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View Full Version : Finally a cigar lounge in town



Old Smokey
01-03-2016, 09:05 AM
And I am excited about it. A retired college professor/ cigar smoker that comes in where I work every Sunday told me he saw where someone is putting in a cigar lounge down along an old section of main street this morning. He said it looks like they will sell cigars, pipes and tobacco along with having a smoking lounge. He didn't think it had opened yet, but was excited to see someone doing it. It is in an area where overhead should be low, which I think will be important to survive. I plan on driving by this afternoon when I get off and see if anything is going on yet. Hopefully it will be a decent place and do enough business to survive in this smallish city. Usafvet509

TreySC
01-03-2016, 11:31 AM
Sweet! It is nice to have a shop close to home.

Old Smokey
01-03-2016, 02:17 PM
Sweet! It is nice to have a shop close to home.

We have one cigar shop, but it doesn't have a smoking lounge. They have a decent walkin humidor but don't carry many cigars that interest me. I will be surprised if this new one has a better selection, but it's the lounge that really interests me. We shall see, but I likely have my expectations too high.

Cool Breeze
01-03-2016, 02:35 PM
You never know.

I wish the town I lived in had one but it doesn't.

Fortunately I'm only 20-30 minutes from Little Rock and they have 2 very nice ones. One is great with 2 walk in humidors and a huge selection, but the lounge part leaves a lot to be desired. It's just a table with some chairs around it. :) They have a huge selection of pipes and pipe tobacco. The other has a smaller humidor and the staff isn't as knowledgeable but they have a huge lounge with several leather couches and chairs and a big screen with sports always on. Prices are decent at both.

Maybe you'll get lucky and it will turn out to be a fun place to hang out.

Usafvet509
01-03-2016, 02:49 PM
Sweet!!!

FireRunner
01-03-2016, 03:50 PM
We have one cigar shop, but it doesn't have a smoking lounge. They have a decent walkin humidor but don't carry many cigars that interest me. I will be surprised if this new one has a better selection, but it's the lounge that really interests me. We shall see, but I likely have my expectations too high.

If done well a smoking lounge can increase interest and business tremendously. A large majority of people don't smoke simply because they don't have a place to smoke (home and work are usually smoke free). Giving potential smokers a place to try cigars increases making new customers.

Old Smokey
01-03-2016, 04:08 PM
If done well a smoking lounge can increase interest and business tremendously. A large majority of people don't smoke simply because they don't have a place to smoke (home and work are usually smoke free). Giving potential smokers a place to try cigars increases making new customers.

I agree, I just don't know how many social cigar smokers around here. Hopefully more than I think.

I went down there to locate it and see if they were open. They weren't, but I saw a guy messing with a large cabinet humidor. He saw me and opened the door and invited me inside and showed me around. They have quite a bit of work left to do before opening and he said he hopes to open in 2 weeks. Going to sell cigars, pipes, tobacco and accessories. He has a private room in the back for members with humidified lockers included with membership.

After visiting for a while I went ahead and committed to a 1 year membership. He and his wife seem like genuinely nice down to earth folks and were very excited about the store.

JollyRogers
01-03-2016, 05:08 PM
I really wish we had a nice cigar lounge like that around here. One shop has a kind of junky lounge, basically seems like an office kitchen with random couches and one tv. The other shop is entirely the humidor so it's smoke free. The final shop is in a mall and doesn't have a lounge. There's one lounge downtown I go to occasionally which I really like, but I would go broke frequenting there.

Old Smokey
01-03-2016, 05:31 PM
I really wish we had a nice cigar lounge like that around here. One shop has a kind of junky lounge, basically seems like an office kitchen with random couches and one tv. The other shop is entirely the humidor so it's smoke free. The final shop is in a mall and doesn't have a lounge. There's one lounge downtown I go to occasionally which I really like, but I would go broke frequenting there.

Chris, this one isn't fancy by any means, but it's somewhere to visit and smoke. It seems to be decent size, say 20'x 25' or so. But when I saw it today it was very basic. About 5-6 recliners, bar and TV. What more is needed? I think the most important thing at this point is what type of members will it attract? Probably a healthy mix of society.

JollyRogers
01-03-2016, 05:39 PM
Chris, this one isn't fancy by any means, but it's somewhere to visit and smoke. It seems to be decent size, say 20'x 25' or so. But when I saw it today it was very basic. About 5-6 recliners, bar and TV. What more is needed? I think the most important thing at this point is what type of members will it attract? Probably a healthy mix of society.

I think the membership option with lockers and whatnot is what I'm most interested in. In my experience those places have the best selection of cigars and best clientele group. You are exactly right though, some recliners, a bar and TV and a friendly knowledgable staff is all I really want!

Zeede
01-03-2016, 09:47 PM
The two local lounges in my area aren't very friendly. My local B&M has had plenty of horror stories told by their customers who went there.

SmallBatchCigar.com has an actual B&M/lounge, and the people there were friendly, but it's quite far from my house.

WNYTONY
01-04-2016, 01:10 AM
Lucky boy there Steve. Wishing there was a shop close to me, or just anywhere that smoking was allowed indoors.
Have one for me when i opens up.

allusred
01-04-2016, 06:42 AM
I agree, I just don't know how many social cigar smokers around here. Hopefully more than I think.

I went down there to locate it and see if they were open. They weren't, but I saw a guy messing with a large cabinet humidor. He saw me and opened the door and invited me inside and showed me around. They have quite a bit of work left to do before opening and he said he hopes to open in 2 weeks. Going to sell cigars, pipes, tobacco and accessories. He has a private room in the back for members with humidified lockers included with membership.

After visiting for a while I went ahead and committed to a 1 year membership. He and his wife seem like genuinely nice down to earth folks and were very excited about the store.

Sure sounds as if you will soon have a nice place to smoke. And it's no small plus that the owner(s) are good folks.

Old Smokey
01-04-2016, 09:02 AM
Sure sounds as if you will soon have a nice place to smoke. And it's no small plus that the owner(s) are good folks.

Yeah, I hope they make a go of it. IMO he is too high on his memberships for what he is offering and I have no idea how his prices on cigars will be. The other cigar shop in town is pretty reasonable on the cigars he carries that interest me, which is primarily Fuentes. We shall see.

Cool Breeze
01-04-2016, 10:59 AM
Yeah, I hope they make a go of it. IMO he is too high on his memberships for what he is offering and I have no idea how his prices on cigars will be. The other cigar shop in town is pretty reasonable on the cigars he carries that interest me, which is primarily Fuentes. We shall see.

I guess it may have to do with what area you're in but the idea of paying for a membership to go to a cigar lounge is so foreign to me. It is unheard of here and would likely not work for the establishment.
The two here offer a nice selection of products and you're welcome to hang out and smoke.

JollyRogers
01-04-2016, 11:08 AM
I guess it may have to do with what area you're in but the idea of paying for a membership to go to a cigar lounge is so foreign to me. It is unheard of here and would likely not work for the establishment.
The two here offer a nice selection of products and you're welcome to hang out and smoke.

The one's I have seen typically have a cigar lounge that is free for patrons who purchased cigars, then have a private lounge for members.

bluenoser
01-04-2016, 11:30 AM
I wish we could have something like that here, might be able to meet some other people who enjoy this hobby. Would be nice to have people to smoke with and a nice setting to do it in. Enjoy

Tombstone
01-04-2016, 12:13 PM
When they are open it would be great to see some pictures of the place.