Smoking Ban Links
Archive 2
This page is obsolete. It's only here for
archival purposes. All the information on this page (and much,
much more) is available here.
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The list of articles about business severely affected by smoking bans became so long we had to break it up into several pages.
This is Archive 2.
Archive One
Archive Three
Archive Four
The most up to date links on this page.
You'll find quite a few dead and expired links here. Many news organizations only make articles available for a limited time. You may be able to visit their home page and order the article.
More
than 70% of bars and pubs hurt by New Brunswick smoking ban (Expired Link)
The smoking ban is having a devastating impact on the small businesses
that dominate the pub, bar, tavern and nightclub sector of the hospitality
industry. Fully 79% of drinking establishments report the smoking ban
is
having an impact and 71% say the impact is negative. Pubs, bars and
taverns
report an average decline in liquor sales of 23.9% in October compared
to a
year earlier, nightclubs a decline of 34.5% and legions a decline of
18.8%.
Smoking
ban will crimp charitable gambling (Expired Link. Pioneer Press)
For example, a survey by the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices
Association during the first month of the province's ban that took effect
Oct. 1, found New Brunswick's smoking ban was having a negative impact
on establishments with bars, pubs, taverns, legions and night clubs.
In this survey, 71 percent of respondents reported sharp declines in
liquor sales. In small businesses the effect was pronounced, with pubs,
taverns and bars reporting that liquor sales fell almost 14 percent
from the same time a year earlier. At legion clubs, the survey found,
the decline was almost 19 percent.
Estimates range as high as 60 percent for the number of bingo players
who smoke. Crary and Jim Newcomer, commander of VFW Post 1296 predict
that once the smoking ban goes into effect, bingo will die as a source
of charitable funds in Bloomington and player will migrate to the Indian
casino at Mystic Lake. For the VFW, which rents the attached space next
to its club for use as a bingo hall, that could mean as much as $182,000
in lost revenue.
What do losses like that mean to the community? Steve Enebo, a VFW
trustee, and Patty Gustner, club manager for American Legion Post 550,
rattled off a number of contributions to veterans organizations and
to active service men and women and their families — everything
from washers, dryers and television sets for the VA medical center to
"care packages" for military personnel to Cub Foods certificates
for military families to honor guards for funerals to a hospice suite
at the VA medical center.
But then the self-righteous will be able to drink and dine without
the annoyance of other people's bad habits. What is value of an American
flag on the coffin of a war veteran compared to a benefit like that?
Smoking
Ban Survey Results
The Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce has released details of a new
survey on the impact of the City smoking ban and it shows several business
bars in particular are being badly hurt.
The survey polled restaurants, coffee shops, bars, lounges, bingo
halls and the Casino . Of those, 93-percent of the bars and lounges
contacted say they have suffered losses since the ban was imposed. Of
those who say business is down, average losses reportedly averaged 43-percent.
All of them say they have laid off or reduced staff and they also
say reduced sales have forced them to cut back on the business they
do with their suppliers.
A
Bar in Liverpool that banned smoking has described the experience as
"commercial suicide"
Mr Carragher said: "It's felt like I've been committing commercial
suicide.
"However, our no-smoking policy has meant that we cannot offer
all of our guests freedom of choice when they visit us and this has
proved a major obstacle in getting the business to generate the kind
of income stream levels we had hoped for on opening."
"One particular problem is that, if a group of six people come
in and one person in the party smokes, the whole group want to leave
because that one person is prohibited from lighting up"
New
York City’s Smoking Ban Goes Up In Smoke In Astoria
Many cafe owners and managers said they enforced the ban initially.
But that lasted just a few months, as customers got upset or didn’t
come at all, reducing between 20 and 35 percent of total revenue, they
said.
Smoking
ban may mean last call for bar (Expired Link. Duluth News Tribune)
That leaves going smoke-free or no longer serving food. Ronning
did that for about two months when the ban first took effect -- first
going smoke-free, then closing his kitchen.
His business fell off about 30 percent -- a drop he said is the
difference between making it and going under.
Ireland's
smoking ban a disaster, says Irish trade leader
The VFI’s latest research up to September reveals that brewers
sales volume to the on-trade are down 10 per cent, spirit sales have
dropped by over 10 per cent and some pubs have already been forced to
close because of loss of revenue.
He said: “Almost immediately there was a drop in the number
of customers and the volume of sales. Customers are unhappy to be ostracised
outside pubs. They are deciding not to drink at all or at home.”
Ireland's
smoking ban shows results
A survey for the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA), representing
750 pubs in Dublin, said compliance was excellent in the capital but
sales are down by 16 percent.
It claims 2,000 full and part-time jobs are being lost in the Dublin
pub trade alone.
Madison
offers some advice on smoking ban (Expired Link)
Two dozen tables sit unused in a darkened dining room of Pedro’s
Mexican Restaurant on Madison’s north side.
Pedro’s owner, Jim Martine, a Neenah native who learned the
restaurant trade from his parents when they owned Martine’s restaurant
in Appleton, recalls weekends when 200 customers from nearby shopping
centers would crowd the dining room, reserved for smokers.
However, he said since Madison passed an ordinance banning smoking
in restaurant dining rooms in 2002, those customers have gone elsewhere,
along with the jobs needed to serve those customers.
A
month later, smoking ban ‘heavily’ affecting bars, coffee
shops and nightlife (Expired Link)
Anyone who goes round Paceville can see this, he said: people are
spending more time outside the venues than inside and bar business has
been seriously affected.
Restaurateur
says smoking ban has crippled business (Expired Link. Kansas City Star)
Rod Anderson said his 16,000-square-foot Hereford House has seen
sales dip $10,000 a week since a smoking ban took affect in Lawrence
in July.
The staff has been cut by 16, to 74 people, to cut expenses. Receipts
from tourists have dropped 40 percent. Bar business is down $1,000 to
$1,500 daily.
"Happy hour, Friday nights, the place was packed," Anderson
said of the restaurant's bar. "Now there's five people there."
Smoking
ban, less traffic grills Captain Ribman’s Meat Market (Expired Link)
The Meat Market, 811 New Hampshire St., will close for good tomorrow.
The Meat Market is not the only establishment the ban has affected.
Tanner’s Bar & Grill’s sales have been down by 20
to 30 percent since the ban started, said Susan Wood, day manager at
Tanner’s, 1540 Wakarusa Drive. Tanner’s has only been open
since September 2003, but Wood said she could tell a difference business.
“My bar used to be lined with smokers every lunch,” Wood
said.
Wood doesn’t see those people anymore. The numbers have dropped
and there’s no other feasible cause, Wood said.
Smoking
Ban Impact
Kacy's Sports Bar and Grill has room for 300 customers, but now,
it's virtually empty.
Business is so bad at Kacy's, the manager is quitting for another job.
The
Story of Jimmy Mac's
Richard Naylon was one of the staunchest defenders of private property
rights, and the right of a business man to run his business as he sees
fit, in the entire state of NY. Although he won a court case fighting
the ban, it was a Pyrrhic victory. The legal fees have cost him his
business, which had operated profitably for 23 years.
Richard is a hard worker, a good business man, and a family man. I
am disgusted to live in a state that treats men like him as if they
were criminals.
Landmark
Dublin cafes will close
A Bewley's spokeswoman said Ireland's public smoking ban had also
contributed, especially as a request for outside seating was rejected.
"People who used to come in for a coffee and a cigarette don't
do that now," she told BBC News Online.
Restaurant
blames diminishing clientele, closure on smoking ban
"If I had known I was going to lose my business I wouldn't
have bought this home."
The elder Iamunno claims that the restaurant had done well for the
first three years. But when the statewide smoking ban snuffed out cigarettes
in his bar area last October, 80 percent of his business went up in
smoke, he said.
Smoking
Ban Is Killing Local Cafe Businesses (Expired Link)
My business is down 30 percent, I have had to restructure the working
hours of my employees. I no longer need them to work as many hours,
and never have to double up and have two bartenders a shift. We don't
get enough customers.
I will be lucky if I break even this year.
Ban
goes up in puff of smoke
A Birmingham pub that became the first in the city to go smoke-free
has stubbed out the ban after just TWO weeks.
Bar staff at Bennetts put the ash trays back out this week after
the move saw takings slump by a staggering 40 per cent.
"We really tried, but the place was practically empty and had
no atmosphere. If people want a smoking ban, they have to get out and
support it."
No
puffs, fewer profits
"The supposed groundswell of non-smokers that were going to
come out of the woodwork to fill that gap haven't," said Doug Stephen,
president of WOW Hospitality, which operates several restaurants in
Winnipeg, including The Old Spaghetti Factory and Pasta la Vista.
...The province estimates its gambling profits will plunge more
than $27 million this year and continue to tumble the following year,
thanks to smoking bans. That's a loss of about 10%.
VLT revenues have been down about 20% in Winnipeg and Brandon.
Rebel
Irish pubs flout smoking ban on the quiet
Despite the threat of a £2,000 fine and possible loss of their
licenses, landlords, some of whom have suffered a 50 per cent drop in
sales, quietly allow customers to smoke.
Survey
indicates bars are hurting from smoking ban
The respondants claimed a loss of about $2 million in gross sales
during the first half of 2004, a 24.5 percent decrease from the previous
year, and 611 lost full and part-time jobs.
Mr. Coon said 60 percent of the financial information he received
from the bars came directly from their accounting firms, and the remainder
came from bar owners.
Bottom
line on ban still money (Expired Link)
The Restaurant Association of Maryland surveyed 150 Montgomery eateries
on the ban. Of the 25 respondents, 71 percent had to lay off employees
or cut back employees' hours, said Melvin R. Thompson, the association's
executive director.
The number of beer kegs sold in the 12 months since the ban took effect,
compared with the year before, declined about 4.1 percent to 65,308, according
to the county. Sales slipped to about $4.3 million, a 1.76 percent drop
from the year before.
Smoking
ban kicks habit out into public space
This side effect of smoking bans is always ignored by anti smoker forces,
but it is a serious quality of life issue.
Note how the president of the Chamber of Commerce evaded the question
about the ban's impact on business.
New
noise plan silent on smoking law’s impact
Not mentioned in the article: Mayor Bloomburg is making noise about
forcing NYC bars to close at 1 A.M. because of the noise problem his
ban created. Not only are they losing business because of the ban, now
he wants to force them to close during their most profitable hours.
Remember when NYC was called Fun City?
Toledo
smoking ban foes to withhold donations; health agencies are bar owners'
target
"I will back any individual that has cancer, but I will not
donate to these third-party organizations that are lined up against
us," added Mr. Delaney, who said he himself has skin cancer.
"I stopped giving to United Way in 1987 when the very first
smoking ban went into effect, and I've urged restaurants to do the same,"
said Arnie Elzey, owner of Arnie's Eating and Drinking Saloon and another
member of Citizens for Common Sense. "I was right. Here they are
trying to put us out of business."
Officials from the health organizations responded with a written
statement condemning the bar and restaurant owners' position.
Smoking
Ban Takes Toll on High School Band
Jackpot Bingo leases its parlor to a dozen different non-profit
groups on a regular basis. Those groups rely on bingo revenue as a main
fundraiser. However, since the smoking ban went into effect last April,
attendance at the bingos has dropped by more than 50 percent.
The Tates Creek High School Marching Band stands to lose about $80,000
this year in bingo money.
"We're trying to supplement this with raffle ticket sales and
candy sales, but $80,000 is a large chunk of change," says Assistant
Band Director Andy Critz.
If the band can't raise enough money to offset the loss, they may
have to cancel some band trips or competitions.
N.Y.'s
ban made my bar's profits go up in smoke (Expired Link. Grand Forks Herald)
Now, I and my managers have not been paid for three months. We've
gone without so that we could pay the bills. I've had to let go a third
of my staff. And there's no explanation other than the smoking ban.
A friend in the travel industry told me she lost a $100,000 tour
from Germany when the smoking ban went into effect, as they refused
to go someplace where they couldn't smoke.
Smoking
ban 'hits Guinness sales'
Profits
dropped, say bar owners (Expired Link. The Republican)
"It's definitely down. Just look around," said Gary M.
Ziemba, the owner and sole occupant on a recent day at the Blue Room
Cafe in Chicopee Falls.
Ziemba, who is running a business that has been in his family since
1936, said he believes sales have dropped by 25 percent from last summer's
take.
"People are complaining about it. They're saying 'Why go out for
a drink when I can buy a six-pack and sit at home?' It's really hurting
us," she said.
Smoking
ban enforcement fires up (Expired Link. Lexington Heard-Leader
In a news conference yesterday, Logan said the ban was "killing
local restaurants" and announced that the Maxwell's on Waller Avenue
will close Sept. 30 because of the effect of the smoking ban. That location
has been open for 14 years.
Owners
of Anchor Inn say county smoking ban sunk business (Expired Link)
Since the ban was implemented October 2003 by the Montgomery County
Council, Scaggs said Anchor Inn suffered a 40 percent loss in Keno,
beer, wine, liquor and food sales.
Prior to the ban, Scaggs had installed a $350,000 ventilation system
in the restaurant with air exchangers that took in smoke and replaced
it with fresh air.
Smoking
ban put into effect one year ago
Slauson said he hasn’t seen anything like this drop in sales
during the past 24 years that he’s owned the business...
Administrator Richard Zurn said the smoking ban has cut bar business
in half at the lodge.
"It’s hurt our business tremendously," Zurn said
Thursday. "It’s way, way down..."
"Everybody smokes in a bar," he said. "If you don’t
want the smoke, don’t work there."
Zurn said the ban has changed how people act in the bar, and he
wasn’t sure i
"People used to come in and stay," he said. "Now they
come in, have one beer, and leave."
Statistics
don't blow smoke: Minicasinos lose revenue (Expired Link)
Let me choose a real person for you at random. How about my waitress
here in the Ripe Tomato Bar & Grill at the Grand Central Casino?
Let me introduce you to Tracy Willows. She's one of the lucky ones.
The single mother of two young children, a former smoker, drives
in from Enumclaw for the day shift. Before the smoking ban, she worked
38 hours a week - enough to qualify for the casino's medical and dental
benefits - and walked away with $75 a day in tips.
Since the ban started in January, the casino has had to slowly
cut her hours to 21 per week, not enough to qualify for benefits. On
a good day, she said, she'll make $25 in tips.
Inspector
says he was told to falsify citations; supervisor denies allegation,
blames miscommunication
A city of Toledo employee responsible for enforcing the smoking ban testified yesterday that he was told to file two false reports against area bars for smoking violations that he never saw or believed to exist.
When I went there, there was nobody smoking. They had their signs
up, and there were no ashtrays, so there was no violation,” Mr.
Carleski said.
Sometimes
a Cigar Is Just Illegal, G.O.P. Is Told
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is under pressure to ensure that well-heeled
cigar lovers are held to the same standards as those who prefer skinnier
forms of tobacco. The mayor drew fire in January for attending a black-tie
dinner at the St. Regis Hotel where Wall Street tycoons smoked cigars
openly.
Secret
Galas, Shrouded in Smoke
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who is vehemently anti-smoking, would
not automatically disdain an invitation to Mr. Giuliani's party, said
his press secretary, Edward Skyler. "He wouldn't not go on account
of where it is being held."
Board
denies smoking-ban waiver (Expired Link. Ithica Journal)
The business lost almost $30,000 and 110 bowlers during the 32-week
league season, according to a document submitted by Parkin's attorney,
James Kerrigan. In the bowling alley's busiest months between January
and May, Parkin saw a 14 percent decrease in activity comparing the
same period in 2004 to 2003.
Bar
owners challenge smoking ban in court
Larry Clough, Colchester, says,"I'm down 2,500 bucks a week.
That's $125,000 a year, and I have no problem with a smoking law being
enacted, it's just that it doesn't encompass everybody."
Many of the bar and pub owners, some who are going bankrupt, have
pooled their money and hired an attorney even though they know it's
an uphill battle.
Manitoba
Smoking Ban Leads to Job Loss
"Manitoba Lotteries Corp. will give severance packages to 269
workers — a move the corporation says is necessary because of Winnipeg's
tough smoking ban.
"The ban is expected to drain at least $50-million annually
from the lottery corporation's coffers…"
Smoking
Ban Leads to Layoffs
269 Manitoba Lottery workers have been given severance packages in a move the corporation says is necessary because of Winnipeg's tough smoking ban.
In
ashes?
"...reports that takings have dropped by anywhere between 15
per cent and 50 per cent come as no surprise."
"“It’s a disaster, my trade is easily down 20 per
cent,” said Frank O’Connell who owns MacTurcails, a pub in
the centre of Dublin that was popular with tourists and locals alike."
Dublin
hit by smoking ban
“The research clearly proves that the Dublin pub trade is losing
as much as 650 full time staff and 1,300 part time staff. Let’s
be clear about the real cost of the smoking ban – up to 2,000 jobs
are being lost.”
Smoking
ban still inflames some (Expired Link. The Journal News)
Olszewski and other bar and restaurant owners said they hadn't seen
an increase in people who said they were attracted by the fact that
no smoking was allowed.
"It just hasn't happened," he said. "Anyone who thinks
this isn't hurting business is wrong."
Venues:
Too early to rate smoking ban impact
Berry said he is seeing an exodus of formerly loyal patrons to venues
such as the American Legion, the local Elks club, and other private
clubs that are exempt from the ban.
£20,000
blow for smoking ban pub
"We were finding with big parties if a couple of people smoked
they were not prepared to go outside for a cigarette, so we ended up
losing a table of 20 people
Vintners
say smoking ban has cost 2,000 Dublin jobs (Expired Link)
The Licensed Vintners Association has claimed the workplace smoking
ban has led directly to the loss of 2,000 jobs in Dublin.
The association, which represents publicans in Dublin, said pub
sales were down by 16% since the ban was introduced on March 29.
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