10/4/2006 11:00:00 AM
Machine removal 'won't hurt cigarette sales'
Removing dozens of cigarette machines from bars wasn’t cheap, distributor says
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| The cigarette machine at the Bailey’s Bay Swizzle Inn on Monday, one of the last remaining machines found in the island’s bars and restaurants. The hand-written sign on it reads: “Machine empty. To be removed ASAP, by law.”
Photo by Leah Furbert |
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Mark Kennedy
Sub-editor
The cigarette machines that have been removed from bars, restaurants and clubs as a result of the smoking ban which took effect on Sunday won't have any significant impact on cigarette sales, a distributor said.
William Pitt, managing director of distributor Pitt & Co Ltd, said the process of removing some 100 machines from premises frequented by smokers wasn't cheap, but that it wouldn't have a long-term impact on sales.
"We've adjusted our business model" to compensate for the disruption in sales, he said.
A few machines have yet to be removed from certain establishments, but all of them have been emptied of the products, Mr. Pitt noted.
The cigarettes found in vending machines - which accounted for 8 per cent of all cigarette sales on the island before they were removed - will be sold through Pitt & Co's partners in the retail industry. He said this might lead to somewhat increased business for these retailers.
"We'll just sell [the cigarettes] around existing retail outlets … they'll see an increase in sales across the island," Mr. Pitt said.
He also said he didn't think an increase in the cost of cigarettes as result of the smoking ban, or the removal of cigarette machines, was likely.
"Smokers will buy their products in other locations," he said.
Mr. Pitt noted that the ban doesn't mean that an establishment couldn't sell cigarettes - it just means just can't do so through vending machines.
"Some bars will continue to sell cigarettes," Mr. Pitt said. "We can sell to a bar, and a bar can sell to [their patrons]."
But that doesn't mean you'll be allowed to smoke inside bars and restaurants that choose to sell them over the counter.
Mr. Pitt said when the government passed the smoking ban back in April, his company proposed alternatives to an outright ban on vending machines, but the proposal was rejected.
He said a large part of the Ministry of Health's rationale behind banning all machines was ensuring that people younger than the age of 18 wouldn't be able to purchase cigarettes.
"We proposed alternative methods of control for the vending machine," he said. "We wanted to modify the machines to accept credit cards only, ensuring minors wouldn't have access … but that was denied."
Asked of his opinion of the smoking ban, Mr. Pitt was guarded, saying only, "It's progressive … it's keeping in line with other Western societies."
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