Posted: Sunday, August 13, 2006 12:00 am
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - The ban on smoking in Cheyenne bars, restaurants and other public buildings goes into effect next Tuesday and some city bar owners are bracing themselves for a hit on business.
The Outlaw Saloon, a popular Cheyenne watering hole, will close at the end of September and reopen at another location outside the city limits to escape the smoking ban.
"I think there's going to be a major impact on bars, to the point we're closing The Outlaw Saloon," said co-owner Mitch Jedlicki.
He said the saloon will become consolidated with the Rockin' Rodeo, on the South Greeley Highway, outside the city limits, and the resulting establishment will then be known again as The Outlaw Saloon.
"It's not 100 percent to do with the smoking law, but the smoking ban is going to have a bigger effect than people realize," Jedlicki said.
Jon Coverdale, owner of the Crown Bar in downtown Cheyenne, also says he expects the ban will hurt his business, especially in cold weather.
"If they can't smoke, they will leave or step outside," Coverdale said. "And if they step outside and it's cold, they might do that once or twice, but they're not going to do that continuously all night."
On the other hand, operators of some Cheyenne restaurants that have already gone smoke-free say that they've seen their business pick up.
Tom Kohl Jr., general manager at Perkins restaurant, said the establishment has seen business improve since it went smoke-free on Feb. 1.
"Sales have increased, it has shortened our waiting time in lobby," Kohl said. "It's been positive for staff who don't have to work in that environment anymore. I don't think we've had any negative impact - all of it has been positive."
Kohl said banning smoking has allowed some people who have allergies or medical conditions that didn't allow them to be around smoke before to come into the restaurant.
Applebee's restaurant went smoke-free on Jan. 1. Manager Mylon Skala said the restaurant made the move after a yearlong study that concluded sales on the smoking side of the restaurant were lowest.
"We were always on wait for nonsmoking," Skala said, "but we never had a wait for smoking. So after studying that for a year, we decided to go smoke-free, but also for the health of the employees."
While sales have gone up slightly at Applebee's over last year's numbers, Skala said the wait time in the lobby also has dropped from 25 to 35 minutes on a Friday night down to 10 to 15 minutes.
Cheyenne Mayor Jack Spiker said the city intends to go easy on enforcement in the first days after the ban goes into effect.
"We're not going to go out and start writing tickets on the 15th," Spiker said. "We will issue warning tickets and then expect compliance with those warning tickets. The second time around may be a different issue."