The night Saint Paul's smoking ban went into effect, the ringleaders of the smoke ban effort celebrated at Tavern On Grand, one of my personal favorite Saint Paul eateries.
Ironically - according to Swiftee...
Well, I'll let him tell the story.
Tom:
As I wrote earlier, many Saint Paul pubs and eateries are suffering mightily due to the smoking ban in force in Ramsey County. One of the hard hit resturaunts mentioned in an article in the SP Avenues weekly newspaper is the Glockenspiel German resturaunt located on W. 7th.Tom quotes from the E-Democracy Saint Paul discussion list:Evidently, owner Mary Wildmo has come to reap the benefits of her decision and has decided that retreat is sometimes the better part of valor.
For those of you following the Ramsey County smoking restrictions, Glockenspiel has applied for and received a provisional waiver to allow smoking. So, when looking for smoke free drinking and dining in St. Paul, this one is out.Merriam Park. Heh. Where else?Jeanne Weigum, Breathing easy in Merriam Park
Tom gives us the who's who:
You may remember that Jeanne is a driving force against the right of owners to conduct their businesses as they will. Flush from her partial victory, Jeanne et. al. is already preparing to restrict the actions of people in apartments..but it looks like she may have counted her chickens before they had hatched.Swiftee and I go back along way with Jeanne Weigum - we were among the conservatives that the various E-Democracy list managers suspended pretty much to a number back in the days before blogging gave us an outlet outside the hive.Not only has the Glockenspiel gone back up in "flames", her flagship, her trophy; the venue she hand picked to host her post ban gloat is following suit:
Posted 24 May 2005 20:26 by Jeanne Weigum
Bummer and a half. I am just going over the list from the County on which restaurants/bars have been granted smoking waivers. Since the list is not alphabetical, it is pretty easy to miss things. But, bottom line, now if you want a smoke-free fish sandwich, don't bother with Tavern on Grand.
Apparently they are attempting to increase their booze sales so they will qualify for a one year waiver. In the mean time, they have 6 months to smoke smoke smoke those cigarettes.
Jeanne Weigum, Crying in my beer in Merriam Park
Perhaps the problem Jeanne, is that you're crying in a Merriam Park beer instead of one sitting on the bar of the Tavern on Grand.
Like so many of these crusades "for our own good", the unintended consequences were...well, unintended. Honest:
Remember, these are the people who absolutely guaranteed that non-smokers would be pouring into bars and pubs when the smokers were removed. I can't count the number of editorials I've read by smug anti-business mavens proclaiming their unmitigated ecstasy now that they could "attend a smoke free live music show and have a beer in smoke free bars".Of course, bars that can't get waivers - which is most of 'em in Hennepin County, and the vast majority in Ramsey - are sucking pond water right now. Many bars have laid off staff, and some are teetering on the brink of collapse - bars are always a low margin business.
Speaking of health benefits and costs - I wonder if anyone has calculated the health costs of the stress involved in the layoffs in the hospitality industry?
I mean, for being the "party of the working stiff", the Volvo Liberals that brought us the smoking ban sure seem cavalier about waitresses, bartenders and barbacks...
Posted by Mitch at May 25, 2005 12:15 PM | TrackBack
Someone in my family is a health professional, and in a careless moment, they let slip this closely held medical statistic:
Non-smokers eventually die too.
Posted by: RBMN at May 25, 2005 10:39 AMMy sources tell me that the Park Tavern in Bloomington closed their doors within the last 48 hours. I will need to get confirmation, but I got the info from a good source.
Park Tavern was a locally-owned small businesses, supporting the community. VFW and American Legions are ready to start closing. While the big corporate bar-and-grills can absorb some loses, there mom-and-pop locations are going to close up soon. Which will drive what little business is left into the corporate machine pubs.
Meanwhile, those same locally owned pubs are the SAME ones that produce tens of hundreds of thousands of dollars for local civic organizations via pull tabs. Businesses like Park Tavern would sponsor Little League teams...and pull tabs would pay for the maintenance of the fields.
Kiss that good-bye. When these brats' parents, who were all gung-ho on the bans, find out they have to actually PAY for the costs of their teams....I'll laugh at them.
And cry as the businesses fail....one by one.
Posted by: Dave at May 25, 2005 11:05 AMAnd you people laugh when you people (like me) say that the next step is to ban tobacco use in your private residence.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/142/5417172.html
The frog is boiling.
Posted by: Dave at May 25, 2005 11:32 AMMitch--
It's really all about authenticity, you see. Volvo liberals feel better about themselves when they can "get down with the little man" in his favorite blue-collar, R&B-blasting, smoke-filled haunt. Oh, excuse me--scratch "smoke-filled."
Posted by: Pete (Alois) at May 25, 2005 12:50 PMThank's for the heads-up Dave.
I noted yesterday that Weigum had set her sights on apartment dwellers, and now I can use her own words to back it up.
Talk about a gift!
Posted by: swiftee at May 25, 2005 01:26 PMRE:
"I noted yesterday that Weigum had set her sights on apartment dwellers"
Strangely, some of the chronic smokers I know have expressed to me that they wish the State would simply outlaw possession of tobacco altogether. When I ask them why they say that, they say it would just be simpler for them to conduct their day. They wouldn't have to worry about where they could smoke and where they were forbidden.
I don't want to see the laws go that far, though I completely support the ban. Minnesotans are tired of having their favored public spaces hijacked by this unhealthy and anachronisitic practice called smoking.
Posted by: pinkmonkeybird at May 25, 2005 02:00 PMSwung by the Bloomington Park Tavern after soccer last night...closed.
Posted by: Dave V at May 25, 2005 02:03 PMI'm a mental doofus on many things, not the least of which is law, but I'm curious about something. If a bar or bars can conclusively prove that they had to close up shop due to decreased patronage in the wake of the smoking ban, could they sue the government entity that put the ban in place for damages of some sort?
Again, I hate being such a hyprocrite about this: I disagree with the ban, but man it was nice going into Ol' Mexico the last time and not having my clothes reek like a barn fire upon leaving.
Posted by: Ryan at May 25, 2005 02:13 PMPinkmonkeybird:
I love that one. Your idiot smoking pals want government to come in and force them to stop smoking. I can hear it:
"Oh, please Mister Legislator! Save me from myself because I am too weak to stop smoking! Please, take away everybody else's liberties to save me from myself!"
Thanks. I needed a laugh.
Also, its nice to see you have such a complete hatred of private property rights. We all know that bar owners are too stupid to know their business and be able to determine which legal activities occur on their premises. I guess the next step, to cut down on obesity, we'll be banning fried food in bars? How about demanding that bars and resturants only serve dishes made with organic produce, to escape the instant-death of those pesticides?
Let's go....start drafting legislation. I'm sure you are smiling, as you watch all those bars and resturants go out of business. I'm sure you love boarding up all those American Legions and VFWs. Your veterans, who fought for your freedom to be an idiot, appreciate you destroying their clubs.
Posted by: Dave at May 25, 2005 02:27 PMOkay guys, lay off The Bird and the Lady from Merriam Park.
Bob from the American Lung Association of Minnesota speaking. As I told the Pioneer Press some time ago, that the first time a smokefree bar closes anywhere in Hennepin or Ramsey County closes after March 31, you pro-smoke types would cry wolf....and here we are.
You know, bars and restaurants did close BEFORE March 31...How do explain all of the applications for new liquor licenses in both counties, and the many places that are adding seating? Did you note that the April 2005 employment report for MN showed the 2nd highest category of new jobs was in the hospitality industry?
Does that sound like an industry on the ropes to you?
As for the Legions and VFWs, I have stated repeatedly that I (former Army, 1st Armored Division)want everyone to patronize their local smokefree service club.
I hate to be blunt, but it's the smokers -- not us nonsmokers -- who have stuck it to any veteran clubs that might have seen a (temporary) decline in attendence. I guess they care more about their smokes than they care about their club, and the community it serves.
Let's see what the taxman says about bar and restaurant income at the end of the year. Until then, you guys are just blowing smoke.
As you were.
Posted by: Bob from the ALA of MN at May 25, 2005 03:30 PMBob...I've been to Park Tavern for years in Bloomington. I noticed the decline, post smoking ban. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck....its a duck.
Speaking of blowing smoke, I particularly gag when I listen to the new radio commercials, which claim second hand smoke leads to over 35,000 deaths per year. Too many studies show nothing of the sort.
Go over to Rockford and ask the bar owner on the Hennepin county side of the line about what's happened to his business. You and your cronies don't care what you do to a private business owner....in your search for your Holy Grail.
And I don't smoke.
Posted by: Dave at May 25, 2005 03:47 PMEr, Lung, your fly is open.
Mary Wildmo, the owner of both the Tav. on Grand and (evidently) the Glockespeil was one of your few vocal supporters from the hospitality industry.
Are we to believe that her change of heart came about through sudden and unexplained attack of vindictiveness?
What is evidenced, to any rational observer, is that despite claims to the contrary, the majority of regular patrons in the establishments you've targeted either smoke or don't care if others do.
Where is the flood of new patrons that were promised? Where are all of those opressed clean-air and beer lovers?
Even the vast majority of waitresses and waiters I've talked to are against this intrusion.
Whether you choose to admit it or not, the evidence is mounting that this ban is an unwanted, unwarrented disaster.
Good luck with the apartment thing.
Posted by: swiftee at May 25, 2005 03:50 PMTell it to the Marines, Bob. You and your handmaids stuck it to the veteran's clubs; go polish your halo somewhere else: Your dog don't hunt. Whose hospitality were you talking about anyway?
Is that when local taverns and hometown bars upstate go out of business because you and the mommie-nannies are offended by those who consume a legal product subsidized and taxed by local, state and Federal Governments? Screaming and crying infants are terribly annoying and bad for our digestion too. Shall we likewise declare this a national health crisis and demand the banning of infants from private dining venues?
And, oh-- about those new jobs in the hospitality industry. Do you think Applebee's or Ground Round will compensate the family for its business failure and keep the old place going? Or do ya think they'll just put up another processed, boiling-bag feedbin, pave over the drainfield, and put in a parking lot?
Whyn'tcha come see? There's no waiting for seating and the air inside smells clean, like disinfectant. You can talk to all the new help standing around too. Ask 'em what they make in tips for a burger an' a beer these days, see what they say.
Dismissed.
Posted by: Eracus at May 25, 2005 04:32 PMMr. Lung,
There is ample evidence to suggest that smoking bans hurt the hospitality industry in the long run. The question is do we want to trade that for reduction in public smoking? I say no, because there isn't a study that shows that 2nd hand smoke actually causes cancer at rates higher than the margin of error. The sources you gave me from your website all use the WHO or EPA studies, which are basically bunk. The only interesting studies you have are correlational studies about the reduction of asthma related problems. Unfortunately, I doubt people would willingly support oppressive government tactics to reduce asthma cases.
Posted by: Marty Andrade at May 25, 2005 09:10 PMMr. Lung,
There is ample evidence to suggest that smoking bans hurt the hospitality industry in the long run. The question is do we want to trade that for reduction in public smoking? I say no, because there isn't a study that shows that 2nd hand smoke actually causes cancer at rates higher than the margin of error. The sources you gave me from your website all use the WHO or EPA studies, which are basically bunk. The only interesting studies you have are correlational studies about the reduction of asthma related problems. Unfortunately, I doubt people would willingly support oppressive government tactics to reduce asthma cases.
Posted by: Marty Andrade at May 25, 2005 09:10 PMWho distorts the truth more...Bob or Jeannie? Tough one. Each and every day I hear another heartbreaking story about the damage the smoking ban has caused to my fellow bar owners and staff. The first day of the smoking ban I had thirty smoke haters (including the ALA) in for happy hour, I have not seen them since. These party animals ate half price appetizers and toasted the fresh air with their ice tea and water. It appears they are anti alcohol too. One tipped my bartender a buck and told him "don't worry if Stub and Herb's goes out of business, God will take care of you." That sure made my bartender feel better.
Bar owners in Anoka, Scott and Dakota Counties call to thank me for many new customers. They also thank me for the well trained staff who have moved on with the customers...right back into a bar that allows smoking. So much for employees health. The same "smokey" bar that was proved in our very own St. Louis Park study (2004) to test at 150 times BELOW OSHA safety limits for second hand smoke. Remember OSHA, they regulate the workplace.
I hear stories about bars having laid off 1, 3, 7, 20 and 25 employees (yes, I can name them). Bar owners estimate in just the first month Minneapolis has lost 614 jobs and over a million dollars in revenues. No one can tell us how those revenues will be replaced. In just the first month we have proved the smoke haters lied on all counts and the bar owners were proved right. Just ask Glockenspiel, poster child for the smoke haters, claiming all those non smokers will be rushing through her doors. Oh yeah, she now has a waiver to allow smoking just to keep her doors open.
There were twenty five new applications for liquor licenses in Minneapolis in the first 5 months of 2005, all restaurants. Five new restaurants, in a city that takes pride in our "night life" is pathetically low. Bar expansion permits, which totaled 23 to date with EVERY ONE attributed to replacing lost customers thanks to the smoking ban.
Bob, twisted his numbers yet again, saying the hospitality industry was up in April. Numbers in that area which include leisure (think resorts and the nice warm weather we had in April) but the Department of Employment and Economic Developement cleary stated: bars and restaurants were weaker than is typical for this time of year. Again attributed to the smoking ban.
No matter how Bob tries to deny it, the owner of Park Tavern closed because of the smoking ban, others are now closed for lunch, some will be closing for good in the near future. These business owners did not suddenly turn stupid or lazy, through no fault of their own their customers were forced to patronize other establishments, causing lost sales and lost jobs. In some cases closed businesses.
Glockenspiel, the poster child favoring the smoking ban, was so sure that all those non-smoking customers would rush through her door, has now gotten a waiver just to remain in business. Foolish bar owners should be careful what they wish for it just might come true.
I encourage everyone to join the boycott against the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society. The money they spend trying to buy smoking bans should be spent on real health issues.
Posted by: sue at May 27, 2005 11:45 AMI work in a bar/resturant outside of the Henn Cty limits. Let me tell you. My hours have increased in order to accomodate the mass of persons coming in because we allow smoking. Business is great!
I feel that these decisions should be left up to the bar owners.
Posted by: Kraus at May 31, 2005 11:43 AMI would like to see a ban on the idiots that voted this POS legislation into law. In my area revenues are down 15-25% at most of the places were I have asked the staff. And the people working at these places have had a large drop in their income (mainly tips). Once again, misguided government policy to please a few special interest groups just screws the people it was supposed to help (remember how it was supposed to protect the employees from the dreaded second hand smoke?). And I know my Legion post won't be making many donations this year because that source of income has dried up. Next time one of our Hennepin County commissioners is up for election, vote them out of office.
Posted by: craig at June 3, 2005 02:39 AM