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April 29, 2004

Another One Bites the Dust

Another local restaurant is closing its doors.

John Gilliam, owner of the Ozark Brewing Co., told his employees Sunday of his intentions to cease restaurant and brewery operations May 9. "I’ve just had enough," Gilliam said Wednesday. "I’ve been doing this basically for 10 years, and it’s time for me to do something different. The market has changed."

Consistency problems and employee issues, Gilliam said, led to his decision, along with decreased clientele during the streetscape construction project and the effects of a citywide smoking ban in public places, including restaurants.

The Brew Pub, as it's know locally, instituted its own semi-smoking ban about 2-3 yrs. ago or so. You could only smoke at the bar....where the food service was abysmal and the patrons were their rowdiest. That's when we stopped going there. Looks like we weren't the only ones.

Sales at the brewing company declined in the past three years, reaching approximately $1.54 million in 2003. From December 2003 through March 2004, the company reported sales of $403,924. "The final straw was the smoking issue," Gilliam said. "That took the wind out of the alcohol sales."

It was also directly responsible for the closing of another landmark restaurant, Jerry's, a longtime favorite Dickson St. breakfast hangout. The owners started looking for a buyer as soon as the whole anti-smoking thing started, since most of their restaurant was the always-packed smoking section. So that's at least 2 closings in about as many months since the smoking ban went into effect. But city officials don't see a problem.

Bill Ramsey, president of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, said a vacant building is aesthetically unpleasant but presumed the site would be filled soon because of its proximity to the arts center and location at the intersection of Dickson Street and West Avenue. "(An empty building) always has an effect, but I don’t anticipate that being long-range," he said. "It’s such a choice location, there’s going to be a lot of people looking at that spot. I just hope we can keep it homeowned and homegrown and keep the character of Dickson Street.

" It’s not good news, but I anticipate it being a shortterm situation. "

The sun'll come out tomorrow, right?

From what I saw the last time we ate down there and from word on the street, the changes to the character of Dickson Street aren't going to be what was intended. Bars where smoking is allowed are packed. Restaurants are not....except the ones with outdoor patio dining (smoking allowed), which is where we ate. And the whole time we were there, we were treated to the constant whining from nonsmokers about having to walk through smoke to get into the restaurant....never mind that there's another entrance that's smoke-free. So I suspect that'll be the next thing to go.

You generally get the behavior what you reward, and it looks like bars are the only businesses to really benefit from the smoking ban. Perhaps another, more profitable bar will move into the vacant Brew Pub building across from the 'highbrow' Walton Arts Center....one in which lots of $1 bills change, uh, hands. So to speak.

That'd be sweet justice, wouldn't it?

Posted by Rita at April 29, 2004 06:39 AM

Comments

Posted by: Matt at April 29, 2004 09:04 AM

Posted by: rita at April 29, 2004 09:16 AM

Posted by: Bob at April 29, 2004 02:38 PM

Posted by: rita at April 29, 2004 05:01 PM