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Smoking Laws 2 weeks later
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| Jayx1 |
Well i have mixed reviews for this new law.
The good:
- Yes it's nice not having to come home smelling like smoke and feeling somewhat fresh.
- It's also nice to be able to smell perfume etc
The bad
- Displacement of people. Ive noticed that patios and smoking rooms are jammed and the main room at clubs and bars are now becoming the defacto secondary overflow rooms
- At one club i work at (without a patio) ive noticed the attendance levels drop dramatically in the last 2 weeks.
- Some friends who work at smaller bars say their tips are off by 50% and estimate that the clientele has dropped off by this much as well.
The Lowdown
The clubs with patios or that let people in and out are seeing behaviour changes but this wont last the winter. I think people already forget how cold it gets here.
Also, i already know several people in the industry who have seen a direct effect in their salaries and many bar and restaurant owners are running scared.
The only place i havnt seen a direct effect so far is the Guvernment but we will see if this outlasts patio season.
Although its nice to breathe fresh air, as a non smoking employee of this industry id sooner have food in my stomach and a place to live. Most others feel the same way/ |
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| crazedcanuck |
I'm confident that since this is here to stay, the numbers will balance out eventually.
Hopefully more places look @ accomodating those that smoke with inside seperately ventilated rooms since winter will be here sooner rather than later.
We have a great thing going in this city, and it just keeps on getting bigger and stronger. |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by crazedcanuck
I'm confident that since this is here to stay, the numbers will balance out eventually.
Hopefully more places look @ accomodating those that smoke with inside seperately ventilated rooms since winter will be here sooner rather than later.
We have a great thing going in this city, and it just keeps on getting bigger and stronger. |
I doubt it. Why would a bar or club owner even bother spending 10s of thousands on smoking rooms when city council is already trying to ban DSRs by June 2007?
Once you give a zealot an inch, they take a mile.... and your job... |
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| MarkT |
Even most ardent supporters of the ban acknowledge that there will be a temporary dip as people adjust.
give it another couple of weeks...that those people who aren't going out to bars and clubs will give in. I can't see people who normally hit the bars and clubs forgoing an entire summer of fun just because they can't smoke. |
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| JRinger |
| ^^ exactly - 2 weeks is far too early to draw any conclusions....with the nice weather, the dip in attendance could just as easily be attributed to people wanting to spend the first few nice weekends of the summer outdoors, away from clubs.....at the end of the day, the ban is here to stay and people will adjust, just as they have in countless other places.... |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by MarkT
Even most ardent supporters of the ban acknowledge that there will be a temporary dip as people adjust.
give it another couple of weeks...that those people who aren't going out to bars and clubs will give in. I can't see people who normally hit the bars and clubs forgoing an entire summer of fun just because they can't smoke. |
Lets hope you are right. However, let me point out that it shows who the true customers are when attendence levels drop because people cant smoke. This is one of my main arguements against the ban. |
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| MarkT |
business hasn't been halved, so how is the ban showing who the "real customers" are? What I'd really like to see is the # of smokers who DO go out vs. the # who now don't. I bet the former is the larger group of the two, so:
What the (temporary) drop shows is that many smokers are letting their sad little addiction prevent them from going out and having a good time. :tongue2 ;) |
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| d!abolic |
| quote: | Originally posted by Jayx1
Lets hope you are right. However, let me point out that it shows who the true customers are when attendence levels drop because people cant smoke. This is one of my main arguements against the ban. |
There are no 'true' customers. The business exists to serve the customer, not vice versa. When or if the business fails to serve the customer's needs, or when another business serves them better, the customer walks. |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by MarkT
business hasn't been halved, so how is the ban showing who the "real customers" are? What I'd really like to see is the # of smokers who DO go out vs. the # who now don't. I bet the former is the larger group of the two, so:
What the (temporary) drop shows is that many smokers are letting their sad little addiction prevent them from going out and having a good time. :tongue2 ;) |
Im not saying business is off 50% but her tips are. Business is definately down around town. And this "temporary" dip shows that the people who go out are the smokers. Where are all the non smokers coming out in droves to fill the gap? And have you ever been to a club? Society in general may not smoke but MOST PEOPLE SMOKE IN CLUBS.
Just the fact that there is SUPPOSED to be a "temporary dip" in sales just proves how wrong this law is. Who is going to help business owners recover the money? Sometimes profit margins are only 5-10% and a loss of even 20% of customers could break a business.
Also just think that whatever percentage of people less who go out thanks to the law will trickle down into that many % of businesses closing. Which means that much less to choose from in the future.
I love the fresh air but im still against this law. Winter will be the real disaster. |
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| Trigger |
| There'll always be supporters to both sides of this law but now that its here I think smokers will have to adapt. Just as us non-smokers have had to put up with the smoke-infested clubs for as long as we've been clubbing, its time the tables turn for a change. I think it goes without saying how badly it has affected us that don't smoke but have still gone out despite having to breathe in that which we would rather not. I think its only fair that now we can enjoy going out to our favourite places and not have to come home reeking of smoke. I do understand the plight of those that do snoke and how they have a need to do so when they go out. However other places in the world have found ways to do it and still have successful bars and restaurants operate well. Look at places like California for instance where they banned it years ago. I think its a good trend in the end and am sure after the initial shock of the law wears down we will still have many bars, clubs and restaurants operating in Ontario. People still want to go out and party smoker or not and will have to find a way to adapt as us non-smokers had to prior to this. My two cents anyway. |
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| Jayx1 |
Toronto has something that california does not....
8 MONTHS OF WINTER!
I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who said that the club he went to last night (he's a regular there) has never been so dead. He said the waitress and bartender he knows there were both complaining that tips were off 50-70% and everyone is scared right now. I also noticed that on the way into the city last night there was hardly any traffic on the highway.
Its nice to have fresh air but when your favourite club closes down thanks to this law everyone will have lots of fresh air to breathe outside or at home... |
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| d!abolic |
| quote: | Originally posted by Jayx1
I also noticed that on the way into the city last night there was hardly any traffic on the highway.
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If the number of people who would rather stay home than go to a venue where they can't smoke is high enough to affect highway traffic, we've got bigger problems than smoking by-laws :eek: |
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