Posted on 01/13/2004 9:37:03 AM PST by NorCoGOP
Mary Whitman's bar and restaurant may not be able to afford the new smoking ban.
One month after the ordinance passed, Whitman, the manager of Roasty's Steakhouse, 920 8th Ave, said the restaurant's bar revenues have dropped 60 percent. One week after the ban went into effect, the bar made only $100 one day.
"All the time I have been here, we have never done that," said Whitman, who has worked at Roasty's for 10 years. "We have terminated one of our bartenders because of it."
Other Greeley bar owners and managers paint a bleak economic picture as well, with many saying they've suffered a significant decline in business since the smoking ordinance went into effect Dec. 4.
If someone lights up inside a Greeley bar, he or she faces up to $300 in penalties and a mandatory court appearance. Both the smoker and the establishment can be ticketed.
Vicki Tobel, owner of the Red Garter Lounge, 3621 10th St, said she has a loyal day crowd, but her business has still dropped 15 percent since the ordinance passed. What worries her most is the lounge's night crowd, where business has dropped 45 percent.
"Our night is just killing us," Tobel said.
She, like many other bar owners and managers, are unsure about the future.
"I don't know if I'll have to cut employees," Tobel said. "I don't know what my next step is."
Neither does Keith Johnson, owner of Cables End Italian Grille, 3780 10th St.
He hopes he doesn't have to let any employees go but said there has been a substantial drop in the restaurant's bar. Johnson said the bar did $10,000 less when he compared his November December sales.
Although some Greeley bars and restaurants might see red, others are staying in the black. Brenda Lucio, owner and manager of Coyote's Southwestern Grill, 5250 9th St. Drive, said business is good since the ordinance passed because the restaurant doesn't depend on liquor sales.
"I would be scared if I had a bar business," Lucio said.
Several Greeley bar owners said that there is an exodus of bar patrons to Garden City, Evans and other surrounding cities so they can smoke. But Alan Dean, owner of Bear's Sports Saloon, 2519 8th Ave., which is in unincorporated Weld County, says the increase in business has been small.
"Business seems to be improving week by week," he said.
The dreary effect of the smoking ban for some Greeley bar owners and managers is in sharp contrast with a survey conducted by the Group to Alleviate Smoking Pollution (GASP) of Colorado that was published in the Jan. 4 edition of the Tribune.
GASP is a Boulder-based anti-smoking organization that works to educate the public against the dangers of second-hand smoke and to promote smoke-free environments. The survey quoted bar owners, managers and employees at the Paragon Family Restaurant and Cable's End Italian Grille as saying that the ordinance was "going well" or "doing OK" at their respective restaurants. Both owners disputed the quotations.
GASP president Pete Bialick said the survey was informal and not official.
Bialick said GASP conducts the survey in communities where smoking ordinances pass to update the organization's list of all the smoke-free restaurants and bars in Colorado towns. Despite some bar owners' claims the ordinance is pushing revenue down, Bialick disagrees.
"These ordinances don't affect the bottom line," he said, saying that studies based on sales taxes in more than 100 communities show smoking ordinances don't diminish bar and restaurant owners' bottom lines. He disputed the fact that bar owners say revenues are going down since Greeley passed the smoking ban.
"They are using it as a scapegoat," Bialick said. "The tobacco industry is behind this. They are probably getting paid to say that."
I may be reading that into your statement. The title of the thread is "(Smoking) Ban puts bars in the red" and I'd gotten the impression a lot of folks think that is a bad thing. The corollary is that higher profits at bars would be a good thing, meaning that more people out drinking is a good thing. If that is what people really believe I'd be surprised.
The government doesn't allow bars to have naked women performing sex acts live on stage either. The government does not allow me to turn my private home into a bar. The government does not allow bar owners to permit smoking crack cocaine in their establishments.
The fact of the matter is that the "government" does these things because the citizenry wants them to. If a majority of the citizens wished to allow prostitution or smoking in bars then it would be allowed. The "government" is us.
Because thousands of businesses fail every year and the fact that a few are listed in an article means squat!
You seem to be saying that anything anyone wants to do they should be permitted to do, so long as it is on their own private land. That argument would permit brothels and illicit casinos, for example. Is that what you really believe? Do think it would be OK for your next door neighbor to turn their home in to an opium den, so long as they are people who think it is a desirable thing?
Yes, you are reading much too much into my statement, I have never frequented bars, and I don't care for Alcohol, having said that, this is not so much a bar issue as it it a business and property issue, it just happen to be bars and the hospitity industry in general in this case.
Hmmmm... Not only the smoking of cigarettes, but the driving of cars, the breathing of city air, the dealing with jerky neighbors, the raising of children, the flying in of planes, the eating of some potato salads, the using of deodorant (according to recent studies, may be linked to increased risk of breast cancer in women), the drinking of diet sodas, etc. Seems like everything results in death. Including living. Does that mean Christians shouldn't live, lest they die?
On a more series note, the Good Lord didn't mean for us to abstain from everything. Tobacco and alcohol can both have adverse effects if abused, but heckles, Christ Himself turned the water into wine. (Though some would have you believe that He just made more grape juice. [snortle])
When your number's up, your number is up. The healthier you live, the healthier a corpse you'll be...
How did going to a bar turn into brothels and opium dens?
I see nothing wrong with fraternizing with good company and having a good drink or two. (Provided it's a smoking bar. I wouldn't patronize any other.)
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