You may not be aware of this but your local cigar shop may not be a happy camper right now. Perhaps the foremost reason that would come to mind is the fact that smoking bans seem to be popping up all over the country. This could be true to a certain extent, but not really. The fact is that despite smoking bans, cigar sales continue to be healthy. After all, who can stop people from smoking cigar in their own homes?
So what could possibly be aggravating cigar retailers? According to Cigarcurmudgeon, it is the ordering procedures of major cigar manufacturers that are making the lives of small cigar shops difficult. I didn’t know this but apparently, if a cigar retailer wants to carry a premium cigars in his shop, he is required by the manufacturer to carry lesser known items as well. This means that these cigars are less in demand and will probably not sell as much. This restrictive requirement takes its toll mainly on small retailers, whose clientèle and budget are already limited as it is.
Of course, the bigger retailers are not affected. Even if they are required to carry the lesser known (and therefore less desirable) items, they can still probably shoulder the cost as they have wider operations and bigger operating money to play with. Your neighborhood cigar shop is a different story altogether. How can they stay afloat, much less compete, in this kind of setup? Some changes are necessary, don’t you think?
Photo courtesy of PLCjr