Barbarella to shut up shop

MATTHEW MARTIN | 28th March 2008

Refusing to have poker machines and the ban on smoking in bars has made life hard for Rotorua bar owner Jon Armstrong.

So hard in fact that after 10 years in the hospitality business running Barbarella, he is hanging up his bar towel to focus on the simple life.

Not before enjoying a 10th birthday bash however, and not before firing off a few shots at what he says are the difficulties of running a bar in conservative Rotorua.

"I'm not best pleased with the way the [anti-smoking] law was introduced ... It really hurt my trade. Half of my customers ended up at the Lava Bar on its deck.

"I would have thought tax breaks for smaller businesses or being able to build a smokers only room would have helped. It was done way too fast."

Mr Armstrong said the temptation to have poker machines on site was not hard to resist but did not help his business.

"I would have hated to sit in my bar watching people pump their kids' lunch money into a machine that won't let you win."

He also has a warning for the Government about the impending ban on party pills containing BZP.

"People looking for a good time will now have to turn to harder drugs like P. It will be a disaster.

"I've been in the business long enough to see what drugs can do to people.

"Banning relatively harmless drugs will fill our prisons with people who are not criminals and turn the town into a cesspit."

While the last decade had been a lot of fun, Mr Armstrong said the long hours and difficult trading conditions had left him burnt out and in need of a change.

The former drummer for New Zealand rock group The Chills and son of a Baptist minister, he said his upbringing helped him stay sober and sane.

"It's like working in a lolly shop and not eating any of the lollies.

"But I'm keen to give the self-sustainable thing a go.

"There's nothing better than growing and eating your own food.

"I'd like to buy a little lifestyle block and just relax and spend some quality time with my wife and child," he said.

"Rotorua has been pretty hard for me due to the bar's concept of a semi-alternative bar that doesn't play mainstream music.

"I think it's just a people thing - Rotorua is not a funky, student kind of town."

Barbarella will celebrate its 10th birthday tonight with special guest DJ from Wellington, The Nomad. Doors open at 9pm, tickets are $10.