Pitt student opens hookah bar in Oakland

The best way to learn about business practices is to just open a business. At least that’s what Pitt junior Soumar Dauod thought when he decided to open a hookah bar with his friend last month.

So, with help from his parents and the partnership of California University of Pennsylvania graduate Joud Mansour, Daoud opened Mint Hookah Bar and Lounge — located at 416 Semple St. — which held its grand opening Oct. 26.

Just like the bar itself, the owners behind it are new to the world of business.

Mansour, 23, who earned a degree in business and worked as a BMW salesman for the past year said he has fulfilled a life-long dream of becoming a business owner. A 23-year-old entrepreneur might seem a bit young, but Mansour is the elder of the two partners. Daoud, 21, is studying Industrial Engineering.

The two met by accident at a hookah bar at the beginning of last fall semester. It was only after the meeting that the two discovered several mutual friends and even a family connection — Daoud’s father knew Mansour’s grandfather. Mansour moved to Pittsburgh from Syria at age 8, while Daoud migrated from Syria to the U.S. just three years prior to beginning school at Pitt.

The business, the young men said, emerged from the sole financial backing of their parents. Fayez Daoud, father of Soumar, is the general manager of Daoud Trading Company, a chicken and poultry business based in Damascus, Syria, with several other locations throughout the country.

“I helped them. Joud’s family, they helped him a lot. We are all together supporting them, helping them, as much as we can. This is a family business,” Fayez Daoud said at Mint while visiting the U.S.

Soumar elaborated, saying that wealth is shared among family members in Syria. “In Syria, if your dad is a millionaire, you also own the money. Your dad and you are the same thing. We’re one family, we help each other a lot. Never my dad told me, take my money. It’s take your money.”

Fayez Daoud said he’s very proud and supportive of his son’s undertaking. Soumar Daoud also acknowledges the help he’s received.

“A big thanks to my mom and dad,” Soumar Daoud said.

Soumar Daoud cited the turmoil in Syria as another factor in his decision to start the business.

“Things in Syria are really bad, and my dad’s business is very slow. I wanted to help my dad in any way. This is my help, by opening a small thing I know I can run,” Daoud said.

But starting a hookah bar is no easy, or cheap, undertaking. After approximately six months of planning, Daoud and Mansour bought the property and began installments.

Fez Grill, a restaurant specializing in Turkish food owned by Sinan Ucargonul, previously occupied the Semple Street property.

And that was just the beginning. The two also split the costs on a company account of about $75,000, including a smaller loan of about $5,000 from Fayez Daoud, which all went toward start-up costs.

According to Mansour, these costs alone were huge.

“We re-did the whole storefront to black granite. We wanted to give it more of a modern look. We had to get a new sign, new TVs, smoke sensors, we had to call Pepsi and Red Bull to make the deals with them, we had to get the DJ booth custom built,” he said.

Rent for one month runs at $2,200. Utility costs are currently unknown, as the one-month period to measure expenses has not yet elapsed. Based on numbers from this past weekend and this week, Daoud expects the two will soon be ready to pay November’s rent.

The shop owns 70 hookahs — 20 of which feature two hoses — and offers several different brands of tobacco, mostly coming from the Middle East and purchased from Pittsburgh dealers. Mansour also said he and his partner chose to purchase all hookahs of the same brand.

“Khalil Mamoon is a top name brand imported from Egypt. The smoothness of the hookah is completely different,” Mansour said.

In opening a hookah bar, other considerations must also be made because of tobacco sale and usage occurring within the store. Correct paperwork with the city and state must be obtained before the business can be opened.

“First, you need a lawyer to get the proper paperwork. You need certain permits to be a hookah bar, because you’re providing tobacco,” Mansour said.

Mansour described ventilation as the other major obstacle the owners faced in preparing their hookah bar for opening day.

“Our biggest investment were these smoke eaters,” he said, pointing to two large metal squares above his head. “We want to make sure no one comes in here and is exposed to a major amount of smoke. These can each handle 1,500 square feet. This whole place is 1,500 square feet and we have two,” Mansour said.

The two new businessmen had to get the word out about the new hookah bar.

Eric Huntermark, a junior at Pitt and employee of the nearby Campus Deli said, “[Mansour] came over to grab a sandwich and he said, ‘Hey, come check us out.’”

Huntermark, a first-time customer of Mint along with fellow junior friend, Steve Oldrati, sees potential in the business and said it compares favorably with other hookah-smoking experiences he and his friend have had.

“In terms of quality, so far, so good. It’s new, but hopefully that will continue,” Oldrati said.

The owners chose the Oakland location specifically to tailor their business plan to the student population.

“Our whole goal is to give students somewhere to come during the week to hang out and study where it’s a quiet coffee-shop type of experience, with hookah,” Mansour said. He added, “Then, we wanted a place on the weekend where freshmen, sophomores, juniors who are under 21 who want to go out to a place to dance, has a DJ, but they can’t go to the bars.”

Mint has already proved it can attract college students to its location.

On a recent Monday evening, a dozen or so mostly college-aged people waited out the remnants of Hurricane Sandy, puffing shiny hookah pipes in a colorful open room full of round table tops and wooden chairs. The light-green walls held two large flat-screen TVs, one on each side of the room. A counter at the front displayed menus of various tobacco flavors and other refreshment options. A fully equipped DJ booth sat vacant off to the right side — instead, light background music came from surrounding speakers. The furniture looked new, the people looked content.

Mint also offers a BYOB option for customers age 21 and older.

While the business life is new to the two young entrepreneurs, a hookah bar certainly isn’t new to Oakland.

Ramy Andrawes, owner of Sphinx Cafe — the only other hookah business in South Oakland — seemed unconcerned with how much Mint could potentially affect his business.

“I’ve been in business for 10 years. They’ve been in business for three days,” Andrawes said. “A business should take some time. Their business is too young to judge how it’s going to be.”

Andrawes also said the two owners, both former customers of his location, said they have chosen a different model for their business than what he offers. Sphinx, he said, is much more mellow in terms of atmosphere, and doesn’t partake in any weekend club affairs, whereas Mint plans to offer a DJ for entertainment. Sphinx instead features floor seating, tapestries and an extensive drink menu.

“I’m not just a hookah bar; people come for other stuff. I have drinks that no one knows how to make on the whole east coast,” Andrawes said.

An undertaking such as the one that Daoud and Mansour have taken might seem like a big step for a student or young adult in their early twenties, but neither Daoud nor his father see it that way. Fayez Daoud sees Soumar’s business as merely the beginning for his son.

“Right now, it’s a start, so he can learn about a business: how to treat employees, how to manage a place. You have to start somewhere,” the elder Daoud said.