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If arguments by
supporters of the Springfield smoking ban have held up, business at
liquor-serving establishments should be booming as nonsmokers pour into the
city’s formerly hazy bars and taverns. Conversely, if opponents of the ban are correct,
watering holes on the city’s perimeter, near municipalities where
smoking is still permitted, should be close to taking their last breaths. So far, neither scenario has proved to be the case.
The deadline for businesses to renew their
city-issued liquor licenses was Jan. 1. Those that fail to do so relinquish
the right to sell suds with their sandwiches. Although the renewal list has not yet been finalized,
Todd Oliver, division manager of Springfield’s business licensing and
liquor commission, confirms that at least three popular area businesses
have closed their doors in recent weeks.
They are Shooterz Grill Inc., 131 E. Jefferson St.;
Buster’s Sports Bar and Grill, 1120 Sangamon Ave.; and
Thirsty’s Playground, 1975 W. Wabash Ave. According to City Hall spokesman Ernie Slottag, on
the basis of the information the city has now, the number of liquor-license
renewals this year isn’t far off last year’s. Still, the
proprietors of these establishments blame the smoking ban for their demise.
Shooterz owner Jay Dickerson had been operating for
four months before he decided to shut down, two days before Christmas. Food
sales, especially during lunch, were fine, but a sag in nighttime alcohol
sales is what killed the business, Dickerson says. But businesses close, and new ones open up. For the
ones that have bit the dust here, whether the ban is to blame is
anybody’s guess. “If there was ever a time I wish I
weren’t right, it’s now,” says Steve Riedl, executive
director of the Illinois Licensed Beverage Association. “We told the
truth to the City Council, and they took the word of these longstanding
health organizations at face value.”
Ward 10 Ald. Bruce Strom, who is running for mayor
and championed the smoking ban, points to numerous smoking bans across the
nation as evidence of a changing marketplace — and various market
forces can cause businesses to close, he says.
Health-advocacy groups routinely blow holes in
studies published by the tobacco, alcohol, and restaurant industries that
report negative economic impact on cities in which smoking bans are
imposed. Nationwide, 56 percent of all restaurants fail within
three years of opening, according to a 2005 Bureau of Labor Statistics
study. Factors unrelated to the restaurant’s popularity, such as
financial hardship brought on by an owner’s divorce or poor health,
can cause it to close. Thirsty’s Playground owner Perry Zubeck blamed
the smoking ban for poor business. As he indicated that he might do in
November, he closed down his less-than-one-year-old restaurant and bar, and
he says he’s “moving on.”
In the case of Thirsty’s Playground, ban
supporters cite the location, which has been occupied by several
restaurants in recent years, as the problem. Under that logic, it would seem that the
location of Nitwhits Bar and Grill puts that establishment at a disadvantage as well.
Nitwhits, formerly Frankie’s Bar and Grill,
sits on South Sixth Street between Chantilly Lace, which has a 3 a.m.
liquor license, and the Curve Inn in the village of Southern View —
outside the purview of Springfield’s comprehensive indoor smoking
ban.
Before the ban went into effect, in September, the
operators of Nitwhits, which is allowed to serve booze only until 1 a.m., were bracing
for disaster. Although she can’t say that Nitwhits has been immune to
the ban’s effects, manager Kelly Pedigo reports that business has
been surprisingly good. “We were kind of expecting the worst, and
luckily that didn’t end up coming about,” Pedigo says. Many Nitwhits customers, she says, are longtime
regulars who have been coming there for years — or they simply prefer
Nitwhits now-clean air to the Curve Inn’s smoke-dense environs.
Although rumors that Nitwhits — which closed temporarily for repairs
but reopened on Wednesday — had gone out of business because of
smoking ban-related complications have circulated, Pedigo tells Illinois Times that
Nitwhits has renewed its liquor license and plans to remain open. Meanwhile, Ned Kelly’s Steakhouse, on Freedom Drive, was lauded
for becoming one the first restaurants in
Springfield to voluntarily go smoke-free. As of the first of the year,
however, the restaurant is no
longer in business.
Contact R.L. Nave at rnave@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Jan 4-10, 2007.
