Jump to full article: Quad-City (IA) Times, 2009-07-01
Author: the numbers
Intro: Statistics from the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division show an unsettled picture of the bar business since the smoking ban started.
Gross spirits sales in Scott County through liquor stores and distributors is up by $2.26 million - or 16.8 percent - for the year ending May 31, compared with the same time period ending May 31, 2008, according to the Iowa ABD.
However, the number of liquor licenses issued to establishments in Scott County dropped from 327 in 2008 to 298 this year, continuing a slide from 2006 when 386 on-premise licenses were issued in the county.
"It has hurt all of us," said Joe Sturgis, the owner of the Rusty Nail in Davenport who lobbied strongly against the smoking ban. "We've lost about 10 businesses because of it.
"We probably lost 40 percent of our customers to bars that were openly letting their customers smoke. It has come back, but we're still down about 30 percent." . . .
Iowa bar owners are rankled by how state-licensed casinos are exempt from the smoking ban and want a fair playing field. Locally, however, the Iowa-based casinos' revenue slumped at the end of last year, with gaming officials laying the blame on the recession.
"I would like to have (Gov. Chet) Culver or a judge look me in the eye and tell me the health of my workers is more important than the health of the workers on the boats," Frick's owner Moorman said.
Brian Froehlich, owner of Fro's Pub and Grub in Wilton, has filed a lawsuit in Muscatine County against the Iowa Department of Commerce, asking for judicial review of a 30-day license suspension. The lawsuit is expected to decide whether the smoking ban violates the Constitution's equal protection clause by permitting smoking in some businesses while banning it in others.
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