imonlyapuppet Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 ^^ By the way, I am also trying to open up a hookah, so this thread (and all the other ones) is very helpful. Feedback on my "hold their license" idea is greately appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEO_WRX Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 [quote name='imonlyapuppet']^^ By the way, I am also trying to open up a hookah, so this thread (and all the other ones) is very helpful. Feedback on my "hold their license" idea is greately appreciated.[/quote] i think thats a great idea, and i wouldn't be offended at all if someone asked to hold onto my Id while i sat and smoked. They can simply just rubber band your ticket(tab) on top of your ids and when you go to pay everything is in order. The lounge i go to didn't worry about ID's when it first opened and it was over-run with kids(by kids i mean 15, 16, 17 etc). Frankly...they were loud, rude and obnoxious. Thats not to say that all people under 18 are rowdy or that anyone over 18 isn't a jerk but the atmosphere was severly compromised by their immaturity. Once they started to ID the crowd started to become much more considerate and they actually greatly improved profits. All the space that was being taken up by the kids was replaced by older folks who actually had the money to spend. As far as using a waiting staff being less lucritive, depending on how much you pay them/how much you charge you will still make an very large profit considering your product costs. The local lounge is a decent size, and even once it's at max capacity they really only need 2 people on shift. 1 greets people, handles the drinks and brings out the coals. the other one manages the bar area and the cash register. Once everyone gets situated and starts smoking you really don't have to do that much coal management since they last a decent amount of time. Most of the time people will only really smoke 1 coal and than leave. The lounge i go to used the 3Kings quick light coals. They just have a charcoal "holder" that they bring aroudn with a pair of tongs and dress up everyones hookah for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguineSolitude Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 I wouldnt mind the held license at all. it does seem to be a good idea, and to be honest i dont want to be in a hookah bar with a bunch of immature little highschool underage smokers. ruins the vibe. just make sure you always remember to give the cards back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEO_WRX Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 since there's no edit button, here is what i meant by "charcoal holder" [color="#5e5e8f"][url="http://www.socialsmokehookah.com/item--Hookah-Charcoal-Basket-Large--HOLDER003"] http://www.socialsmokehookah.com/item--Hoo...-Charcoal-Baske[/url] t-Large--HOLDER003 [/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yashman19 Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Sounds like you're getting all the responses you need to be succesful, but I thought I would just add my two cents. The only lounge near me in Stockton, CA has a pretty crappy atmosphere, specifcally catered to highschool kids... Super dark main room with nothing but blacklights, while pumping load techno music...Now I have nothing wrong with techno, but when its loud enough so you have to yell to the people sitting two feet from your face just to have a conversation, not what I want... It sounds like this won't be the case for you but this is just a major turn-off for me. My suggestion to what I would like to see in a lounge, a variety of music. Maybe even dedicated nights for different genres of music ie: Mon/Wed traditional arabic belly dancer music. Tues/Thurs = Some form of chill, world music. And to still make all the youngins happy, Fri/Sat more rap/hip hop-ish music. Just make sure you arn't playing it so damn loud... Also something I really enjoy with the lounges I've been to. On friday/saturday, they always do something special with their music. Sometimes they bring in actual belly dancers for the crowd. Some nights they bring in local bands to perform. Something special like these things can really make your lounge stand out in peoples minds, and keep bringing them back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonthert Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Successful? I'll be lucky if I'm not eating the wallpaper off the walls to avoid starvation by the end of this month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biglandy71 Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 Thank you so much. I look forward to doing business with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yashman19 Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 [quote name='biglandy71']coals[/quote] Well quicklights would be the easiest solution, but I recomend some form of natural finger coal. You can either light them with a stove all at once and keep them in a coal holder, and walk around with it refilling people as needed. And when your coal holder is getting low, you can throw some more on the stove. If your place doesn't have a stove, get a propane/mapp gas torch from Home Depot. Mapp gas burns much hotter, and can get a bunch of coals lit real quick. Just lay all the coals out next to each other and just keep slowly fanning the torch over them until they are fully lit. Thats what I would do atleast. They also make accesories for these torches ie: an adapter that "spreads" the flame. This will give you a bigger area to torch instead of just a single "point". Might speed up the process of torching lots of coals at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biglandy71 Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 I agree the torch idea is great. I wonder if that would be considered a hazard. Because if I cant don’t that then I will have to buy a stove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookah~rob~ Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 i may have a solution to the starting hookah thing, at the place i go to they basically hooked up a shop vac so they could plug in the hose and suck out the sh*tty coal tast at the beginning and get it smoking right. hope it helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunsboy Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 So what are you gonna call it? Oasis, Sahara, Alladin, The Nargile, Arabian Nights ?? Hookah Land, Shisha Zone ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazy Dayz Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 neo wrx, this is like so exciting to me to see lazy dayz on the hookah forum! i feel like we've made it as an establishment. you also couldn't have given better advice on the whole subject. sorry this is all off topic and stuff, but its like warm fuzzies for me.-jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seraph Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 For lighting the coals just use a hot plate. They're reasonably priced, and light coals fine. Also I would use japanese coals for the reason that they're healthier, and fairly cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biglandy71 Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 Hotplate...Eureka! The flamethrower idea was a good one but hotplate sounds like it would work better. Hey Lazy Dayz's how is your business going? Any tips for me starting out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuschultz Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 just be careful you dont set off a fire alarm... like i did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pope Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 At the hookah bar I frequent (more of a restaurant actually) they heat natural, uncompressed coal and bring it out in a large, cone-shaped mesh container with a handle. The container is full of glowing coal and the guy just reaches in with his tongs and grabs three for each hookah. He's constantly making his rounds and replenishing dying or small coals. Like a good waiter, he always keeps them fresh, even if they're not really dying yet. I don't know what kind of coals they are, but they look like chunks of wood - they're not processed or compressed. Try to keep your menu simple - they only have ten or fifteen flavors of AF tobacco, but it's enough to keep things interesting and regulars usually end up cycling through three or four favorites with little deviation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazy Dayz Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 biglandy,as far as advice, neo gave almost a perfect run down of how my store operates. you same to be after the same type of lounge (no food or alcohol) so our model can help a lot. for more of the kind of intangibles, there are a number of things. first, i think you really have to be passionate about the hookah. know everything about it, all the ins and outs, all the shisha that's out there, all the different ways to smoke the shisha that's out there, be pretty much emersed in it. keeping up with this forum is how i learned so much, so in a really genuine way i say thank you to everyone in this forum. after that, more practically i can say try and have something for everyone: the casual first timers, and the true smokers that read this forum. hookah is a good way to bring all kinds of people together, so have some easier brands to smoke as well as some premium. get to know the market and your suppliers. i dont know if im supposed to do this, but ali at social smoke has been really awesome and helpful, along with hussam at mya saray (uri at smoking-hookah as well). I saw you were interested in tangiers as well, and it couldn't be easier or better working with him. also don't cheap out on things, we did and have had to replace a lot of things like furniture and rugs. that's all the advice i have for the moment i think, if you would like to talk more just keep asking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazy Dayz Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 oh and definately go for the hot plate, its like $10 at Wal-mart, definately better than buying bics every week. and never under estimate the power of lighting coals off an existing hookah that you might be smoking in the back, and never light it off a customers hookah since they taste so bad.guess i had more advice after all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrGuy Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 hmmm, things are definately done differently across the pond! Here in the UK, our local shisha bar is more of a resaurant, serves food, alcohol etc. They don't ID people (They probably should) but because of the image they've created (e.g. a restaurant image) you dont get many young people going, in fact, i'd say me and my friends are the only young people there (we're all about 16 - 18, legal age to buy tobacco is 16 here.) I can't help but feel a bit arkward on people's views regarding youths. We arn't all bad. i've been there a few times with friends (my friends go quite regularly.) Theres one time we went, and we met 2 girls there (was the first time i went actually) and the 2 girls had a few to many and were being embaressingly loud and obnoxious, but apart from that. I believe if you set the right image for your place, "us lot" wont go there anyways. If it wasnt for a friend of mine being close friends with the owner, i never would have discovered it. Also, ye the themed night's work. our local place (it's called arya) have a persian night every wednesday, with belly dancers and music and stuff. it gets very, VERY busy, litereally full up on those night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biglandy71 Posted July 16, 2006 Author Share Posted July 16, 2006 For the hookahs do you think it would be a good idea to by metal screens instead of foil? I can see many advantages but I have not used a screen before and I am not sure if they work as good as I would think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skimo Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 i would go with the screen, u can wash a screen off rather than having to buy more and more foil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeding_Heart1 Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 i was a foil user back in the day when i started. Now im all screen. They are wonderful! I would suggest useing them yourself so you can get them down. Like Lazy dayz said, know how to use the hookah inside and out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonthert Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 As far as movies go, my lawyer advises me that a "public exhibition" is defined as any showing of 25 or more people. Whether you charge or not, when you hit 25, it is illegal. According to my attorney. He's more of a murder and rape attorney, but I trust him.Additionally, when music is played, people don't have to leave if they don;t like the song. If you pick an unpopular movie, many people will want to leave. Additionally, some people are very annoyed by people talking during movies (go figure!), so you may have squabbles....its a mess, trust me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrGuy Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 [quote name='Tangiers']He's more of a murder and rape attorney, but I trust him.[/quote] I dont mean to delv into your personal life but why would someone like you need a rape and murder attorney[img]http://www.hookahforum.com/forum/smileys/smiley5.gif[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonthert Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 Well, tobacco manufacturer, murderer, same thing...its all a matter of semantics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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