Hookah lounge will open in Potsdam
POTSDAM — Three downtown business-owners have a smokin' idea for Potsdam.
Jessika T. Furnace, her father, Lyle N., and her fiance, Darin S. Richards, are converting the former Goody Goody's toy store into the north country's first hookah lounge.
They plan to offer tobacco- and nicotine-free shisha made of dried fruits, molasses, herbs and natural flavors in a modern lounge setting.
"I think it's going to be huge," said Mr. Furnace, proprietor of Happy Daze, 6 Market St.
He said that shisha is his most popular product by far. He and Ms. Furnace started surveying customers about whether they would frequent a hookah bar if it was offered several months ago.
"The response was overwhelming," Mr. Furnace said. "Everybody is just on board. They say, 'Do it, and I'll be there.'"
A hookah is a water pipe with a glass base, a bowl and several hoses for smoking. It originated in India and is popular around the world for smoking tobacco-molasses blends called moassel.
Even though the Furnaces and Mr. Richards plan to offer the tobacco-free shisha, they will still require patrons to be 18 years old. They do not plan to serve food or alcohol, but will offer juice and soda.
"It's not going to be a Middle Eastern atmosphere, because that's not who we are," Ms. Furnace said. "It's going to be more modern, with chocolate brown leather sofas, lounge chairs, coffee tables and flat-screen TVs for movie nights. It will be very dimly lit, with a cozy living room atmosphere."
The hookah lounge will have a selection of 52 flavors of shisha, ranging from watermelon to mint, that also can be mixed together to create different blends.
"People ask, 'Why do you smoke it?'" Mr. Furnace said. "Well, for the enjoyment and the relaxation of it."
"It tastes good," Ms. Furnace added.
The three co-owners hope to hire at least three full-time employees, and anticipate opening shop by Sept. 1, in time to welcome returning college students. They think the hookah lounge will be open from 5 p.m. to midnight, Tuesday through Saturday.
The trio said that they want to raise awareness about what hookahs and herbal shisha are, by printing flyers and having a hookah table at the Potsdam Summer Festival.
"We don't want people to think it's a 'bong place,' because it's not," Ms. Furnace said.
They hope to draw customers from the tri-county area. The nearest hookah lounges are in Syracuse, Plattsburgh and Canada.
Village Planning and Development Director Frederick J. Hanss said he was glad to have filled a downtown storefront.
"It's an interesting business concept. I imagine it will be popular with college students and young adults," he said. "If a hookah lounge is going to make it any place in the north country, it's going to be in Potsdam. I think we have an eclectic enough population to support it."
