. The smoking permitted bar areas didn't violate the state smoking ban because the space had been rented out by a private organization and anyone was welcome - as long as they paid the $1 membership fee to belong to the organization.
no, but you can't stop me from driving my car on my 500 acres I own....damn, you can't stop my 13 year old kid from driving there either.
Dallas has lost a fortune in conventions and the restaurant business has been affected big time because of the nazi smoking ban.
I guess the libs that run the City will just have to raise taxes to make up for the shortfall.
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