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Neighbors blast'stinky hookah smell' APRIL 12, 2012 6:30 AM • BARBARA SODERLIN JOURNAL STAFF Tenants of the Buell Building in downtown Rapid City are upset with their landlord for leasing space to two hookah lounges that they say are filling the building with the sweet-smelling smoke. "I thought the building was on fire, it smelled so bad," said Susan Grubl, who has posted a sign on the door of her Merle Norman cosmetics shop that says "Closed due to stinky hookah smell." 1 feel like I'm suffering," Grubl said. "I don't feel like I should open my business while I can't stand to stay there. How can I expect my customers to be there?" Two hookah lounges, Classified Hookah and Sahara Nights, opened in the building in the past month, attracting young adults who hang out in the evenings and smoke shisha tobacco out of hookah water pipes. While the lounges are busiest on Friday and Saturday nights, the smell lingers and is there on Monday morning when the shops open for business. Besides Merle Norman, tenants include an attorney, artists, massage studios, a hair salon, a weight loss coach and several marketing firms. Grubl took her complaint to the mayor's office and her Florida -based landlord and said if nothing changes, she will find another place to do business. Building owner Ron Bazac, who lives in the Miami area, said Wednesday that he is working on the problem, but it will take time. "This is not something I can fix right away," he said. "This is something I need to do the proper way. I just hope everybody will be patient and everything will be solved in the end." Bazac said he contacted the lounge owners and told them to install ventilation systems.