Costs, may force some to go smoke-free

Patrick Henry’s Grill and Pub in East Richmond has a smoking area downstairs but no smoking in the upstairs dining area. Owner Eric Warner recently prohibited smoking in the entire restaurant until after 9 p.m.

With a new law going into effect in Virginia in December that puts more restrictions on but does not entirely ban smoking in restaurants, Warner said he’s likely to make his restaurant smoke-free despite his concerns about how some customers might react.

“I will be happy to go nonsmoking completely, but I don’t know if all my patrons will be,” he said.

Warner and many other local restaurateurs are grappling with the potential financial impact of the new law. Some no-smoking experiments here and changes in laws elsewhere offer insight into how the new law could affect the bottom line. Meanwhile, the hospitality industry expects the law to essentially ban smoking in most eateries. The law prohibits smoking in restaurants unless there is a smoking room that is physically separated and independently ventilated from nonsmoking areas. However, it exempts private clubs such as lodges, and non-enclosed outdoor areas of eateries.

The Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association opposed the smoking legislation, which the General Assembly approved in February and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine signed in March. The industry group argued that the law would put unnecessary regulatory burdens on restaurants, many of which are going smoke-free voluntarily.

Chris Ripp, owner of Can Can restaurant in Carytown, said the restaurant recently went smoke free mostly because of customer demand. Ripp said he does expect to see some impact on sales, at least initially, but based on input from customers, he believes a no-smoking policy will ultimately draw more patrons.

“Definitely short term you are going to lose bar sales,” from banning smoking, he said. “But long term, we are going to gain back those dollars in the dining room.”

Supporters of public smoking bans point to numerous studies, many of them conducted by public health groups or agencies, indicating little or no impact on sales and employment at restaurants or clubs and even a positive impact over time. Opponents say the studies don’t capture the whole picture, and that some restaurants are hurt by smoking bans, especially small operations that cater to smokers.

“Even if (the economic impact) is only for a short period of time, why would the General Assembly have passed this legislation in this economic environment?” asked J. Glynn Loope, a lobbyist for a trade group of cigar sellers in Virginia.

Some Richmond-area restaurants that have gone smoke-free voluntarily say they do not regret the decision. At the Smokey Pig, an Ashland barbecue restaurant that barred smoking more than a year ago, co-owner Michael Pyle said it is difficult to quantify the effect on sales.

“My sales are down like everybody else at this point,” he said. “I am not attributing any of that to our smoke-free policy. I think that is economic.”

Customer comments indicate the policy has had a more positive impact, he said.

“I will say that for every one person that has given a negative comment, I have gotten three to five telling me how wonderful it is,” he said. “As far as I am concerned it was a good decision.”

Weighing the options: What choices do businesses have?

Take the hit
• Some say the smoking law likely amounts to a de-facto ban on indoor smoking in eateries because it is unlikely that many business owners will try to install separate smoking rooms and ventilation, especially in a down economy.
•  Megan Svajda, director of government relations for the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association, said most won’t make the changes because they can’t afford them.

Make the investment
• Svajda said the Hospitality and Travel Association will provide information to restaurants considering putting in separate rooms with ventilation.
• Svajda said the cost of such a renovation “would be determined by what kind of products (a restaurant) is using for ventilation and where you are located in the state and the size of your operation.”

Change course
• Another option for restaurants that want to keep smoking would be to become a private club, but that seems impractical for many restaurants, Svajda said.
• Restaurants opting for this route “would have to have a charter with an elected board,” Svajda said.

About 60 percent of Virginia’s full-service restaurants already are smoke-free, according to the state health department.

Around the nation: Ban burning business?

Business groups in some states that have adopted similar smoking laws say it doesn’t necessarily mean lost business, as long as the law applies equally to businesses across the state.

Walt Hazard, president of the Tennessee Hospitality Association, said overall sales have not been hurt by that state’s law, adopted in 2007, that prohibited smoking in any restaurants that serve or employ people under the age of 21.

While a few went to an over-21 rule, “most (restaurants) just converted to smoke-free,” he said. The sales impact “was insignificant because it was statewide, and every business was having to follow the same set of rules everywhere.”

A similar dynamic occurred in Georgia after the state adopted a smoking law for restaurants in 2005 unless they don’t serve minors. The state’s restaurant association supported the change.

“We were suffering from a proliferation of local jurisdiction bans that were in some cases contradictory,” said Ron Wolf, the association’s president. “We supported the (statewide law) because we felt at the very least it would level the playing field in Georgia. Everybody would be operating by the same rules.”

“Before the ban we received an awful lot of outcry,” from business owners and smokers, he said. “Once the ban went into effect, that literally dwindled to nothing. It is a pretty good indication that it has had minimal if any adverse impact on business.”

• Blackwell is a staff writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.