I'm lucky enough to have the entire week of Thanksgiving off from teaching. My students are thrilled to have a week off from me! As we chatted before the end of class on Wednesday, I took note that several of them planned to spend Thanksgiving in their home states and were preparing to leave as soon as today. My students' travel plans got me thinking about our customers who attend universities away from home.Since many of our customers buy a hookah from us after they've been to a hookah lounge, it's probably safe for me to conclude that there are plenty of lounges within a reasonable distance from a college campus where students go to smoke and socialize with friends. But what happens when you go home? You've been away for a while, and the old hometown might not look the same when you return for the holidays. Where will you go to smoke hookah with the hometown pals?
I did some searching and discovered a fantastic resource for hookah fans, and it's especially useful to anyone who travels and wants to smoke hookah in an unfamiliar place. Hookah-Bars.com has compiled a list of hookah lounges across the country and organized them state by state. Now no matter where you plan to travel, you can look for a smoking spot to share hookah with friends! Some states, like Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Vermont have no hookah lounges listed. Whether or not that means these states are missing out on the hookah experience, I don't know. If you live in New England, though, you're totally screwed -- look at how few of the New England states actually have a hookah lounge!
Business majors and entrepreneurs, there's an opportunity for you -- populate New England with hookah lounges and show those poor people what they've been missing!
Comments (4)
8:14 AM
Hi Carleen, Happy Thanksgiving!
I suspect the reason there's a paucity of shisha lounges in some states is the local anti-smoking legislation. In our area, smoking of cigarettes, Western-style pipes, etc., is prohibited in any restaurant or bar (any indoor public venue, in fact), yet for some reason, hookah lounges are exempt from that -- for hookah-smoking, that is; I don't think one can light up a cigarette there. I think cigar bars are permitted, too. I haven't read the legislation, but it must be worded in some way that permits certain types of 'recreational' or 'social' smoking in places established specifically for that purpose, which seems quite sensible. But it may be that in other states or municipalities the laws are more restrictive and ban every kind of smoking, in all public places. New England would be a most likely region to find such laws, as one finds there a funny mix of liberal-P.C.-chic and the remnants of a puritanical past. So, there may be no hope for hookah-lounge entrepreneurs up there!
Best wishes to you and Ali! -- Cyndi
5:01 AM
California has similar anti-smoking laws, but hookah lounges and cigar bars are permitted thanks to some type of loophole in the legislation. Smoking is allowed in private businesses providing that everyone who works in the location is an owner or an immediate family member of one.
5:51 PM
Hi, I am the owner of Hookah-Bars.com and was happy to see your positive endorsement of my site. There are still a few states that don't have hookah bars yet, but I get about 5-10 hookah bars owners submitting their new hookah bar every month so I doubt it will stay that way for long. Entrepreneurs are jumping on the hookah bar trend and doing very well.
Ben Krull
Owner, Hookah-Bars.com
8:17 PM
Thanks for the visit, Ben! I consider myself, and our customers, lucky to have found your very useful site!
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