My b&m carries 90% of the cigars I want & buy regularly. The other 10% I've been buying from Famous Smoke.
Do You Ever Feel Like You Have Outgrown Your B&M
- Thread starter CeeGarOne
- Start date
Jfire
BoM 9/9' 9/11' 8/12'
One of the biggest Chicagoland retailers was talked into carrying Viaje around 2012.(probably directly by several guys from Botl)
I went last year to talk, hang out with Wb and Jdog. While talking to the owner he wished he never picked them up. They sold for 6 months and sales went dead. He had a facing of everything and 6 boxes of each size.
I went last year to talk, hang out with Wb and Jdog. While talking to the owner he wished he never picked them up. They sold for 6 months and sales went dead. He had a facing of everything and 6 boxes of each size.
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- Feb 4, 2015
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- 2,863
I kinda feel like I outgrew my B&M before I ever really found one to call home. I discovered cigars online, and the closest B&M at the time was an hour away. I've made a point to visit some shops around St. Louis when I can, but as friendly and welcoming as they always are, none of them ever had the size or selection to make me say "man, this place is awesome" when it was always such a small lounge and the cigars they carry are just a fraction of what I could get from Famous, etc at half the cost.
I was completely blown away by your B&M Joe, as well as that one in Longmont that I stopped in. I never thought I'd see stuff like CH, La Palina, or 7-20-4 in a B&M. And the lounges - oh man! Multiple seating areas? Real lighters on the tables instead of matches? The one in Longmont even had a pool table! There's a fairly new place that's only about half an hour from me if I drive really fast, better lounge area than most around here and they have Table 36, but it still pales in comparison. I came home thinking that I didn't get to spend enough days in the mountains, or hours in the B&M's... I'm totally going back for a real vacation one of these days...Sounds like my B&M. Sometimes I feel bad because I don't buy much from them other than CH. I do rent a locker and bring my own sticks so I still smoke what I want and hang with a good group of guys. The problem we have is the tax is so high most of the new sticks would never sell for what they need to charge so the manager is reluctant to bring them in.
. The problem we have is the tax is so high most of the new sticks would never sell for what they need to charge so the manager is reluctant to bring them in.
jonnylieberman
Ask Me About Outrage
I'm lucky that I'm in LA, because there's such a wide variety of B&Ms. The one walking distance from me is unfortunate. They have an account with My Father -- which is great, because they have Don Pepin, Jaime Garcia and a couple of Tatuajes, but then... Nub. I used to ask the owner to get new stuff in, and he'd pretend that he cared and write what I said down, but... all theater.
The other two I frequent both have fabulous selections. They are not up to the minute stocked with the latest Warped/Crowned Heads, but they have 90% of what you need. That said, I only buy from them when I go in for a smoke. And honestly, I tend to buy a $$$ stick (Opus X, God of Fire) and stash it, then smoke whatever I brought with me. I figure it's the right thing to do.
So, anyhow, you are not alone.
The other two I frequent both have fabulous selections. They are not up to the minute stocked with the latest Warped/Crowned Heads, but they have 90% of what you need. That said, I only buy from them when I go in for a smoke. And honestly, I tend to buy a $$$ stick (Opus X, God of Fire) and stash it, then smoke whatever I brought with me. I figure it's the right thing to do.
So, anyhow, you are not alone.
IMHO and not to derail this thread, Viaje wore the LE strategy to its own demise. While I love the hell out of the original Holiday and 45's they never had a regular rotation stick that made me want to seek them out.
I've heard good things about that place from Wes at Crowned Heads. I believe he used to work there.
Ya know, one thing that owners and employees at a cigar shop often fail to consider is that maybe more than most other retail operations, you actually have to go out and SELL your product! When someone comes into your shop, don't just stand there like a sphinx! Chat the customer up a little, depending upon how chatty they are, qualify what they're looking for, and MAKE SOME SUGGESTIONS! There's this one shop in my town that every time I go there, there's some guy who's a newb or not quite certain what he's looking for. Even though I'm there as a customer, I discern his confusion, chat him up, and try to get him fixed up and down the road as a happy camper. Now, one of the owners comes in like a hammer, doesn't listen much, just get's the guy fixed up with maybe something that has the best margins for the store, and berates the poor slob for not buying more! No kidding! But the best owners/employees I see just kinda gently figger out what's up when the customer comes in, and if they can, get 'em goin' in the right direction.
So, I think if a shop sells a line for six months then sales flat lines, that's more an indication of the failure of the store's staff to keep the vibe rolling than a lack of customer interest.
Just sayin'...
So, I think if a shop sells a line for six months then sales flat lines, that's more an indication of the failure of the store's staff to keep the vibe rolling than a lack of customer interest.
Just sayin'...
whodeeni
the Cigar "Gangsta" ;0(
Yeah...Great shop!
Mr. McSquirelly
Joe Bananas
Very, very, very well said, Derek. That really is the crux of the whole issue. My grandfather--God rest his soul--smoked only Davidoff and J.C. Newman his whole life. I'm assuming that's typical of the general cigar smoking populace. It's like most cigarette smokers who stick with the same brand and never switch. A smart B&M owner needs to keep all the popular staples around. I think 'Forum Members' buy most of their stuff online anyway, and that may be a reason B&M owners are reluctant to carry those brands in the first place.
I stopped going to my closest BM once I realized just how big their mark up was. Don't think I'll grow out of Elite since they carry most of the stuff I like and do a fairly good Job of getting new things in
Yes both of them are nicely stocked.
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- Apr 9, 2015
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Its funny this thread showed up. Ive been feeling like this recently but really didnt consider it outgrowing. I started going to one and the guy there is great always having great suggestions. But a smaller humidor. The more I talked to the guy he was always critical of the "bigger" brands (Drew Estate, RP, Camacho etc...) It just started getting old. I started smoking more at home and coupled with the push to get my house done I really havent been in about 6 weeks. I think if i have the want to hang out again I will probably go to the other one in town that is more out of the way for me but has a much bigger humidor. Staff seems kind of iffy but when I talk to my buddies about it they tell me that they warm up if you ask questions, they just dont want to intrude on the knowledgeable ones.
Absolutely feel that way about the B&Ms around me. There is one, Tobacco Stop, that stocks a decent selection and gets new stuff in every now and then. Nothing like Warped/Caldwell/Crowned Heads per se, but still some decent new cigars. I still find that there's not much there I'm interested in any more.
There is one shop, whose name I won't mention, that stocks nothing but Rocky Patel and whatever other blah stuff the old customers want. I've asked about them carrying other cigars and the response was nothing short of rude and off-putting. All-in-all, the selection around Fort Wayne is pretty lackluster and easy to outgrow.
There is one shop, whose name I won't mention, that stocks nothing but Rocky Patel and whatever other blah stuff the old customers want. I've asked about them carrying other cigars and the response was nothing short of rude and off-putting. All-in-all, the selection around Fort Wayne is pretty lackluster and easy to outgrow.
Smoke inn. So no.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2015
- Messages
- 41
Totally not alone!! I drive 50 min to the smoke shops I now call my own, the only one around me that is not just a sad excuse for a head shop will not bring in anything he doesn't want and even on request won't even if you will pay upfront for it.... It's just no way to run a business
I outgrew my B&M the minute I found this site and online cigar retailers.
Markup is easily 100%+ over online prices. FFP are something like $35 when I checked a week ago. Opus, all Liga, and just anything in general is ridiculously marked up.
I usually order my sticks online and smoke them at Javier's cigar bar, off 75 and Cole.
Parker
Markup is easily 100%+ over online prices. FFP are something like $35 when I checked a week ago. Opus, all Liga, and just anything in general is ridiculously marked up.
I usually order my sticks online and smoke them at Javier's cigar bar, off 75 and Cole.
Parker