The Facts About The Smoking Ban. If you're a business owner or not, this is a must read!

The Facts Online ^ | 11-01-03 | Dave Hitt

[SheLion]

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 Business	Closed?	Business Lost	Tips Lost	Jobs Lost	City	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. .

Click here to contact us.

Last Update: Saturday, November 01, 2003

© 2000 - 2003 Dave Hitt

Home       Contact Us

[E Rocc]

Conclusion: All of the best designed studies report no impact or a positive impact of smoke-free restaurant and bar laws on sales or employment. Policymakers can act to protect workers and patrons from the toxins in secondhand smoke confident in rejecting industry claims that there will be an adverse economic impact.

Translation: we must protect you from yourselves.

The part about these laws being to "protect" bar employees can be easily debunked. Most if not all of them do not penalize smokers for smoking in a bar, they fine the bar.

It's of course easier to collect fines this way as the bar has a known address and a license to protect. However, this forces the employees, not the statists, to enforce the ban, with the attendant risks that IMO are worse than low concentrations of ETS. One NYC bouncer has already been killed attempting to enforce Bloomberg's Folly.

-Eric

[Gabz]

Thank you for your honesty.

You're quite welcome. a bit of that from the other side of this issue would be refreshing for a change.

However you did not comment on the main point of my post, which was that at most my tobacco smoke is nothing more than an annoyance to some without a pre-existing health problem, not the cause of those problems.

[lewislynn]

Did someone tell them smokers aren't allowed?

Do you smoke while grocery shopping, clothes shopping, or other enclosed places where people gather too?

You managed to find one business in California with a population of over 35million and it happens to be a bowling alley (does anyone bowl anymore?) in the liberal college town of SLO where even drive-thru fast food restaurants aren't allowed.

Record Liquor License Applications in California

[Gabz]

I don't understand what insulation has to do with this topic, but I'll bite.

The house I grew up in was about 20 years old when my parents bought it in 1965 and was totally and fully insulated. And just like the house I now live in (built 1945)it was so tight that I had to have a window open in the winter even though we had steam radiators for heat.

OTOH the house I sold in Dover this past spring was built around 1970 and was so leaky and poorly insulated that my monthly natural gas bills the last few winters were more than my mortgage payment.

[E Rocc]

However you did not comment on the main point of my post, which was that at most my tobacco smoke is nothing more than an annoyance to some without a pre-existing health problem, not the cause of those problems.

Their attempt to equate annoying smell with toxicity is the reason they reject the principle of the Permissable Exposure Limit, which is the cornerstone of all other occupational toxicity exposure regulations.

-Eric

[Gabz]

Simply requiring a "smoking permitted in this establishment" sign at each entrance accomplishes the same thing without governmental interference.

Unfortunately the neeco-nasties don't see the logic in this.

[CSM]

I read the article you provedided and it is not convincing in the least. The article shows that the population growth is the only acceptable way to issue new liscences in any new area. The additional applications is more a function of the population growth.

[cherinfl]

I am CHERINFL and hope none of you confuse me with CINFLA!!

I wouldn't be associated with this person for all the tea in China!!

I live in Florida and apparently he does also! I agree with you "why is he so focused on Delaware"! Why doesn't he start giving us statistics about Florida!! Maybe he is too afraid to!!! He probably knows what the smoking ban has done to this state and doesn't want to go there!!

[CSM]

No confusion here. Good to see that the whole state isn't braindead!

[lewislynn]

The additional applications is more a function of the population growth.

Oh, OK...

I guess the fact someone buys a NEW liquor license doesn't mean there's a NEW demand for MORE non-smoking bars and restaurants, which is contrary to the myth (in California) that smoking bans cause businesses to close.

In California a license is a commodity that can be sold. In other words a business closing can sell their license and NEW licenses or record #'s of applications for them wouldn't be necessary...Would they.

AND as to growth, I thought everyone is leaving California.

[hotshot]

Maybe no has asked about the effect of closed(non-recirculating) air in a energy efficient house. It is no different than the kids trapped in the car. (check family court docs. to find out how many kids have been taken for exposure to smoke).
It would require a thought process, not a closed mind. I bought an energy house in which brown water stains would run down the walls when the humidity in the house was up due to cooking or showers.(guess what the brown running down the walls was?)

[cherinfl]

Thanks!! The way the people in this state voted for this ridiculous smoking amendment, I have to agree with you , "Most of them are Braindead"!!

They have absolutely no clue what they voted for! The anti's think it was for them, that they shouldn't have to be submitted to secondhand smoke. They voted to protect the workers not themselves!!!
I think we need to impose a non-smokers tax here in the State of Florida. Add it to their restaurant bill and then give it to the business owners who are hurting so desperately!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gabz]

CSM - you're probably going to hate me for this, but I don't think TheOtherOne's idea is really all that bad.

Think about it - a license is required to sell acoholic beverages and a different one is required to permit the consumption of said alcoholic beverages on the premises.

A license is required (in most places I am aware of) to sell tobacco products, so why not treat tobacco completely the way of alcohol?

[Hittman]

Thanks for the URLs, Gaml. I knew about Empire, and as much as I'd love to put all of their locations on the list (along with all the jobs lost) they didn't specificly say it was the result of smoking bans, just that that was a bit of a contributing factor. Unless the owners are specific, I don't put it on the list. I need this list to be as accurate as possible, and that will mean leaving out a few iffy places. After all, if I wanted to lie about it, I'd be a nicotine nanny, not a freedom fighter.

As for articles that don't post a % of loss, they're still handy for another page I'm doing, so keep 'em coming.

Where does it end?

In your own home. While some nannies claim they have no desire to go after people in their houses, anyone who has dealt with them knows they are compulsive liars. Your home is next. There is already legislation in California that would encourage apartment dwellers to sue their smoking neighbors. And in a 2001 interview John Banzhaf, one of the top nicotine nannies in the country, had this to say: "The next two obvious steps, already in progress, are restricting smoking on beeches, parks, lines, doorways, where people have to go through what they call the gauntlets of tobacco smoke, and then restricting it in homes, particularly where there are sensitive children."

As to the increases in Asthama, note that when everyone smoked everywhere, asthma was at 10% of the population. Now that smoking is prohibited just about everywhere, asthma is up to about 25%. There's some fascinating research going on about this, but the results won't be known for years. It appears that making our environemtnst too clean is unhealthy for us. We need to be exposed to toxins and irritants to build up a resistance to them. Discover magazine had a great article about it.

Keep that info coming folks! It won't appear immediately, as I add it to a database and then generate a new page after several new entries, but it will show up in a few days. And please send it directly to me at hittman@davehitt.com. That way you can be sure I'll get it.

[maryz]

As to the increases in Asthma, note that when everyone smoked everywhere, asthma was at 10% of the population. Now that smoking is prohibited just about everywhere, asthma is up to about 25%. There's some fascinating research going on about this, but the results won't be known for years. It appears that making our environemtnst too clean is unhealthy for us. We need to be exposed to toxins and irritants to build up a resistance to them. Discover magazine had a great article about it.

Sounds related to an article I read about a British physician hypothesizing that the increase was due to overvaccination, preventing the proper development of the immune system. I've also read recently that children raised from babyhood in homes with pets are far less likely to develop severe allergies.

[Gabz]

In a typical anti-smoker fashion "cinnie" only gave part of the facts in regard to the one place he claimed to have called, the coach House.

As I explained in another post "cinnie" is correct the Coach House is open and serving lunch - what he failed to explain is the FACT that the Coach House was closed because of the smoking ban and put on the market for sale.


But of course that is typical of the spin put on these things by the antis. Honesty is not a word in their vocabulary if the truth varies even one iota from their talking points.

[Gabz]

Good grief - don't get me started about roach droppings and associated problems!!!!

Believe me I am more than happy to have an occasional mouse in a trap now that I live in the country than ever again deal with the roach problem of "city" living!!!!

[BlueNgold]

Here's an idea: perhaps we actually let the ATF do it's job and quit farming out their business to every other dept under the sun... License for a business to allow smoking, sure I'm fine with that. Post prominently that smoking IS allowed in this establishment. Many restaurants/bars post menus and schedules at the door so people can decide at the door if they want to enter ... why can't non smokers/smokers choose the same way? The insane part is that 'private clubs' are also restricted in many places, how stupid is THAT?

[CSM]

"I think we need to impose a non-smokers tax here in the State of Florida. Add it to their restaurant bill and then give it to the business owners who are hurting so desperately!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Finally, a tax proposal I could support! Lets gore that ox!

[CSM]

Gabz, I could never hate you. You have done to much for freedom for me to take one aspect of an opinion and hold it against you....

Anyway, I see liscenses for anything as a restriction of use of private property. They do nothing more than confiscate that property. I understand the point and if the offer was made to back off of a ban by issuing liscenses, then I would consider it an improvement. However, I still wouldn't accept it as right!

What you would end up with is the same situation as the liquor liscenses. You would have a state mandated limit as to the number of liscenses by ratio of the population. If they don't restrict the number, then what would be the point of a tobacco liscense? They could accomplish the same thing by just forcing all businesses to pay an extra annual tax and allow the business owner to make the decision. The only thing a liscense ends up being is a tax!