Defiance: KS New smoking-lounge business

Three KU freshmen open their own shop

October 19, 2006
By Jack Weinstein

The Men’s Room is a new business that will allow smoking indoors

The new smoking-lounge business will open today and is being run by three KU freshmen. The business was able to get around the smoking ban to allow for smoking indoors.

The Men’s Room, a cigar and tobacco lounge that allows its patrons to smoke indoors, will open its doors this afternoon at 4 p.m.

Located at 1606 W. 23rd St., the former location of the Chartroose Caboose, the Men’s Room will be exempt from the city-wide smoking ban because it obtained a tobacco license similar to those of retail tobacco stores. The Men’s Room must make at least 51 percent of its revenue from tobacco products, which will be mostly cigars and cigarettes. The lounge will also sell tobacco for use in its rented hookahs.

It’s really B.Y.O. everything.

-Mike Stingo, Kansas City, Mo., freshman

Freda Warfield, a public service administrator for the Kansas Department of Revenue, said the city of Lawrence determined whether customers could smoke indoors.

“As far as the 51 percent rule, that is a Lawrence ordinance according to the rules they’re using for the smoking ban,” Warfield said.

Unlike The Lebanese Hookah House, which opened its doors in early September, customers can bring in outside tobacco products for use inside the Men’s Room. The Hookah House requires that all tobacco be purchased inside for use in its hookahs, which are available for customers to rent.

The smoking lounge is the brainchild of Joe Scaglia, Kansas City, Mo., freshman, and his father. Scaglia said he and his father hatched the plan to open the Men’s Room in Overland Park but they ran into some roadblocks with the indoor smoking laws. They decided to open the business in Lawrence.

Scaglia said his dad would come to town a few times a month to help out, but the business was all his.

“If something happens, it’s my ass,” Scaglia said.

He enlisted the help of two of his friends: his roommate at Naismith Hall, Mike Stingo, Kansas City, Mo., freshman, will deal with sales and marketing and Pat Stacy, Kansas City, Mo., freshman, will handle the business operations for the lounge.

The tobacco license also allows the Men’s Room to stay open later than the bars. Scaglia said the idea was to attract the post-bar crowd.

“I’d be happy if five percent of the people from the bars came here,” he said.

The city-wide smoking ban doesn’t allow bar or restaurant patrons the privilege of smoking, so the Men’s Room can’t obtain a liquor or food license. But customers can bring their own beer or booze and buy mixers at the lounge. They can also bring food from outside establishments.

“It’s really B.Y.O. everything,” Stingo said.

The Men’s Room will have a pool table, a poker table upstairs and a DJ downstairs who will play “loud music” similar to the Boom Boom Room at the Hawk, Stingo said. It will be open until 4 a.m. Mondays and Thursday through Saturday. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the lounge will be open until 2 a.m. and on Sunday from noon until 6 p.m.

The Men’s Room plans on holding a weekly $10 buy-in poker tournament each week where the winner would get to pick a prize from the humidor. Scaglia also said they were contemplating a “longest ash” contest in which the participant with the largest cigar ash would win.

Scaglia and Stingo aren’t concerned about their grades slipping. In fact, they both said the job of running a full-time business would help their grades improve because they would have to find the time to do their homework. Stingo said he has received his best grades lately because he has to do his homework right after class. But he did envision a scenario where he could get himself into trouble..

“If my grades slip,” he said with a smile, not wanting to finish the sentence, “I’d be done.”

Kansan staff writer Jack Weinstein can be contacted at jweinstein@kansan.com.