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brick and mortar

GlassjoeGlassjoe Posts: 25 ✭
edited December 2018 in General Discussion
I find better deals online but there is something very pleasent  about walking into a cigar store or cigar bar and just seeing all the cigars and smelling that fresh  cedar and tobbacco. I live in Baton rouge ,La and we have three large cigar stores in town . Are brick and mortar cigar stores bucking the trend of disappearing mom and pops in favor of internet stores, or are they as doomed as eveything else? what is it like in your town? Have you lost stores or are there new ones popping up?
'I think,' said Christopher Robin, 'that we ought to eat all our Provisions now, so that we shan't have so much to carry.'

Comments

  • silvermousesilvermouse Posts: 21,158 ✭✭✭✭✭
    lost

  • PatrickbrickPatrickbrick Posts: 7,974 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It takes a ton of capital and a lot of navigating red tape to open these days.  Where I live we have high ass taxes (not as bad as California) but high enough to deter opening a new one.  That being said none by me that are established seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon.
    "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give".  Winston Churchill.
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  • 0patience0patience Posts: 10,665 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Patrickbrick said:
    It takes a ton of capital and a lot of navigating red tape to open these days.  Where I live we have high ass taxes (not as bad as California) but high enough to deter opening a new one.  That being said none by me that are established seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon.
    Agreed.
    We live in a small town area and there is really only one cigar store, but it also caters to all tobacco or smoke products. And I mean ALL smoke products. LOL!
    But he has a fairly good selection of cigars, mostly because he caters to me quite a bit. 
    I don't see it going anywhere, because the owner has diversified enough that even though cigars are a slower sale for him, the profit is still enough for him to stock things. And usually he orders enough new cigars that I have to "treasure hunt" every time I go in and since I am still a 5 year old, that treasure hunt is very satisfying when I find something new or hidden.
    And since he knows I am still a 5 year old, he hides cigars that he thinks are to my liking or are special cigars. 

    I buy quite a few cigars online, but the local owner knows that and also knows I am an impulse buyer and I will buy anything that looks good to me and knows that I will buy something right then, for $100 before I would spend $100 online. 
    In Fumo Pax
    Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy cigars and that's close enough.

    Wylaff said:
    Atmospheric pressure and crap.
  • deadmandeadman Posts: 8,855 ✭✭✭✭✭
    We have vape shops every, some have a few cigars but most are ignorant on how to store a cigar so they tend to be dried out.

    There is a nice lounge along my route to work but the street and parking is terrible for a long bed extended cab truck to navigate. Charlotte has some nice ones but very high end and again issues with parking my truck in downtown.
  • NorCalR1NorCalR1 Posts: 4,197 ✭✭✭✭✭
    We have a few places in town 3 to be exact and a handful within an hours distance. I still drop in and purchase from them as well as relax a smoke a stick. Taxes are stupid here in CA but lounges are one of the few places you can smoke.

    If you want to bomb me send it to Tony @0patience :D
    If you are a newbie I got Dem nachos....

  • YaksterYakster Posts: 28,072 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I think I was hearing about someone trying to open a lounge in Los Altos or somewhere near there, have you heard this David @NorCalR1?
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  • NorCalR1NorCalR1 Posts: 4,197 ✭✭✭✭✭
    @yakster I have not but I did here Mission Pipe on the Alameda is up for sale.

    If you want to bomb me send it to Tony @0patience :D
    If you are a newbie I got Dem nachos....

  • Captain_CallCaptain_Call Posts: 1,553 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I have one little place a half hour down the road. They sell quorum and Phillies. So I might as well not have a shop. I still check when I'm feeling hopeful. Found some undercrown sungrown, shade and maduro last time so maybe they are moving in a positive direction. Theres some bigger population centers 1.5 to 2 hours away that I haven't explored. Just can't seem to find the time. I order online and smoke at home because I can do it on my schedule
  • ForMudForMud Posts: 2,336 ✭✭✭✭✭
    There's BM/Lounge about 10 min north of where I work (1 hour from home) that I've been meaning to go to...Just never seem to have the time.
  • First_WarriorFirst_Warrior Posts: 3,478 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Boone is one hour away and has a mediocre store and Asheville is one and a half hours away and has a ok store. The one in Boone caters to the App State college crowd and the one in Asheville has been in business 20 years and is struggling. I hit the Asheville store when i can.
  • cbuckcbuck Posts: 8,751 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Yakster said:
    That explains a lot, @cbuck
    Yes! Yes it does!
  • RhamlinRhamlin Posts: 9,052 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I hope not. There’s nothing like being able too hang out with other cigar lovers 
  • Impala59Impala59 Posts: 3 ✭
    Just found this thread,
    There are two cigar stores in my area.well one deticated one. I know its expensive to run a business so i get the mark up thing, but i shop around and know what i can get cigars I like for. I mean if its a few bucks more i will keep my money local. But for example, if were talking a bundle of cigar x for say 50 bucks, and the same thing online for 33 and ships free.... I'll get it online and wait a week. Im always lookin for the deals
  • NorCalR1NorCalR1 Posts: 4,197 ✭✭✭✭✭
    @Impala59 welcome to the forum. I still buy a lot from my B&M as in California there are not many places to smoke so I try to support the local shops. I also use it as a way to try new sticks prior to large purchases to make sure I like them.

    If you want to bomb me send it to Tony @0patience :D
    If you are a newbie I got Dem nachos....

  • HawkeyeHawkeye Posts: 246 ✭✭✭✭
    edited December 2018
    Super nice place just opened by where I live about a month ago.  Lounge is one of the best I have ever seen.  Psyched and considering a locker to get me through the winter.

    edit: I guess less than a month ago since I already posted here.  Now there are 3 places in town that are dedicated cigar shops with lounges.
    Despite the high cost of living, it remains popular.
  • WylaffWylaff Posts: 5,373 ✭✭✭✭✭
    My B&M is Illusione's home base. He doesn't make anything off the shop, but wanted a nice lounge to hang out in. I'm sure it would have gone belly up if it didn't have a behemoth brand backing it.
    "Cooking isn't about struggling; It's about pleasure. It's like sǝx, with a wider variety of sauces."

    At any given time the urge to sing "In The Jungle" is just a whim away... A whim away... A whim away...
  • Diver43Diver43 Posts: 2,169 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I live right between Ft Lauderdale and Miami. Have several Cigar Bars and warehouse/shops/lounges for many of the big names within a short drive North or South. Am lucky enough to have Padilla, Oliva, Padron, Perdomo, and My Father to name just ones I have visited.  They are thriving businesses here.  Of course they also do distribution and mail order, but the stand alone B & Ms do very well for themselves also.
    Logistics cannot win a war, but its absence or inadequacy can cause defeat. FM100-5
  • Sleddog46Sleddog46 Posts: 1,050 ✭✭✭✭✭
    None around here.
    You can't dispel Ignorance if you retain Arrogance!
  • dbeckomdbeckom Posts: 2,193 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I must say that I’m quite jealous of you guys with several local B&M’s. When I lived in Georgia I had a 30 minute drive to the closest B&M. Here in Istanbul there’s a 20-30 minute cab ride to the closest, and only a small selection of Cubans there.

    I did notice that the duty free store in the airport has a few Nicaraguans and Dominicans (Davidoff & Rocky Patel) now...that’s a big change from my first trips here. In April, the manager of the duty free store said it was against the law for him to sell anything other than Cuban or European cigars, but they were working on getting the laws changed.  

    "Any cigar smoker is friend, because I know how he feels." Alfred de Musset

     "A fine cigar is just like a woman. If you don't light it up just right and suck on it with a certain frequency, it will go out on you." Unknown

    “A pipe is to the troubled soul what caresses of a mother are for her suffering child.”  Indian Proverb
  • jd50aejd50ae Posts: 7,900 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited December 2018
    @dbeckom (d)
    Did you have any problems clearing customs with your stash?
  • dbeckomdbeckom Posts: 2,193 ✭✭✭✭✭
    jd50ae said:
    @dbeckom (d)
    Did you have any problems clearing customs with your stash?
    @jd50ae no sir, I came through customs with 400+ cigars, 30+ tins and 3 bags of pipe tobacco, a bunch of boveda packs, and various other accessories...all with no problems. (Knock on wood!)

    next trip I will bring back even more 🤓

    "Any cigar smoker is friend, because I know how he feels." Alfred de Musset

     "A fine cigar is just like a woman. If you don't light it up just right and suck on it with a certain frequency, it will go out on you." Unknown

    “A pipe is to the troubled soul what caresses of a mother are for her suffering child.”  Indian Proverb
  • YaksterYakster Posts: 28,072 ✭✭✭✭✭
    My Wife surprised me today by dropping me off at Boyd's in Paso Robles for an after-lunch cigar while she hits the local thrift before getting back on the road.

    Caldwell Eastern Standard Midnight Express in a very nice but empty lounge.


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