A sweepstakes parlor moves out; a hookah bar moves in

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Many sweepstakes parlors left town after North Carolina banned them but those weren’t the only businesses forced to close their doors. A ban on hookah bars left many business owners with nowhere to turn one couple is ignoring the ban and hoping for better luck in a new location.

“I am trying to adjust myself with the law,” said owner Gulbahar Guven. “I will never break the law but I also don’t agree with them with how they want to operate our business.”

For Guven and her husband Shady Aziz, they’re doing everything they can to keep their small business from going up in smoke.

“People in the south don’t really know what a hookah is and because of that sometimes they look at us in a different look like we are trying to do something illegal,” said Aziz.

The couple is trying to make their hookah business a success at a new location on Market Street. This is the same spot a sweepstakes parlor used to call home but because of another state ban the video poker business was forced to close its doors. It’s a fear the couple thinks could become a reality for them as well.

“If it keeps going that way we might eventually have to either convert to a different type of business or just close it down,” said Aziz.

The couple’s hookah bar used to be located in downtown Wilmington but lack of parking and abuse of alcohol started to run their business into the ground. Despite the state’s smoking ban affecting bars, restaurants and hookah establishments, they’re hoping to get their business back on the ground but say it’s not going to be easy.

“Hookah by itself is not going to make success that’s why we are trying to add more games or disc jockey or belly dancers,” said Guven.

Very few hookah bars remain in Wilmington after the state implemented the ban more than a year ago. Some people feel sweepstakes parlors and hookah bars draw the wrong crowd to them but customers disagree.

“You could say that about anything really,” said Taylor Jessup. “It’s just the people and how you choose to act.”

The New Hanover County Health Department says the smoking ban is complaint driven so unless it gets a complaint about a hookah bar or smoking inside an establishment it does not actively enforce the law.

To learn more about the North Carolina’s smoking ban, go to:

http://tobaccopreventionandcontrol.ncdhhs.gov/smokefreenc/faq.htm