Smoking Bans Are Putting The Hurt On Bars From Sulphur To New Orleans
By Brad Goins
Over in New Orleans, there’s an old dive called Snake and Jake’s Christmas Club Lounge. The folks there won’t get upset if you tell them their place is a dive. On the contrary.
“We are the diviest dive bar in the country, if not the world,” says owner Dave Clements. “We are proud of it. That’s our whole schtick.”
Jake and Snake’s Facebook photo
Snake and Jake’s may be a dark, wild and dingy dive. But one thing it’s not — it’s not smoky.
That’s because — like all bars in New Orleans — Snake and Jake’s has been under a no-smoking ban since April.
“It’s really upsetting,” says Clements, “financially and in other ways.”
“We have nowhere for people to go outside and smoke,” says Clements, whose bar is surrounded by a residential neighborhood. He just spent $3,000 for an awning in the front so patrons could get at least a little shelter when it rains. Aside from that, smokers at Snake and Jake’s are obliged to stand around on small residential streets.
Clements also had to spend money to rent an apartment that backs up to the bar. The tenant broke the lease after claiming his apartment was tainted by smoke from patrons standing outside Snake and Jake’s. Clements said he rented the apartment to “avoid conflict.”
Clements is going to have difficulties if large groups of talking bar patrons congregate on the residential streets at 3 or 4 am. New Orleans has an ordinance that allows problematic bars to be declared “nuisance bars.”
Clements isn’t the only one worried about it. Chuck Rogers, whose Buffa’s Lounge and Restaurant already had a no-smoking area before the ban, told the city’s Gambit magazine of concerns that sound a lot like Clements’. “Are there going to be people on the streets? Absolutely. Is it going to be a problem? I hope not.”
And Clements told Gambit, “I’m really concerned people are going to call up and complain when 5, 10, 15 people are in the front smoking and talking. I don’t know what they expect us to do.”
Clements told Lagniappe that there are other difficulties with patrons going outside to smoke. For starters, they must be carded when they come back inside. Of course, the bar has to pay staff to police the whole situation.
Not-So-Happy Hour
Where Jake and Snake’s has really been hurt is in its Happy Hour. In fact, the night before I talked to Clements, he’d walked into his Happy Hour to see a grand total of one paying customer.
Clements says he and his staff had made a long, concerted effort to build up the Happy Hour at Snake and Jake’s, which Clements says used to be “nice; really good.” Now, however, “none of them come anymore.” The smoking ban has been “a huge damper.”
Manager Elaine, who’d worked especially hard at building the Happy Hour, says that since the smoking ban, Friday evening Happy Hour revenues are off more than $200. Indeed, she said revenues had dropped so far she’d quit looking at Happy Hour revenue tallies anymore. I don’t know whether she was being serious or making a grim joke.
One thing about Jake and Snake’s Happy Hour is that it attracted lots of old timers with lots of old school ways. These people believe in smoking inside the bar. They don’t want to have to go outside for a smoke. They don’t want to leave their beer unattended or run the risk of someone taking their seat.
Clements says revenues don’t drop so precipitously in late hours, when the crowd is quite a bit younger. He believes the younger people are already accustomed to the idea of smoke-free environments.
That belief may account for the fact that Clements’ other New Orleans bar — the Circle Bar — voluntarily went non-smoking three years ago. The fact that the bar, which is oriented toward live music, has a large patio where smokers can congregate was a big help in the process of making it a non-smoking venue.
A Steamroller
Clement wishes he’d had more input on the smoking ban that’s hit Snake and Jake’s so hard. He feels that the ordinance “was just a steamroller by [District B Councilwoman LaToya] Cantrell. I don’t think [the City Council] cared if the ban affected small bars like us.”
Cantrell became a fierce advocate of a non-smoking ordinance in New Orleans bars in the summer of 2014. Mayor Mitch Landrieu seemed to be in her court, happily proclaiming the advent of a smoke-free New Orleans.
There was only one hearing on the ordinance, says Clements, and he was out of town when it took place. “We thought there would be a couple of more hearings.”
Harrah’s in New Orleans worked hard against the ordinance, even going so far as to form a Freedom To Choose Coalition. The casino also tried to negotiate a compromise — to no avail.
Clements has no such grand plans for tilting at the windmill of the ordinance. He seems to have almost a sense of resignation about it. The non-smoking trend “seems like the inevitable wave of the future,” he says.
It’s ironic, then, that as far as Clements can tell, the ban isn’t making people smoke less. “I don’t see any decrease in smoking,” he says.
Closer To Home
Closer to home, there’s already a similar ordinance in Sulphur. Sulphur’s recently imposed ban on smoking in bars only affects venues within the Sulphur city limits. Inside that city, some businesses are reeling.
Kaw-Liga’s Facebook photo
The owner of Kaw-Liga’s, Sherry Davis, tells Lagniappe that total revenue from all facets of bar business (drink sales, video poker, pool. etc.) has dropped 65-70 percent since the smoking ban took effect.
Dana, a long-time bartender at Kaw-Liga’s, says business on Friday and Saturday nights is “down 40 to 50 percent easy.” Of course, when revenue from all sources takes a big hit, tips drop significantly.
The bar’s taking measures to cut costs. It’s pushed its opening hours back from 10 am to noon (which in turn cuts the salary of shift employees).
The Sulphur City Council has taken some measures to ease the plight of venues such as Kaw-Liga’s. In a July 16 meeting, the council voted to allow smoking in bars provided they install a particular type of ventilation system. The term the council uses to describe this system is “negative pressure,” and the space that would result from its use is called a “negative pressure smoke room.”
You can read the amended measure in the July 16 City Council minutes at sulphur.org. Click “Departments” then “City Council.”
‘Competitive Disadvantage’
What if a ban on smoking in casinos or bars was passed in Lake Charles?
L’Auberge’s Kerry Andersen says the majority of the L’Auberge property is “already smoke-free in accordance with state law.” Smoking is only allowed in the casino (where only patrons older than 21 are admitted) and in certain hotel rooms.
She also notes that L’Auberge has “superior ventilation systems and is committed to providing a comfortable gaming experience to our guests who smoke and to those who don’t.”
She feels that “a smoking ban that only applies to casinos in the City of Lake Charles would place casinos located here at a competitive disadvantage to nearby casinos in Mississippi, which allow smoking, and also with casinos just outside the city limits (Coushatta, Delta Downs and Isle of Capri).”
Andersen thinks that a smoking ban on casinos in Lake Charles “would lead to an estimated 20 percent decline in revenue if other similar markets are an indicator.
“Really, what it amounts to is unfair competition and a potential loss of jobs. We need to protect tax revenue and jobs, and maintain a level playing field with our competitors.”
Andersen’s prediction of a 20-percent loss may ring a bell with those who’ve heard news reports about the spectacular declines experienced by Harrah’s in New Orleans since the spring non-smoking laws went into affect. The casino said that its June revenue was down by 30 percent compared to last year.
Dana Jackson, president of the Lake Charles City Council, says he is unaware of any pending discussion on any sort of smoking ordinance. “I’ve not had one councilman say one word to me” about it, he told Lagniappe.
Whenever there’s a ban on smoking in places where smokers routinely gather, the tipping point is always the moment at which the smoker decides it’s just easier to stay at home and smoke when and where he likes. Each time a smoker reaches that point, bar revenues decrease a little more and one more bar employer is a little closer to unemployment.
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