Saturday, January 5, 2008 1:19 AM CST
Businesses not burned by ban — so far
By HERB MEEKER & ROB STROUD, Staff Writers
editorial@jg-tc.com
Dean Gowin, owner of Cody’s Roadhouse and Spirits of Mattoon is not sure what he’ll do with the old ashtrays from his business with the statewide smoking ban in effect since Tuesday.
“Maybe we can use them for shooting practice or as hockey pucks. I really don’t know,” he said with a laugh Friday.
But like many area restaurant owners, he and his employees face no more hassles over seating requests for customers with non-smoking or smoking preferences. The recent addition to the restaurant has gone to a non-smoking section like the rest of the business, eliminating the constant demand on about 84 dining seats by smokers.
“Now it’s non-smoking or non-smoking. That makes it pretty easy,” he said.
Though he uses humor on the subject of the smoking ban in all Illinois public places, including restaurants and taverns, he also realizes it is too early to determine whether smoking customers will laugh it off. And that could cost him some business down the road.
“It is too early to tell what affect this will have on us. We can only worry about what we can control. It’s the law and we’re going to to have to live with it,” said Gowin. “Most people are in a restaurant for about an hour so they can take it in stride. But I have mixed emotions about dictating to people on what they can do.”
Old habits have been hard to break for some of the customers who had been accustomed to being able to smoke at Roc’s Black Front in Charleston.
Roc’s owner Mike Knoop said some smokers have gotten involved in a conversation and lit up this week, forgetting the state’s new smoking restrictions. Roc’s staff then has to remind them.
“The law is the law, so we are going to be as vigilant as we possibly can,” Knoop said. “I am a smoker myself and I can’t smoke here.“
Knoop said it is too soon to say whether the smoking ban will hurt his business, noting Roc’s was closed on New Year’s Day when the ban started. He said more customers than usual were smoking on New Year’s Eve.
Smoking and nonsmoking customers will get used to the ban over time, Knoop said. He added smokers are already accustomed to not being able to smoke inside their workplaces.
“I am hoping that the people who couldn’t take smoking will now be willing to come in,” Knoop said.
Deb Dunn, manager of Spanky’s Food and Spirits in Mattoon, is missing smoking there like her customers. Before Jan. 1, about 60 percent of Spanky customers and some employees could light up in every section of the business. Now only outdoors is a haven for smokers, which has offered little solace with temperatures in the single digits or teens most of the week.
“We allowed smoking here forever. Everybody has been pretty decent about it. They still want to do it. Sure they can go outside. But you could get pneumonia going out to our pavilion,” said Dunn.
But she worries the non-smoking ban will grind away at the better nature of some Spanky’s customers. But for now, there is relative peace there.
Some of the regular customers at South Side Cafe in Charleston have said they will not come in for their morning coffee if they cannot smoke there, recalled owner Tricia Craig. Smokers account for a good percentage of the cafe’s regular customers, she said.
“When some of the other places went to nonsmoking, smokers came here because we allowed smoking,” Craig said.
Although her business has been a bit slow this week, Craig it is too early to tell if the smoking ban is the reason. She said cold weather and the New Year’s season could also be factors behind the slow week.
Craig said businesses should be able to decide whether they will allow smoking. Now that the state has put the ban into place, Craig does hope new customers will visit South Side Cafe.
“I know a lot of people didn’t come in because we did allow smoking,” Craig said.
There was no last stand of smokers at the Alamo Steakhouse and Saloon in Mattoon, said manager Alex Schmink.
“We’ve had no complaints since Wednesday. We were closed Tuesday. People in the restaurant are really enjoying it mainly because they don’t smoke. Some people have said it’s state law so there’s no reason to complain to us,” Schmink said.
The restaurant had four tables dedicated to smokers before the ban took effect this week, he said. Smoking was also allowed in the bar and lounge area.
Located on the east side of Mattoon, Alamo Steakhouse is one of several food service businesses that draws some customers from Interstate 57. Are some out-of-state customers surprised by the smoking ban in Illinois? Schmink said the smoking sections caught out-of-towners by surprise more.
“When we had smoking sections some people out of state or from the Chicago area were surprised we had it,” he said.
One place where smokers can still light up is Indio Cigar Factory, a retail tobacco shop in Charleston that offers a lounge where people can watch sports on television and play games while smoking.
Indio co-owner Marvin Mirick said he was hoping to see an upswing in customers after the ban went into effect, but he has not seen an increase yet. He said business will hopefully pick up now that the holidays are over, the weather is warming a bit, and Eastern Illinois University’s fall semester is beginning.
Mirick said he is also planning a public relations campaign for his shop.
“A lot of people may not realize they can still come here and smoke,” Mirick said.
Contact Herb Meeker at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869. Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.
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Rotty wrote on Jan 5, 2008 2:57 AM: