Posted on 12/20/2002 10:10:51 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
SAVANNAH NY- A ban on smoking has snuffed the life out of their D&S Diner, Susan and Doug Devall say. The owners of the village's only diner, one of the few businesses on Main Street, say they will close for good Dec. 29. They blame Wayne County's no-smoking law, which passed in January.
We'd still be here, Doug Devall said, if the law hadn't passed.
The couple opened the diner in August 2000, after a string of businesses failed at the same location. Although the diner didn't turn a profit in its first year, the two expected to operate in the black the second year. Then the no-smoking law sent that goal go up in smoke. Nearby Cayuga County has no ban on smoking in restaurants, so the Devalls figure much of their business went to light up elsewhere. That took 30 percent of the customers right out of here, Doug Devall said.
Sales were down $3,000 in July 2002 compared to July 2001. Hardest hit were on Friday nights and Sunday mornings.
The couple had the option of converting an extra room into a smoking room, but the cost of installing ventilation, sealing doors and other measures was too much. Meanwhile, the two sympathized with their smoking customers and let them indulge under the counter, so to speak.
If it's not busy in here, I will let people smoke. I'm not going to lose my business, Susan Devall said soon after the law went into effect.
The decision to allow smoking or not should be left up to the individual business owner, Doug Devall said. Restaurant owners should be able to choose whether their establishment will be smoking or non-smoking.
The bottom line
Most of them are crying their eyes out because we're closing, but I can't keep robbing Peter to pay Paul, he said. The bottom line: He needs around $800 a day to survive, said the couple. It's the days when less than $100 comes in and then the propane truck pulls in and there's a $400 bill to pay, those are the days that hurt, he said.
This stuff is going to backfire on politicians, come back and bite them on the ass, Doug said, referring not only to the smoking laws but to the high taxes and other regulations that New York state imposes on small businesses. Workman's compensation, disability, unemployment, liability -- the cost of insurance is extremely high for a small business that employs two full-time and three part-time people.
Absolutely, said Sandy Brownell, when asked whether the new smoking laws have hurt many small restaurants like the D & S Diner.
Brownell is a saleswoman for Palmer Distributing, which is based in Newark. It's hard for them to make it in New York state because of the insurance regulations and the taxes as well, she said. I see it a lot, more than I wish to, she said about the closing.
Brownell is a smoker herself, and said whether she could light up or not weighed into her decision on where to eat.
Not just customers
It's the customers Susan will miss the most, especially the regulars. In a small place like this, though -- one of the few places for people to gather in Savannah -- most of the customers are regulars. In fact, several people sitting at the counter Thursday afternoon, after the lunch rush, had the look of regulars about them.
It's like art work for you, said Jackie Shurtleff, placing Leon Waldron's grilled ham and cheese sandwich in front of him.
Waldron comes to the diner at least once a day, usually to shoot the crap with all the guys in the morning and to pick on everyone.
So where will Waldron go after the new year?
Nowhere it seems.
I'm still coming here, they just don't know that yet, he said.
Tim Carmon, who works in Savannah and drops by at least three times a week for lunch, also hates to see them go.
Shurtleff is Sue's sister, as well as one of the diner's employees. She's worked at the diner since the day it opened.
Both of these facts make the closing an extremely emotional event for her as well as her sister. Upsetting was how she described the upcoming closing -- the simplicity of the words belied the complicated emotions felt.
Before he started working part-time at the diner, Randy Brown would come in with his father for lunch. Off duty Thursday afternoon, he sat at the counter eating what Jackie euphemistically called a concoction -- a Philly sandwich with extra cheese plus pickles, potato chips, and ketchup -- all on the sandwich, not on the side.
Brown has another part-time job at Pearl Technologies, but will miss the good atmosphere at the diner.
It's the environment that will be missed even more than the food. Mrs. Nobel, a Savannah resident whom Shurtleff described fondly as a fixture, has been coming to the diner morning and noon since it opened.
Nobel said the diner has the same friendly, pleasant extended family feeling as when Betty Kelly owned the building and operated a luncheonette there more than 20 years ago.
Nobel doesn't think there will be another business opening in the space anytime soon though -- a great loss for the village.
The diner will be sorely missed on Main Street, which has more empty storefronts than full ones. A couple of bars, a hair salon, a convenience store/gas station, the town hall. Given the limited amount of amenities and services available in this hamlet, most residents head to Seneca Falls or Auburn for basic necessities and entertainment.
This exodus will seemingly continue.
Future plans
There will be an auction in January, and then the Devalls will try to lease the space. Since they own the building, which has apartments upstairs, the couple's connection with the hamlet won't be totally severed.
Drink beer and raise hell, Doug said, when asked about his plans for the future. His contracting business will continue to take up most of his time.
But ultimately it's Sue, at the diner just about every day, who'll miss and be missed the most. Her husband joked his wife would be able to enjoy a stretch of being Suzy Homemaker.
Based on Sue's response to that suggestion, it doesn't seem likely.
Although the couple got smoked out of Savannah, figuratively speaking, Sue hasn't been totally burnt by the restaurant business. But she would consider something closer to home and in a higher traffic area, she said. In fact, with an eye on the future, the couple is tentatively keeping an eye on a place in Weedsport.
But the 29th is going to be pretty hard, Sue said.
And this is the person that says they have 30 years dealing with small businesses.
I put less and less faith in ANYTHING minion says every day.
BWAHAHAHAHA, I know who YOU'RE talking about.
Not because it was a bad stock, but because he: "Realized that there is a price people simply will not pay to smoke" and then he recanted Ny's across the board attack on smokers.
I wonder what they are going to do when the tax base collapses?
Cut the budget, or just find something else to tax?
I return what I am given.
When treated as a human being, with respect, I return respect.
When I'm called names and told lies with audacity I'm not going to be Mr. nice Joe anymore.
Give some "little twerp" some power as an Alderman/Councilman, and all of a sudden they JUST HAVE TO PASS LAWS.
Smokers vote with their feet, and more and more are buying smokes on the Internet to by-pass slimey trial lawyer ripoffs as well as "little twerp" salaries.
Watch out VRWC Minion, the SheLion will soon log in and kick your algore like nobody else can.
How about private clubs? What if a bar decides to become a "private club" whose only requirement for membership is that members not b@@@@ about smoke?
Theaters etc. have the right to establish a policy that anyone whose cell phone or audible pager goes off will be immediate ejected for the duration of the show. If you frequent a theater where shows are often disrupted, you can ask management to implement such a policy; if management refuses, you have the right to take your business elsewhere.
Of course, some fascists would rather just ban cell phones legislatively rather than letting theater owners set their own policy.
30 years experience with small business.
Mmm I didn't know Dasshole had been in office that long!
Sorry, I couldn't help myself!
Maybe their problem is they didn't follow the 3 very basics of real estate investment...Location, Location, Location........
A ban on smoking is their problem? Or whiney smokers cowering at home with their cigarettes rather than supporting their local economy, enjoying a normal life?
WRONG, WRONG, WRONG
It is the antismoking Nazis who are the selfish ones, They are the ones who pass these stupid laws so where the %!@&^# are they
They know they are going to chase some, most or all the smokers away so you would think they would at least have the decency to go out a little more often to make up the loss.
But nooo, They are nowhere to be found. It just shows that it isn't about smoking it is about control.
They think just because they go out once or twice a year and order a lettuce sandwich and bottled water that they should force ALL buisnesses even ones they would never set foot in to cater to their selfish needs over the regulars.
BS argument.
We go to Church, School or fly commericially because we have to, not for recreation.
It's not about not being able to last without a cigarette, I go without for longer periods of time at work everyday. It's when we go out to a restaurant or bar we want to sit back and relax and have a good time and yes I know that might be hard for you to understand and probably upsets you but smoking is part of that. Being forced to go outside and leave my group is not what I would call a good time. It's expensive to go out to bar & restaurants, Why on Earth would we pay to be treated like second class citizens?
And yes if a Church, Airline and even a school wants to permit smoking they should be able to.
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