Olympia bar owner hopes to boost business by welcoming pot smokers
Dec 10, 2012, 6:07 AM | Updated: 10:58 am
If democrats had their way, pot smoking would be ignored when hiring someone. (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
Business has been slow for Frank Schnarr in Olympia. He owns Frankie’s Sports Bar & Grill and with the legalization of marijuana, he’s ready to try something new that will begin to bring in the cash.
Businesses in Washington state are already figuring out ways to profit from the state’s new laws making recreational marijuana legal.
“The way the economy is right now I can lose [my bar] at any moment, because I have no customers,” Schnaar told CBS Radio. “To bring in another type of a person to come in my establishment is a plus for me.”
Schnarr’s bar is already known for allowing patrons to smoke cigarettes for an annual fee.
He battled state regulators and won — allowing smoking customers access to a closed-in area more than 25 feet from the entrances to his downstairs bar.
Schnaar is welcoming marijuana smoking in what he calls the “Friends of Frankie” room, a space in which customers pay an annual $10 fee to use.
Does he think it will be a popular spot? He told CBS it was the other night.
Olympia City Manager Steve Hall says the city is not sure what, if any, action will be taken against Frankie’s, saying the law is unclear.
The Associated Press and KIRO Radio’s Bob Larson contributed to this report.
