Spring Break
Tony's completes retail expansion
Hookah lounge addition meets city regulations, welcomes customers with entertainment
Jeremy Hansen
Issue date: 5/14/08 Section: News
"We sent in six different blueprints over the entire process, constantly fixing the things they told us to fix," Freeby said. "What bothered me most was that it took them the maximum amount of time - two weeks - to go over the blueprints and send back two-page letters telling us what else we needed to change."
City planners critiqued every aspect of the retail establishment.
"For example, the address of the building should contrast with the background," Freeby said. "The address was white, but we had white construction paper behind the glass to hide the retail expansion from the public as we were building it. So we had to wait another two weeks for them to come in and check again."
At that point, the crew at Tony's had enough of the constant head-butting.
"We called in Red Hot Construction to help us deal with the city, and they have been extremely helpful in getting the issues taken care of," Freeby said.
Losing time and money was the greatest complication to the project.
"The biggest frustration was that the city didn't give us all of the objections at once," Freeby said. "If they had come in and given them to us all at once, we would have been done a long time ago."
"What was most frustrating was the overwhelming lack of information from the city," said Brian Hansen, manager of Tony's. "But it worked out, and we both got what we needed in the end."
After meeting the city's regulations and requirements, Tony's was able to open their expansion.
"We have shisha that you can order for a hookah session, music, big-screen TVs," Freeby said. "Sometimes we will have a DJ or a band playing as well. Hookah is a social thing, and we are trying to bring a comfortable atmosphere into it."
Trevor Wiesner, a security guard at Tony's, loves the new expansion. "It's a good time; I love it. It's huge - the largest hookah retail expansion in Oregon," Wiesner said.
"Come in and see what flavors you like, and go from there," Freeby said. "We sell a lot of hookahs, but not too many people know what it's about."
Tony's Smoke Shop is located at 1318B, N.W. Ninth St.
Jeremy Hansen, staff writer
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231
City planners critiqued every aspect of the retail establishment.
"For example, the address of the building should contrast with the background," Freeby said. "The address was white, but we had white construction paper behind the glass to hide the retail expansion from the public as we were building it. So we had to wait another two weeks for them to come in and check again."
At that point, the crew at Tony's had enough of the constant head-butting.
"We called in Red Hot Construction to help us deal with the city, and they have been extremely helpful in getting the issues taken care of," Freeby said.
Losing time and money was the greatest complication to the project.
"The biggest frustration was that the city didn't give us all of the objections at once," Freeby said. "If they had come in and given them to us all at once, we would have been done a long time ago."
"What was most frustrating was the overwhelming lack of information from the city," said Brian Hansen, manager of Tony's. "But it worked out, and we both got what we needed in the end."
After meeting the city's regulations and requirements, Tony's was able to open their expansion.
"We have shisha that you can order for a hookah session, music, big-screen TVs," Freeby said. "Sometimes we will have a DJ or a band playing as well. Hookah is a social thing, and we are trying to bring a comfortable atmosphere into it."
Trevor Wiesner, a security guard at Tony's, loves the new expansion. "It's a good time; I love it. It's huge - the largest hookah retail expansion in Oregon," Wiesner said.
"Come in and see what flavors you like, and go from there," Freeby said. "We sell a lot of hookahs, but not too many people know what it's about."
Tony's Smoke Shop is located at 1318B, N.W. Ninth St.
Jeremy Hansen, staff writer
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231
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