Brick & Mortar Philosophy

[droy1958]

A B&M's philosophy is the same as everyone else's. You try to buy a nickel for 2 cents and sell it for a nickel. If the service is good, go for it....Just sayin' if you're not cool with it, check online....Not trying to sound like an @$$....

[B daddy]

Demuths, I believe that Diamond Crown sponsors one of the stores in my area...they have a bunch of their signs etc in the store.

Interestingly, the Julius Caeser costs over $22 in this sponsored store...which is in the Valencia Towne Mall in Traffic Light Hell. In Santa Barbara, I bought one for $18.

Either way, too much money for this stogie in my opinion.

I don't think I've ever smoked a cigar worth $22.

[Yarddog]

I don't think I've ever smoked a cigar worth $22.

Me either, pal...although I've certainly paid that and more for 'em...which I explore in another thread I posted!

[Demuths1770]

A B&M's philosophy is the same as everyone else's. You try to buy a nickel for 2 cents and sell it for a nickel. If the service is good, go for it....Just sayin' if you're not cool with it, check online....Not trying to sound like an @$$....

i know for a fact this is not true with all B&Ms. the local shop i go to has incredible prices to begin with and than you get a 20% discount on top of them. for example a box of ratzillas he sells for 132$ in store with the discount they are around 106$. i really think location, class/age of people coming to the b&m an the owners passion all have a lot to do with the prices as well. find a B&M with a owner that has a passion for cigars that has customers who have a passion for cigar smoking.

[AndyCAYP]

I haven't read the whole thread, so maybe these were answered already. As a guy working at a B&M slash online store, though, here are my thoughts...

What I get from many B&M's...not all...is a surly attitude, like 'if you're not one of the regulars here, I have no time for ya'...

I see this so often in the cigar world. You have to treat your regulars well, and you do form a bond with them because you see them so often, but that's NOT an excuse for treating anyone else with a lesser level of respect and service. It's just not. If I'm ever received that way in a store, I make it a point to never go back. I do my damnedest to treat everyone who walks in my door with the level of courtesy I expect as a consumer.

The second issue is inventory. And primarily, where are all the newer releases?

I'm not going to defend the lack of new releases, but I will offer potential explanations.

First, you hit the nail on the head about rent/mortgage/insurance/payroll being expensive. That unfortunately puts a limit on what a store can spend on product. While there is money to be made in this business, it isn't a cheap business to maintain.

Second, you get to know what type of release will do well with your regular customers and you have to tailor future purchases to that. There's always an outlier, something that becomes super popular even though it doesn't make any sense as to why, but you can't base your purchases on that happening.

Third, and I mean it in the nicest way possible: consumers are picky and illogical. I could have a guy spending $6 per cigar on Brand A who I know, without a doubt, will absolutely love Brand B which sells for only $5 a cigar, and he'll tell me in no uncertain terms where to stick Brand B because it's not his brand. He won't even give it a shot! Or, I'll have a guy bug me and bug me and bug me to bring something in so I will, and he'll buy one cigar from the box and then never touch it again. Or, I'll place an order for something new and the manufacturer will ship me the Petit, Robusto, Corona, Toro, Belicoso, Grande, and Churchill sizes (the Super Toro is backordered) and every customer walking through the door will throw their hands up in disgust because they really want to try the cigar but they all want the Super Toro and it's not on the shelf and they absolutely REFUSE to try any of the other sizes.

The truth is, having $100 in product sit on the shelf and not sell can put a hurtin' on a business owner when it's sitting next to another $100 box not selling which is next to another $100 box not selling... Some stores have to be careful about limiting that. Unfortunately, the consumer suffers in that case.

Or are the proprietors afraid that doing so will affect the sales of their 'bread and butter' inventory, maybe that inventory which produces higher profit margins than might be possible with selling the newer releases?

Profit margins probably won't play a factor as most stores have a minimum markup for everything - with maybe some rare/limited/small batch cigars being marked up even higher. As long as something is selling they're making money, and they typically won't care what product it is.

Is maybe one of the reasons that the distributors of new releases, including but not limited to 'boutique cigars', only willing to ship a certain minimum out to the retailers?

You''re close. A bigger factor is that some manufacturers/distributors have prohibitive shipping terms and that eats way into the profit you'd make bringing in just a few boxes of something on a trial run. There are some, though, that require you to bring in every size of a brand, or at the very least their priority is getting product to the stores who are buying all the sizes so you might be left waiting for a box or two to show up.

I go into stores and say, 'hey, about that Sobremesa?'...and I get the blank stare.

As is the case specifically with Steve Saka/Sobremesa, and with other companies, they won't open up accounts with just anyone. That doesn't mean you have to be uber-special to get their product or that you (as a store owner) should puff your chest out because you're the chosen one, but some of the manufacturers do require that you've met with them in person so that they can vet you - they know you understand their product, they know you won't short-sell their product, they know they can rely on you and you likewise will rely on them. Some expect you to maintain a certain level of sales, or expect you to take a certain amount of shipments no questions asked, and some - at least when they're first starting - are picky only because they don't have a lot of product to go around.

Again, specifically with Steve, I know he was worried about his inventory through February/March. At one time we received a shipment and were basically told "that's it for the next few months". Obviously things change, the factory is able to push your production up by a week or two or shipments of product are moved faster than you expected through customs, but these guys will quickly lose business with retailers if they promise things without delivering.

So, tell me, B&M owners/employees...when your passion becomes your business, do you slowly...maybe quickly...lost interest in your product?

It's different for everyone. It becomes a job, definitely. That's not a negative thing, but it's easy to become cynical about certain things in this industry just like it is for every other industry. While I greatly enjoy talking to cigar and pipe smokers (on a friendly level - not on a "I'm here to sell you something" level), I do know that the last thing on my mind when I leave work is running home to log on and participate on the forums. I spend my whole day talking about cigars, and that's completely awesome (truly it is!), but I find that it's best for me to go home and worry about other things first because I'm off the clock and there are nights when it feels like logging in is work.

That said, when I'm at work there is absolutely no reason or time for cynicism. If I got that way - and this points back to my thoughts above about treating all customers with respect - it's time for me to quit. I don't need to remind myself that I show up every day and get paid to sell cigars... I am doing MY dream job, and I'm doing the job that a lot of guys here dream about doing!

Is the Mighty Margin now become your raison d'etre? Do you not know that the juggernaut, the Mighty Interweb Giant Store, knows more about your products than you do, can sell it for less and easier? And that really, if you can't provide me the service or product I need, I don't need to budge from my computer screen to get what I want?

I have met those cigar store owners, yes... Too many times, to be honest. They couldn't care less about this or that product, they don't get excited about tobacco, they stop learning about the industry beyond what can make them a buck. That's sad. Again, I've met those guys and I've made it a point not to give them my business. This industry is filled with too many amazing people, doing too much amazingly artistic work, and there's too much history involved here, for me to understand how anyone can get that way.

As for the internet: you have to be mindful of it. Overhead is so much lower. Inventory is easier to move because you're now selling to thousands of customers instead of a few hundred. While on one hand it's easier to sell cigars online, it's much harder for me to sell you a cigar because you can't touch it, roll it around in your fingers, smell it, and get excited about the presentation or art surrounding it. I'm a better salesman in person because I've had to learn how to sell a cigar over the phone - and every store, whether they're B&M only or not, should have that same focus to learn about their products, offer valuable opinions about them, and to most importantly learn about YOU so that they know what cigars to offer you.

In the end we - tobacconists - are selling you a vacation. You're grabbing a cigar or a bowlful of pipe tobacco and you're leaving your day-to-day world behind for an hour or two. That should always be special, and we should be here to guide you. That sounds corny, but it's true.

One addition, now that I've flipped through and saw a few responses concerning pricing: don't forget about tobacco tax. When Arturo Fuente releases a cigar with an MSRP of $8, that isn't inclusive of additional taxes. A lot of times people get really upset at stores for being "overpriced" when their anger should be directed at the State for being so unfriendly to tobacco. Obviously that doesn't excuse the instance where this store is selling a cigar for $8 and the store 300 yards up the road is selling it for $12; that's when you need to consider whether the more expensive place is paying a bit more for a higher quality of employee, maybe they're spending more on furnishings and amenities for their customers, maybe they're offering a larger selection, and whether or not those things are important to you as a consumer. There's no right or wrong answer in that case: I don't blame you one bit if you want to buy your cigars as cheaply as possible, the same as I completely understand why you'd pay a little more to go some place a bit nicer.

[Nature]

Thank you @AndyCAYP for your candid, open answers! We are truly fortunate to get the perspective of a true insider here on our little forum.
If there wasn't reason enough already, what I have read here encourages me to look to your store for future purchases.

Tried to RG you on this, but I ".. must spread some Reputation around before giving it to AndyCAYP again."

[jhedrick83]

Tried to RG you on this, but I ".. must spread some Reputation around before giving it to AndyCAYP again."

Damnit, me too! Someone(s) please hit him! Very insightful, Andy. Thanks!

[Demuths1770]

Damnit, me too! Someone(s) please hit him! Very insightful, Andy. Thanks!

got him!!!!!!!!

[Zeede]

I got him.

@AndyCAYP Awesome post, makes me wish I lived closer to Pennsylvania!

[AndyCAYP]

If there wasn't reason enough already, what I have read here encourages me to look to your store for future purchases.

I just caught this - thanks for the kind words!

I don't expect my participation here to lead to sales but I'm more than happy to work with anyone, regardless of what you're looking for! And as some can attest, pricing is definitely flexible!