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. .

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Last Update: Saturday, November 01, 2003

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[cinFLA]

In a state as small as Delaware, one does not continue having access to information without having more than just an iota of credibility.

Please post some actual data; not just your ramblings ...

[xrp]

Please post some actual data; not just your ramblings ...

Please post some actual data; not just your ramblings ...

[Gabz]

A sampling of several of the centers shows the feared flight of league players has not materialized.

Who did the sampling???? And what is their agenda???

A sampling of the pool leagues, generally found in bars will show that most that existed at this time last year - either don't exist or are playing in Maryland or if they have stayed in Delawre are utilizing the Elks and Moose Lodges.

Who did that sampling? - the owners of the bars that have lost their pool leagues. You won't see that printed in the News Journal - because the editorial position of that left wing rag is totally in favor of the ban and will not print anything that shows the ban to be hurting business.

[cinFLA]

Banning smoking in restaurants, frankly, is not that big a deal. It is happening all over the country," said Repace. "The State of California did it years ago. What they found was that there was not a flow, or at least a net flow, of trade across the lines. I have no doubt that some smokers may have gone over the line. But, since non-smokers outnumber smokers by about four to one, the revenues from hospitality went up markedly in restaurants after the smoking ban," he explained. "Prior to that, the revenues were flat. There is either no adverse economic impact or beneficial impact."

[Gabz]

You have got to be kidding me??????

Are you so dense as to not realize I was refering to what I know about how the vote on the ban came about????

Obviously you are.

How much time have you spent in the capitol of Florida to know what is going on in your state, or do you just rely on the media and the internet to know what is going on????

I've spent the past 21 years working with the government of Delaware in one way or another, and plan to continue to do so come January and the return of the Legislature.

If anyone is rambling it is you. and if you think you are going to use your ramblings to avoid the point that you were caught misrepresenting something I said about something I know more about than you - you are seriously mistaken.

[cinFLA]

April 1, 2003 (Chicago) -- Anti-smoking groups have long contended that smoking bans can have a positive effect on public health, and now they have proof: When Helena, Mont., enacted a smoking ban in public buildings, there was a 60% drop in heart attack admissions at local hospitals.


"What surprised us was how quickly there was an impact from this ordinance," says Richard Sargent, MD, who presented the study at the American College of Cardiology's 52nd Annual Scientific Session. "Also interesting, we found that people from the surrounding area around Helena, where smoking was permitted, still had similar heart attack levels. I liken it to a doughnut. In the hole is smoke-free Helena. In the dough is high-smoke, high-heart-attack surrounding area."


"This striking finding suggests that protecting people from the toxins in secondhand smoke not only makes life more pleasant; it immediately starts saving lives," says co-author Stanton Glantz, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, Cardiovascular Research Institute and a statistics authority. "This work substantially raises the stakes in debates over enacting and protecting smoke-free ordinances."

[xrp]

Ok thanks. So you're saying that you are all for government intervention in private business. Who is on Soros' payroll now, commie!!??

[auboy]

BTTT

[xrp]

Rights derive from society. Without society's wish to grant your rights, you have no rights.

559 posted on 07/16/2003 1:43 PM PDT by cinFLA

[Gabz]

Repace is paid to say those kinds of things.

Please - give me someone who is at least credible.

Considering you are in Florida, I will go out on a limb and assume you are well aware of the wind strengths of a hurricane. Are you aware that Repace considers 300mph winds to be "gale force"????

[cinFLA]

New York City: A study published in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, reported that hotels and restaurants in New York City experienced increases in taxable sales revenue after the 1995 smokefree air act took effect. Furthermore, the sales at eating and drinking establishments in NYC went up as a percentage of both total sales in the city and total restaurant sales from New York State after the law was implemented. Researchers stated that, “Based on these data, it can be concluded that the smoke-free law did not harm the restaurant industry in New York City.” (Hyland, Cummings, and Nauenberg, “Analysis of Taxable Sales Receipts: Was New York City’s Smoke-Free Air Act Bad for Restaurant Business?” Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, January

[Beck_isright]

Give it up. cinFLA is a neo-socialist. He likes some aspects of capitalism, but God forbid his comforts are disturbed because you are doing something on your property, thus he believes the state should control most aspects of ownership. He believes property is part of the state and you have no rights to it. In other words he is the perfect poster child for DU. And he's only on the smoking and other property rights threads to agitate. His drivel has long ago been ignored and discounted by numerous Constitutionalists. Don't waste your breath. You're speaking to McAuliffe's little clone when you argue with the moron.

[cinFLA]

Please - give me someone who is at least credible.

Please give me something! You have posted NO facts to support your basis. If you are so 'linked' to the capital in-crowd, you surely must have your hands on some 'real data' ....

[xrp]

Hey, you don't have to convince me about it. I'm a non-smoker and I patronize the establishments that are exclusively non-smoking restaurants. However, I do not think that I should force my choice upon a private business owner who believes that he/she can get better revenue with an environment that permits smoking. See how it works?

[Gabz]

That's it - there is no talking to you at all.

Stanton Glantz is a mechanical engineer who has taken courses in cardio-related stuff. He brings buckets of $$$$$$ to UCBerzerkly because of his anti tobacco stance.

He has claimed a study that is not coming out the way he wants it will not be completed (paraphrasing).

He's also on board with those touting a study that the lung cancer rate in California decreased after the smoking ban there - there is a problem with that particular study the antis claim to prove their point - it was completed 2 years PRIOR to the total California smoking ban.

As I have asked - please provide someone with some credibility.

[Gabz]

The 1995 Act did not prohibit all smoking in all locations.

You, again, are only giving the facts you wish to give.

[xrp]

And he's only on the smoking and other property rights threads to agitate.

What's even more funny is that on many of the War on Drugs related threads he will post 100+ times some jibber-jabber about George Soros, yet he doesn't bother to post on any of the Soros related threads that have been hitting FR lately!

[cinFLA]

Restaurants and bars typically have high fail rates. About one quarter of new restaurants and bars fail every year. Now in NYC, every time a restaurant or bar fails, the media points to NYC's smokefree workplace law.

This week's New York Post article featuring Joan Borkowski (owner of Billy's Steakhouse) saying that revenues were down 50% is particularly suspect for the following reasons: 1) Joan was Philip Morris' front person during the 1995 battle, 2) After passage of NYC's 1995 law, she also said revenues were down some huge amount, 3) Her restaurant, like almost all NYC restaurants, was already smokefree (except at the bar) before passage of the current law, 4) Approximately 80% of New Yorkers don't smoke, 5) The 20% of New Yorkers who do smoke tend to have lower income and therefore eat out less often 6) New York Post owner Rupert Murdoch was on the Board of Philip Morris from 1989 until 2001.

There is no way that NYC's new smokefree workplace law could cause a 50% drop in business at Billy's Steakhouse. If Joan's business is down that much, she must be putting ashes in the food. Common sense tells us that it's just not possible for a small percentage of restaurant smokers who now can't smoke at the bar to have such a large impact on revenues. It sounds to me like the tobacco industry is planting fictitious stories.

[Beck_isright]

Hey, don't look for the neo-coms to post anything bad about their hero, Soros....If Georgie succeeds, he'll get to be in the new D.C. Politburo like cin.....

[cinFLA]

Repace is paid to say those kinds of things.

How much are YOU paid to say the things you say????