Miller's Crossing makes move to smoke-free status
Pub Date: 7/1/2008
By Paul Vang
Montana s Clean Indoor Air Act of 2005 marked the beginning of a four year countdown to Oct. 1, 2009, by which time all public places in Montana must be smoke-free.
In 1999, some communities in Montana began passing smoke-free ordinances.
The City of Helena was one of those communities that passed an ordinance prohibiting all smoking in public places, including bars and casinos. That law lasted just six months, June -December 2002, before the Montana Legislature passed a law prohibiting cities from establishing rules more stringent than state law.
To suggest that this was a period full of controversy would be an understatement.
In the 2005 legislature, Gov. Brian Schweitzer helped engineer a compromise between the factions resulting in the Clean Indoor Air Act of 2005, which prohibited smoking in most public indoor facilities effective October 1, 2005, but generally exempted bars and casinos from the smoking ban until October 1, 2009.
Miller s Crossing, a downtown Helena bar and nightspot (with a small food menu) qualified for the bar and casino exemption but owner Bonnie Miller opted to jump the gun and go smoke-free effective May 27, 2008.
Miller spoke with the Montana Tavern Times about the decision-making process and what, if any, fallout there has been.
Miller said she has noted a lot of changes among her customers, many of whom are young adults who come to Miller s Crossing for their wide selection of microbrews and the live bands that entertain.
I d noticed at night so many of the young adults were leaving their tables to go outside to smoke," Miller relasted. "People have gotten conscientious about smoking around non-smokers. Today s young adults have grown up around the non-smoking issues and it s not the big deal now that it was a few years ago when things got so polarized.
I also had a lot of conversations with people who said, We d like to come down to Miller s for the music, but we don t like the smoke.
Miller continued, The last couple years I ve been telling people we were going to go non-smoking long before the 2009 deadline. Finally, a week before the change I put up signs announcing we were going non-smoking effective May 27. We also put up signs saying, If the Irish can do it, we can too.
Miller said she had figured all along that when her business went smoke-free it would be at the beginning of summer. Every spring they do a major house-cleaning, scrubbing down the walls, ceilings, over-hauling smoke filters and, in general, getting rid of the stale smoke and stale beer odor that otherwise might hang in the air.
Miller notified the business editor of the Helena Independent-Record which resulted in a big article in a Sunday issue about the change, which was picked up, in turn, by Helena s two television stations.
How did jumping into a smoke-free environment affect business?
It s been crazy around here, she says, especially in the first week. We had an immediate increase in the food business. We also had a big increase in groups of people coming in after work. When it comes to picking a place for an after-work drink, it s a lot easier for them to go to a non-smoking place.
Miller cited some specific examples where going non-smoking increased business.
Every year, on the last day of school there s a group of 30-40 teachers who like to go out to celebrate. This year they came here because they prefer a non-smoking place. After the June 3 primary election we were the site of Helena s Barack Obama celebration party. It was huge and we got it because we were non-smoking. We got a multi-family high school graduation party that brought in 300 people. Â In short, we ve gotten a lot of new business from various groups.
As for their regular customers, We ve had lots of positive feedback from our regulars, even our smoking customers, because the air is so much better.
Miller said her employees, both smokers and non-smokers, have been supportive of the change. Some of my employees just recently quit smoking and they really appreciate the change.
Miller admits there are some logistical problems with making the change in that there really is no place for smokers to go except outside, and with the wet weather this June, that means standing in the rain.
Miller, who mentioned she has some personal health problems, is herself a smoker, but appreciates the improved air quality. She has cut down on smoking and plans to quit altogether soon, and notes, It s nice not being able to smoke in my office.
Looking back at her years in the business, Miller commented, Going smoke-free is a lot like it was back when Montana started cracking down on DUI problems. It was a major hit on our business at first, but people changed and business bounced back. Now, when people go out they won't drink as much as they might have years ago, but they still spend as much. I think customers will be over it by the 2009 deadline.
Miller said she has not received any comments from her colleagues among other Helena bars and clubs, though she noted that a conflict made it impossible for her to attend the June meeting of the Tri-County Tavern Association a couple nights earlier, where, she suspects, Miller s Crossing might have been a topic of discussion.
On the other side of the Continental Divide, in Missoula, Tami Ursich, owner/manager of the Iron Horse brewpub and restaurant, said the Iron Horse went smoke-free a long time ago, prior to the 2005 Clean Indoor Air Act.
Ursich, who has owned the business for 17 years, is convinced it s the right way to go. I d never go back to a smoking environment. The smoke-free facility is better for our customers, our employees and myself. Even before we went smoke-free I d have smoke-free Thursdays.
Ursich went on to say that, based on her observations and knowledge of the local scene, I believe that 90 percent of the bars and restaurants in Missoula are already smoke-free. There is just a handful that aren t.
While the October 1, 2009 deadline for the last of Montana s public facilities is approaching rapidly, some facilities have voluntarily started early, and if Miller s Crossing and the Iron Horse s experiences are typical, they ve had positive results.
Editor s note: Over the coming months the Tavern Times intends to take a look at other licensed businesses that have gone smoke-free.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, July, 2008, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.