Steve Frazier owns the old Diamond Dave's inside the Wausau Center Mall. He says he saw a drop in business in November when voters said smoking should be banned in Wausau restaurants.

But when the ban into effect back in May, he says things went from bad to worse.

In the Wausau Center Mall, Diamond Dave's was considered a novelty business. It was the only place inside the mall that allowed smoking, and owner Steve Frazier says many people flocked there to do just that.

"It was a smoking destination. That was my role and everyone that came in was okay with that," Frazier says.

But that's not the case anymore. Diamond Dave's is officially out of business, and Frazier says the reason is simple.

"The economic sanctions placed on us by the smoking ban by the Wausau City Council caused a dramatic decrease in sales, and we were no longer able to do business here," Frazier says.

That drop? 20 percent...and Frazier didn't forsee business getting any better.

But supporters of the smoking ban say other factors, such as competition and customer satisfaction, could've contributed, as well.

"People come into business and go out of business, so I think there's a number of factors that go into the viability of a restaurant," says Julie Willems Van Dijk with the Marathon Co. Health Department.

And Wausau city councilman Jim Rosenberg says owners need to give the ban some time.

"While there is a period of adjustment, it's something that certainly can work, and I've seen businesses get creative with how they want to approach it," says Rosenberg.

But Frazier says for him, it's too late: the effects have already taken their toll.

"This was my life...half my life I was here. And why would I leave?" he asks.

Frazier says he was probably hurt more by the ban because Diamond Dave's specifically catered to smokers, and he notes his location in Merrill won't be affected by the Wausau restaurant closing down.

During the interview, Frazier first offered to show us his financial records from the last few months to prove his sales declined because of the smoking ban, but he later changed his mind and did not show the records to us on camera.