I had a stark experience this weekend and was curious if it was just a phenomenon in my area of if you guys notice it too. I ended up with a weekend to myself as my wife and son were out of town. I figured I would spend some time at a B&M and just kick back and relax. I loaded up on cigars before my son was born and I haven't been to my usual B&M haunts in maybe a year since I don't get a chance to smoke as much as I used to. My favorite place was gone. I got online and they have a new address a good 15 miles away with hours listed as "by appointment only". The guy had an awesome set up and a great lounge area last year, he had been in business for over 10 years. So then I drove down the street to a new lounge that was opened by a guy who closed 2 of his shops in town to open one consolidated shop. The selection was meh at best and 95% of the space was the lounge area. I was told only members could enter the lounge. There were a couple chairs not in the lounge area but they were lined up facing the wall of the lounge, like 4 feet away from the wall. You could sit there and not be able to converse with your fellow smokes and stare at the wall. So either join the lounge or buy your cigars and leave. The guy behind the counter was pretty gruff about it, so I left. At that point I heard from a friend about meeting up at a brewery with an outside area and I just went home and grabbed a few cigars. It was depressing. There's only one other true B&M in Knoxville I know of. It's the only one left I would go to.

Have you guys noticed a drop off in the number and quality of your B&Ms? I'm sure it is a tougher business to stay in than it used to be. I hope this isn't a nationwide trend.