Pub Closures "Threaten UK's Social Life"

[trekz 7]

Pub Closures 'Threaten UK's Social Life'

By Sky News SkyNews - 46 minutes ago Pubs are closing down at a rate of nearly four a day because of poor sales and the effect of the smoking ban, the organisation which represents the industry has warned.

 

Last year, 1,409 pubs shut their doors, according to the British Beer & Pub Association.

 

The number was up on previous years with 216 closures in 2006 - four a week - and 102 in 2005 - two a week.

 

The increasing rate of closures means that "a vital part" of Britain's social life is under threat, the BBPA warned.

 

"Britain's pubs are grappling with spiralling costs, sinking sales, fragile consumer confidence and the impact of the smoking ban," said Rob Hayward, the organisation's chief executive.

 

"These figures show the stark reality of the pub trade today, in contrast to the hype surrounding the myth of "24-hour drinking" and extended pub opening hours.

 

"Pub closures at this rate are threatening an important hub of our social fabric and community history.

 

"What we need to stop the decline is support from Government and the general public."

 

Urban pubs have been hardest hit, with 2% of all urban pubs closing in the last six months, the BBPA said.

 

It added that pubs which are unable to offer an attractive outside areas for smokers, and those that are not heavily focused on food sales, face particular difficulties.

 

And after beer sales in pubs hit their lowest level since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the pub industry organisation called on the Government to freeze the duty on beer in this year's Budget.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

Many people predicted that California bars would head in the same direction when our bar smoking ban went into effect. For a while there were a few bars you could still smoke in - not legally, but the deal was you tipped heavily and if the bar was fined it was paid out of the tips.

 

But I have to admit, even though I was against the ban and am still against it in principal the worst of the predictions simply didn't happen. We didn't experience massive bar closings or attendance declines as predicted. I still enjoy it when I travel to other states where you can smoke in bars but other than that life is pretty much normal.

[Wishfire 2]

Many people predicted that California bars would head in the same direction when our bar smoking ban went into effect.

 

Instead, even small local bars made enough money to build out-door rain-proof smoking patios. Go figure.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

Instead, even small local bars made enough money to build out-door rain-proof smoking patios. Go figure.

Some did, but not all. And we did learn an important lesson:

 

When you are drunk and want a cigarette you don't care if it rains.

[Wishfire 2]

Instead, even small local bars made enough money to build out-door rain-proof smoking patios. Go figure.

Some did, but not all. And we did learn an important lesson:

 

When you are drunk and want a cigarette you don't care if it rains.

 

The lesson I learned was... "No matter what the forecast, bring a jacket. If it rains... it'll make a good umbrella.

[Kor37 9]

4 pubs a day are closing!!!.......This could be a worse catastrophe than global warming!...

[Angela 1]

I amin the UK and trust me the high street I live on has 5 or 6 pubs (none closed) and they are packed out most nights. Especially when sports is on.

[ddillard 2]

Since the smoking ban went into effect here in Columbus then a year later state wide, it has hurt alot of business not just bars. I know of several restaurants that have had to close down as well as many that have had to cut back on their staff because they are not bringing in enough business since the ban went into effect. Of course here the smoking ban does not allow for these places to have any type of shelter for smokers.

 

There are still alot of bars that are not complying with the law and giving out altoid containers to use as ashtrays since they can be closed and quickly put in you pocket if someone comes in.

 

Of course I think they have taken the smoking ban a little to far here to the point that it is even hurting those that clean the homes of private individuals. Since here the law states that if anyplace has an employee who is not related to you at any time than it is illegal to smoke inside, and yes this includes your own home if you have someone come in to clean, babysit, dogsit, etc. at any time even when they are not there it is illegal. By the law here it is even illegal for a person to smoke in any vehicle, including a semi truck that is owned by a company, even if they are the only people ever in the vehicle.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

Maybe people aren't hanging out in bars or pubs because they have actually found a life? It's just a thought.

 

If anything is discouraging people from going out - I'd say it was the economic strain of rising gas prices. We have a restaurant smoking ban in Florida- it makes going out to dinner more pleasant and restaurants seem to be doing just fine.

[Kor37 9]

Maybe people aren't hanging out in bars or pubs because they have actually found a life? It's just a thought.

Naahhhh......that can't be it, can it?.....

We have a restaurant smoking ban in Florida- it makes going out to dinner more pleasant and restaurants seem to be doing just fine.

Not exactly true:

 

Hard Times on the Menu at Restaurants

By Bruce Horovitz,USA Today

Posted: 2008-03-03 08:56:45

The restaurant industry has fallen, and it can't get up. To add insult: The worst may be yet to come.

 

Same-store sales are sliding. Commodity prices are climbing. Units are closing. Customers are dwindling. Some of the top names in all ends of dining are in pain, from Starbucks to Applebee's to The Cheesecake Factory.

 

"Whether or not the rest of the economy is in a recession, the restaurant industry certainly is," says Ron Paul, president of restaurant researcher Technomic.

 

The financial squeeze is hitting hardest at dinner. Dinner traffic fell 2% last year, says research giant NPD Group. Lunch is slowing, too, says Dave Jenkins, president of NPD's U.S. foodservice business.

 

More serious troubles may be ahead for the $558 billion industry. Except at McDonald's - which posted a mostly terrific 2007 - same-store sales at the nation's largest restaurant chains grew a paltry 0.3% last year, Technomics says. Same-store sales are those at stores open at least a year.

 

Worse, 49% of restaurants surveyed by the National Restaurant Association reported same-store sales fell in January, and 54% said customer traffic fell in January, the fifth month in a row.

 

"In the lifespan of casual dining, we haven't seen economic times like this," says Marc Buehler, CEO of Lone Star Steakhouse, which just closed 27 of 179 stores.

 

-- Restaurants are closing. After the Lone Star closings, 1,500 employees lost their jobs. "We're gonna get through this," says Buehler. "But it won't be easy."

 

Starbucks plans to close 100 low-performing units and will unveil a strategy of key changes at its annual meeting on March 19. Pick Up Stix, a fast-casual Chinese chain, closed 26 of its nearly 100 locations in January.

 

-- Same-store sales are falling. Few chains have been hit as hard as Ruby Tuesday, whose same-store sales at company-owned stores fell 10.8% in the fourth quarter. "Unlike paying the mortgage, going out to eat is discretionary and can be changed easily," laments Richard Johnson, senior vice president.

 

Same-store sales at Applebee's dropped 2.9% in the fourth quarter. "Despite a challenging environment, we believe we can reverse this trend," says Julia Stewart, CEO of parent IHop. She says a new menu is in the works.

 

Steak 'n Shake's same-store sales dived 9.5% in the fourth quarter at company units. Chili's fell 2.4%. And Wendy's sales at company-owned stores fell 0.8%.

 

Cheesecake Factory fell 0.4%, and Howard Gordon, senior vice president, says that since going public in 1992, "We've never seen a time like this."

 

[Theunicornhunter 2]

We have a restaurant smoking ban in Florida- it makes going out to dinner more pleasant and restaurants seem to be doing just fine.

Not exactly true:

[

 

Well, that's because of the recession - not the smoking ban. Buty eah, nobody is doing just fine these days. And I wonder how this looks for non-chain restaurants.

[Kor37 9]

Here's a solution:

 

Minnesota Bars Beat Smoking Ban

By GREGG AAMOT,AP

Posted: 2008-03-06 17:06:25

Filed Under: Nation News

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. (AP) - All the world's a stage at some of Minnesota's bars. A new state ban on smoking in restaurants and other nightspots contains an exception for performers in theatrical productions. So some bars are getting around the ban by printing up playbills, encouraging customers to come in costume, and pronouncing them "actors."

 

The customers are playing right along, merrily puffing away -- and sometimes speaking in funny accents and doing a little improvisation, too.

 

The state Health Department is threatening to bring the curtain down on these sham productions. But for now, it's on with the show.

 

At The Rock, a hard-rock and heavy-metal bar in suburban St. Paul, the "actors" during "theater night" do little more than sit around, drink, smoke and listen to the earsplitting music.

 

"They're playing themselves before Oct. 1. You know, before there was a smoking ban," owner Brian Bauman explained. Shaping the words in the air with his hands, like a producer envisioning the marquee, he said: "We call the production, 'Before the Ban!'"

 

The smoking ban, passed by the Legislature last year, allows actors to light up in character during theatrical performances as long as patrons are notified in advance.

 

About 30 bars in Minnesota have been exploiting the loophole by staging the faux theater productions and pronouncing cigarettes props, according to an anti-smoking group.

 

"It's too bad they didn't put as much effort into protecting their employees from smoking," grumbled Jeanne Weigum, executive director of the Association for Nonsmokers.

 

The Health Department this week vowed to begin cracking down on theater nights with fines of as much as $10,000.

 

"The law was enacted to protect Minnesotans from the serious health effects of secondhand smoke," Minnesota Health Commissioner Sanne Magnan said. "It is time for the curtain to fall on these theatrics."

 

At The Rock earlier this week, a black stage curtain covered part of the entrance, and a sign next to it with an arrow read, "Stage Entrance." Along the opposite wall, below a sign saying "Props Dept.," was a stack of the only props needed: black ashtrays.

 

At the door was a printed playbill for that night's program, with a list of names of the people portraying bartenders and security guards. Playing the owner: "Brian."

 

Courtney Conk paid $1 for a button that said "Act Now" and pinned it to her shirt. That made her an actor for the night, entitling her to smoke. She turned in an understated, minimalist performance, sitting with cigarette in hand and talking to a bass player with the band.

 

"I thought it was funny that they found a loophole," Conk said. "I'm more of an activist-actor tonight, you could say. I think it's kind of this way of saying what we think about the ban."

 

While The Rock asks nothing of its actors by way of creativity, a few other bars have been a little more theatrical.

 

At Barnacles Resort and Campground along Lake Mille Lacs, a "traveling tobacco troupe" dressed in medieval costume on the first theater night. Mark Benjamin, a lawyer who pushed bars to exploit the loophole, wore tights, a feathered cap and black boots.

 

"Hey, I'm a child of the '60s. I can do a little improv," he said. His improv amounted to speaking in medieval character to other patrons.

 

In Hill City, Mike's Uptown owner Lisa Anderson has been offering theater night once a week. The bar had a Mardi Gras theme last Saturday, attracting about 30 patrons, most of them in costume.

 

"I was dressed in a Victorian dress with the old fluffy thing that weighs 500 pounds," she said. "We had some fairies and some pirates and a group of girls -- I'm not sure what they were, but they had big boas and flashy makeup."

 

Though there were no skits, Anderson said some people "start talking with different accents." She added: "It's turned into the funnest thing I can imagine."

 

One bar on northern Minnesota's Iron Range, the Queen City Sports Place, calls its nightly smokefest "The Tobacco Monologues."

 

Proving anew there's no business like show business, Anderson said her theater-night receipts have averaged $2,000 -- up from $500 right after the ban kicked in. Similarly, Bauman said revenue at The Rock dropped off 30 percent after the ban took effect, then shot back up to normal once the bar began allowing smoking again.

 

He and other bar owners said they plan to continue putting on theater nights.

 

"There's no question we were struggling," he said. "And we are extremely nervous that this is going to go away, and we will be back to the way it was."