Food Sales Heat Up After Smoking Ban
by June 21, 2004 12:00 am 65 views
In the first month after the city’s smoking ban took effect, sales in Fayetteville restaurants jumped 8.1 percent, to $11.69 million for April over $10.82 million in April 2003, according to city tax collections.
Opponents had claimed the ban would harm the city’s restaurant business, but the numbers, at least for the first month, don’t appear to agree with them. The increase was almost twice that of the previous April-to-April comparison (2002 to 2003), which was a 4.3 percent increase.
The city’s restaurant sales increased 10.1 percent in January and 14.1 percent in February — before the smoking ban took effect in March — but the 2004 numbers were competing against an icy winter that likely kept some diners home in early 2003.
Fayetteville’s hotel-motel-restaurant tax applies to food and beverage sales at restaurants, including beer and wine, but not mixed drinks.
Sales of alcoholic beverages at Fayetteville restaurants dipped two-tenths of a percent in April, but the decrease was a 27-fold improvement over a decrease of 5.4 percent in April 2003. The alcohol-tax numbers reflect sales at restaurants and private clubs but not in Fayetteville’s 11 bars, which don’t serve food and allow smoking.
Total restaurant sales in Fayetteville increased 6 percent in 2003 to $133.4 million from $125.9 million the previous year.
Restaurant Sales
All figures are for the month of April.
Year — Amount — %Change
2004 — $11,690,650 — 8.1%
2003 — $10,815,735 — 4.3%
2002 — $10,366,722
• Liquor Tax Collections*
Year — Amount — %Change
2004 — $25,752.16 — -0.2%
2003 — $25,799.54 — -5.4%
2002 — $27,283.66
*Because of the complicated manner in which liquor taxes are computed in Fayetteville, tax collections were used for this category instead of trying to calculate actual sales figures.
Source: City of Fayetteville tax collections