Smoke starts to clear on ban's impact

In the four months since the state banned smoking in public places, this is how the ban has affected local restaurants and bars:

• Forced the owner of a 70-year-old Olympia cafe to put his business up for sale.

• Helped business soar at a Northeast Seattle brew pub by attracting new customers who come for a smoke-free meal.

• Driven away so many regulars at an Everett bar that the owner laid off two bartenders.

The effects of the ban seem to vary widely. In some upscale Seattle bars, the ban has attracted new, nonsmoking customers. But owners of some blue-collar neighborhood joints say their business has fallen by half.

Voters in November approved Initiative 901, which prohibits smoking in all public places and workplaces, including bars, taverns, restaurants, bowling alleys and nontribal casinos. That ban extends 25 feet beyond the front doors or a "reasonable distance" to keep smoke from wafting indoors.

There was an initial surge in complaints about violators after the smoking ban went into effect in December. But over time, the complaints have decreased. In King County, complaints went from 164 in December to 55 in March. In Snohomish County, there were 65 complaints in December and just eight in March.

Businesses can be fined after repeated violations, and King County has issued fines to two restaurants: Rimrock Steak House on Lake City Way had to pay $300 and Brewsky's Bar & Grill in White Center was ordered to pay $200. Snohomish County has issued four warnings for multiple violations and referred one of the cases to court to enforce fines.

The overall impact on businesses statewide is difficult to judge. The state Department of Revenue said it won't be able to determine whether restaurants and bars have suffered until it gets taxpayer data for the first quarter of this year.

The losers

Brewsky's initially didn't enforce the ban.

"I sort of ignored it for the first month or two. Then the guy next door called and filed a complaint," said Tom Engelman, finance officer for Pub Properties, which owns Brewsky's. "Finally, they said they were going to fine me."

He said he's not going to pay the fine unless the county cites the names of people who were smoking in the bar. Sales have fallen 25 to 30 percent since December, and Engelman said he has been forced to lay off one employee.

Donna Kerns, who owns the White Elephant Bar & Grill in Everett with her husband, said, "This is killing business." Kerns, 63, estimated her sales have fallen 60 percent, and she has let go of both her bartenders — now she and her husband work the bar. People used to wait in the parking lot for her to open. At times now, the only cars there belong to Kerns and her husband.

"I just want to run out into traffic one day and say, 'Hit me; put me out of my misery,' " Kerns said.

The Spar Cafe, Bar & Tobacco Merchant, an institution in Olympia built in 1935, went up for sale the day after the smoking ban started.

Alan McWain, a second-generation owner, said sales started falling after the ban and haven't stopped. His liquor sales are down 40 percent from 12 months ago and food sales fell 10.5 percent. He said he also is bringing in $30,000 less in gross sales on tobacco a month.

"I can't keep absorbing that," McWain said.

Business at the Blue Moon Tavern in Seattle's University District has fallen by 50 percent, but the decline leveled off in February, owner Gus Hellthaler said.

The hardest-hit period was happy hour, which was popular with carpenters, house painters and plumbers who came in after work.

"Oftentimes the winter months are slow for the tavern, but this has gone beyond anything in the past," said Hellthaler, who has cut the bar's hours. He is putting more money into advertising and attracting musicians.

"It's the sort of thing that has its greatest impact on the working-class places like the Blue Moon, and the upper-class places are less affected," Hellthaler said.

The winners

Other bar owners say the law has attracted new customers to their suddenly smokeless bars.

Business is booming at the Wedgwood Ale House in Seattle.

"It's very noticeable," said manager Derek Arntz, who voted against the ban in November. "The restaurant is a lot more crowded."

Most of the smokers are still coming, Arntz said, but there are definitely some who haven't returned. He said he's getting customers who used to go to the nonsmoking bar in the neighborhood.

Arntz, who doesn't smoke, said he's still opposed to the ban despite the positive effect it's had on business, "on the basis of a little too much government intrusion."

At Two Bells Bar & Grill in Seattle, owner Jeff Lee says some smokers have left but they've been replaced by many new faces at lunch. "From my point of view, it's been great," Lee said.

An awning covers people who now puff cigarettes on the sidewalk outside Joe's Bar and Grill in the Chinatown International District.

Even though he's a smoker, bartender Andy Evans said, "As someone stuck behind the bar in the wintertime, it's great not to have smoke in my face."

Business is up, especially snack sales. "Smokers need something to do with their hands," Evans said.

At J&M Cafe and Cardroom in Pioneer Square, patrons protect their half-finished pints with cards that read "Please don't touch, gone to smoke."

Jenascia Chakose, bartender at J&M, said there was a dip when the ban first took effect, but it has rebounded.

"You can't smoke in the entire state, so there's no alternative," Chakose said. "Your choice is either to stay home or not smoke here."

Officials in charge of enforcing the ban say it's been a success, citing the drop in complaints and the few fines issued so far.

"When you think of all the thousands of places in King County, to have two that are not in compliance is pretty remarkable," said Roger Valdez, head of tobacco prevention in King County. "We see this as working really, really well."

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com