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Although they came from Los Angeles on baseball scholarships, life in Chico led Jordan Brandt and Garrett Shimamoto down another path.
Now they look forward to the grand opening of their new hangout, The Hookah Spot, on Nord and West Sacramento avenues March 26.
"We want to provide a social atmosphere - a place to hang out, talk, play cards and just chill," Brandt said. "We won't serve alcohol; it's an alternative to running around town drunk for underage students. This gives them a spot."
This town really needs a hookah lounge, he said. There is a wide range of students who are looking for something to do.
The Hookah Spot will provide a lot of different flavors of tobacco, an assortment of non-alcoholic drinks and a full stereo system, on which they then plan to play underground hip-hop, soft rock, alternative and reggae, Brandt said.
There will also be two flat-screen TVs and wireless Internet, he said. The Hookah Spot will not only serve as a hangout, but will provide a place where students can come and study.
The owners also want to clear up any misconceptions about hookah.
Sometimes smoking hookah gets a bad rap because people will associate the shape of a hookah with a bong, Shimamoto said. But it's tobacco.
"We're looking to provide an alternative to drinking for the younger crowd," he said. "Hookah is kind of the lesser of the two vices."
On opening night, each group of four, which is the minimum per hookah, will get its first hookah for free, Shimamoto said.
Hookah lounges seem to run in the Shimamoto family.
His older half-brother, Nick Scarmozzino has a hookah lounge that's been doing well in Southern California, so he has been helping his brother for the past two years, he said.
"I've kind of tried to set them on the right track, and I think it will do really well," Scarmozzino said. "We've had people coming in right and left, asking us when we're going to open."
The hookah entered popular culture more than 500 years ago in Turkey, according to smoking-hookah.com. Shisha, the substance smoked out of a hookah, is a mixture of tobacco and treacle, honey or sugar, and distilled water with fruit flavors. Shisha is not the same as the tobacco in cigars or cigarettes and is traditionally smoked for the flavor, as opposed to any kind of mind-altering effect.
Also, because the tobacco is heated by coals instead of burned, the smoke is much smoother, Brandt said.
While hookah is a fun cultural activity to partake in, there are still relevant health risks people should be aware of, according to mayoclinic.com. Just because the tobacco is different, it is not necessarily less harmful to the lungs.
Shimamoto and Brandt acknowledge that hookah isn't the healthiest activity for students, but think students are responsible enough to make the decision for themselves, Brandt said.
"We say, 'smoke at your own risk, and if you want to do it we provide a fun and safe environment,'" he said. "We have a full ventilation system and climate control, so it'll be comfortable inside and not all smoky."
Starting a business is challenging, Brandt said.
"But we work hard and we found something that we think will work," he said.
More information available on Facebook at "The Hookah Spot, Chico, CA."
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