Cigar lounges

[StinkiMonki]

You are very lucky SmokeInn. That goes for everyone in states that don't seem to limit smoking like they do here in CA. It's getting more difficult to live here every year. When I finally retire, I'm hoping to do it in a smoke-law-free state, assuming there are any left by then. LOL

 

[SmokeInn]

Your right Stinki, we ARE lucky, though we have had our share of legislation. A few yeas ago, they banned it in all restaurants, hotels and Bars that served food in excess of 10% of their business. :angry:

 

[CoventryCat86]

I wouldn't pay to smoke at one of those places.

I smoke in my house at home. If I get lonely I can either invite people over or go to Gary's house. :laugh:

 

[CoventryCat86]

You are very lucky SmokeInn. That goes for everyone in states that don't seem to limit smoking like they do here in CA. It's getting more difficult to live here every year. When I finally retire, I'm hoping to do it in a smoke-law-free state, assuming there are any left by then. LOL

I would bet that North Carolina will be NEVER be a "smoke free" state seeing as how they're probably the largest producer of tobacco in the country.

My step son moved down there last year and told me that unfortunately the place is becoming loaded with Yankees who are running from the ridiculous property taxes in the northeast.

Has anyone ever heard what the town of "Cary" North Carolina really stands for?
(Containment Area for Relocated Yankees) :laugh:

 

[roscoe]

Y'know, I forgot to add one thing about our club. We initially offered stock in the club to raise capital for building expenses, rent, etc. We set up two investment structures.

Preferred stockholders would invest X dollars, have 2% share and one vote. These preferred members would pay no annual dues. They would pay their monthly access charges and annual locker charge.

Common stockholders would invest half of X dollars, have 1% share and no vote. These common members would pay one half the annual membership fee plus access charges and locker fees. All stockholders get a larger locker (12 x 18 x 24.)

Board members (who must be Preferred stockholders) pay no monthly access charges....just the annual locker fee.

Certain members who take care of maintenance have their monthly access fees waived.

Remember, we were around 12 years before this law. We had 100 dues paying members at the time and would meet only once per month at a catering facility. We had 55 of those members come aboard as stockholders and 25 as just associates. Several skeptics are now dying to get on the waiting list when we offer stock.

Roscoe
The Metropolitan Society, LLC
http://www.metrocigar.com

 

[beyond the band]

A little update


Today was going to be a great day
Stopped by Stinks place on the way home to pick up a fist full of premiums, then home to get dinner for the kids and off to meet Souldog for a smoke at Zarka's

Zarka now has a liquor license as of Friday so, he apparently feels it is in his best interest to not offer a 10 dollar day pass any longer.
Hmm that kind of sucks. I found this out and put the Ashton VSG back on the shelf and Souldog and I left.
I used to spend about 100 bucks a Month there.


Zack I wish you well

Stink here we come.

 

[souldog]

A little update


Today was going to be a great day
Stopped by Stinks place on the way home to pick up a fist full of premiums, then home to get dinner for the kids and off to meet Souldog for a smoke at Zarka's

Zarka now has a liquor license as of Friday so, he apparently feels it is in his best interest to not offer a 10 dollar day pass any longer.
Hmm that kind of sucks. I found this out and put the Ashton VSG back on the shelf and Souldog and I left.
I used to spend about 100 bucks a Month there.


Zack I wish you well

Stink here we come.

Ditto that fella....wine, women, songs, and Stinki....HERE WE COME!

ANd we can all have a hug-it-out-bitch fest.... :sign: :sign: :sign:

 

[Fia]

A little update


Today was going to be a great day
Stopped by Stinks place on the way home to pick up a fist full of premiums, then home to get dinner for the kids and off to meet Souldog for a smoke at Zarka's

Zarka now has a liquor license as of Friday so, he apparently feels it is in his best interest to not offer a 10 dollar day pass any longer.
Hmm that kind of sucks. I found this out and put the Ashton VSG back on the shelf and Souldog and I left.
I used to spend about 100 bucks a Month there.


Zack I wish you well

Stink here we come.

I dont see the logic. Is it because he can make more money off the liquor that he doesnt need people who dont pay annual fees to come in? What about visitors to the area? I was there last summer and was able to hang out a couple of times. Seemed like a nice guy.

 

[StinkiMonki]

A little update


Today was going to be a great day
Stopped by Stinks place on the way home to pick up a fist full of premiums, then home to get dinner for the kids and off to meet Souldog for a smoke at Zarka's

Zarka now has a liquor license as of Friday so, he apparently feels it is in his best interest to not offer a 10 dollar day pass any longer.
Hmm that kind of sucks. I found this out and put the Ashton VSG back on the shelf and Souldog and I left.
I used to spend about 100 bucks a Month there.


Zack I wish you well

Stink here we come.

Ditto that fella....wine, women, songs, and Stinki....HERE WE COME!

ANd we can all have a hug-it-out-bitch fest.... :sign: :sign: :sign:

You two come find me and we will work out a special deal.

Since the start of this thread, we have made some drastic changes in our membership pricing. It's injected new life in the place and there is a pretty good vibe. We ditched the huge annual fee and dropped the quarterly. We went from $1495 to $995 down to $398 (or $149 down, $35 per month). Perhaps it would have been a bit wiser to do all that in reverse. Live and learn.

Hard liquor will be here before the end of April, as soon as next week. Talk about an adventure. Try getting a liquor license in CA and learn all about patience.

Anyways, everyone on CP is always welcome. If I'm not there, just tell the boys up front you are my personal guest. Use your money on sticks/booze, not door fees.

Geoff

 

[robbiex0r]

:thumbs: to Geoff, the host of hosts

 

[Shibumi]

You go into a cigar store, buy a cigar, clip it, light it, sit down in comfort and smoke it. That is how it should be. This joining a club to smoke is crap!!! I can see not letting people smoke what they bring? Unless you still purchase from the establishment. I went into Barclay-Rex in NYC (Mind you nothing is free in NYC) and the guy sold me a tin of tobacco. He said "Have a seat and smoke up if you like". He also told me I can come in anytime, knowing I will probably purchase and become a customer. In short, I would rather stand over a steaming manhole cover, in the snow and smoke, than pay to sit after I bought cigars from them.

 

[NDFI]

I've been kicking the tires on this issue for a while. When it's twenty degrees outside, I really don't enjoy it all that much. When it's one hundred and ten degrees, I don't enjoy it that much. There are next to no places to smoke indoors here.

There is a lounge literally right across the street from my house. I've heard various things about the memberships. They are either 150 or 300 a year, which is very reasonable. I just haven't done it because I'd rather spend the money on smokes (still a newb with a small collection). The real benefit to me would be that I'd feel fine going in just to smoke if I was paying for a membership. As it is now, I feel bad if I don't buy something when I go in, and I always buy too much.

For me it's simply a temperature issue. The lockers are in the humi which is around 72% RH, so I wouldn't keep cigars there. The member's area isn't anything special. The people are hit and miss (there are some good guys there, and there are some asshats - it seems to be about 50/50). The drawback is that my smoking would have to happen during store hours, and I smoke after 9 PM quite often.

Even though it isn't the perfect situation, I plan on doing it at the first of the year. For $150 (if my memory serves me right), it's a pretty good deal. I would much rather get a locker at Two Brothers in Plano, but the 25 min. drive and the traffic on 75 are enough that I wouldn't go there often enough to justify it.

D

I'm a member at the Cigar Lounge, I think it's worth it for the fact that I have an cooled or heated place to hang out and smoke. BTW, I believe the pricing structure is $300 for the first year and $150 for renewals, I could be wrong on that though. You can also try out a membership for a month at $30/m. The lockers are an additional cost, I believe it's $150/y but don't quote me on that. You also get 10% off your purchases and free soft drinks and most of the time there is free beer there too. It might be Lone Star or it might be Sam Adams, it really depends on what is brought in, but it's free.

I would say for the most part everyone there is pretty cool, there are some guys that can be a little annoying but you are going to get that anywhere you have a gathering of people. Hell, maybe I'm one of the annoying guys for some people. There can be a little bit of a ball-busting that goes on but I've found it's in good fun.

Next time you are in there, say hi if I'm there. Big guy with a shaved head and a beard. My name is Caleb.

 

[beyond the band]

A little update


Today was going to be a great day
Stopped by Stinks place on the way home to pick up a fist full of premiums, then home to get dinner for the kids and off to meet Souldog for a smoke at Zarka's

Zarka now has a liquor license as of Friday so, he apparently feels it is in his best interest to not offer a 10 dollar day pass any longer.
Hmm that kind of sucks. I found this out and put the Ashton VSG back on the shelf and Souldog and I left.
I used to spend about 100 bucks a Month there.


Zack I wish you well

Stink here we come.

Ditto that fella....wine, women, songs, and Stinki....HERE WE COME!

ANd we can all have a hug-it-out-bitch fest.... :sign: :sign: :sign:

You two come find me and we will work out a special deal.

Since the start of this thread, we have made some drastic changes in our membership pricing. It's injected new life in the place and there is a pretty good vibe. We ditched the huge annual fee and dropped the quarterly. We went from $1495 to $995 down to $398 (or $149 down, $35 per month). Perhaps it would have been a bit wiser to do all that in reverse. Live and learn.

Hard liquor will be here before the end of April, as soon as next week. Talk about an adventure. Try getting a liquor license in CA and learn all about patience.

Anyways, everyone on CP is always welcome. If I'm not there, just tell the boys up front you are my personal guest. Use your money on sticks/booze, not door fees.

Geoff

Yes,
When I was in there yesterday I told the guy I was a member of CP and he said everything was free! :sign:

Thanks Geoff

Seriously,
You are a great BOTL.
Souldoggy and I will be making the trek to Corona fo sho!

 

[souldog]

I dont see the logic. Is it because he can make more money off the liquor that he doesnt need people who dont pay annual fees to come in? What about visitors to the area? I was there last summer and was able to hang out a couple of times. Seemed like a nice guy.

I really didn't either...because if you think about it, here's the nitty gritty on the following numbers IMO:

Member pays $1200/yr. for a membership (now that he's got his license, prices doubled).

That's an average profit of $3.28/day out of that member, average profit of $23.07/week. Not too bad I suppose.

Now, you take the average Joe who can't afford to put up $1200 dollars for his membership, but if he continued the "Day Pass," the numbers would be the following:

Customer pays $10 to get in, maybe even $15 now because of the liquor. Average consumer is there, they're probably going to purchase a cigar that averages anywhere from $10-$20 dollars (thank you CA taxes), and the Lounge gets exposure (AKA "Free Advertising") from the customer's good experience there!

You take all of that, average it that the consumer will go there maybe once a week or so, that's an average profit of $17.09/day out of the consumer, average profit of $30/week.


So hands down, if Zarka's kep their policy of "Day Passes," they will make more money off of the pass than they would on their average member... It just seems foolhardy to me, and as I told Beyond the Band last night, "We have witnessed the beginning of the end...of Zarka's."


And Stinki, you always treat us like gentlmen when we go to your place. I'll be there more often.

 

[StinkiMonki]

You go into a cigar store, buy a cigar, clip it, light it, sit down in comfort and smoke it. That is how it should be. This joining a club to smoke is crap!!! I can see not letting people smoke what they bring? Unless you still purchase from the establishment. I went into Barclay-Rex in NYC (Mind you nothing is free in NYC) and the guy sold me a tin of tobacco. He said "Have a seat and smoke up if you like". He also told me I can come in anytime, knowing I will probably purchase and become a customer. In short, I would rather stand over a steaming manhole cover, in the snow and smoke, than pay to sit after I bought cigars from them.

I'm not familiar with the law in NYC, but here in CA you can only serve alcohol and smoke in a "private" lounge. There's really no way around it. Our place is divided into two parts, the store and the lounge. While you have to be a member/guest to go into the lounge, you can always sit in the store and smoke for free. While the conventional wisdom here at CP is that when you visit a B&M to smoke, you show your support in some way, even if you smoke your own during the visit. Unfortunately that's not always the case with the general public. I have been to several B&Ms that provide chairs only to find the same people there all day every day. Not to bad if they purchased from the store, but that's not always the case either. Running a B&M is very different then running a B&M with a private lounge. At least that's been my experience so far. Consider the high cost of rent and the 43+% CA tobacco tax and you can see why we wouldn't make it without the alcohol. And back to the original issue of needing the private lounge in order to sell alcohol. Of course, you, or anyone else, is always welcome to my garage and my humidor when you are in the neighborhood. Nothing better then sharing cigars and stories with friends.

Geoff

 

[CigarStone]

I have a question:

How many of you are paying to join these cigar lounges?
In my area there are a few of these clubs popping up.
Good concept but damn how much are you willing to spend to sit in a big leather chair?

Azucar Cigar Lounge in Corona, California (not exactly Beverly Hills) has a membership costing 2k a year and a $500.00 a quarter spending minimum.They let you bring 1 friend in.
I think these guys are way out there especially for the area.
2k a year and no happy ending either!

http://www.zarkacigarlounge.com/lounge.php In Temecula California, again NOT Beverly Hills.
He has an awesome humi, great selection. He charges 600 a year and no spending limit but you can not bring anybody else in

http://www.redcloudcigars.com/

Best value I have found
They charge 300.00 a year and you can bring 4 friends
This would be ok to split between 4 guys
Still seems kind of crazy to pay to smoke
Thoughts?

Key words highlighted

On the other hand, I am lucky enough to have an awesome B&M which just opened near me. Absolutely first class in every way

 

[The Master]

I would never pay to hang out at a cigar lounge. The place I used to hang out at in Rhode Island( Regency Cigar) before I moved here to Florida had a nice lounge and it didn't cost anything. I spent a good amount of money there and I also made it my business to get him customers. He has a website that he sells cigars off of and over the years I have gotten him well over 100 customers. He takes very good care of all of the people I have sent him over the years, he makes it his business to beat anyones prices if he can.

There is a cigar lounge right around the corner from my house here in Florida that is free, but I rarely hang out there( 3 times in a year) . The guy gouges on Opus and other hard to get Fuentes so I do not support him( his loss) . If he ever changes his pricing policy, then maybe I will think about supporting him.

JimK knows who I am talking about.

 

[Fia]

I really didn't either...because if you think about it, here's the nitty gritty on the following numbers IMO:

Member pays $1200/yr. for a membership (now that he's got his license, prices doubled).

That's an average profit of $3.28/day out of that member, average profit of $23.07/week. Not too bad I suppose.

Now, you take the average Joe who can't afford to put up $1200 dollars for his membership, but if he continued the "Day Pass," the numbers would be the following:

Customer pays $10 to get in, maybe even $15 now because of the liquor. Average consumer is there, they're probably going to purchase a cigar that averages anywhere from $10-$20 dollars (thank you CA taxes), and the Lounge gets exposure (AKA "Free Advertising") from the customer's good experience there!

You take all of that, average it that the consumer will go there maybe once a week or so, that's an average profit of $17.09/day out of the consumer, average profit of $30/week.


So hands down, if Zarka's kep their policy of "Day Passes," they will make more money off of the pass than they would on their average member... It just seems foolhardy to me, and as I told Beyond the Band last night, "We have witnessed the beginning of the end...of Zarka's."


And Stinki, you always treat us like gentlmen when we go to your place. I'll be there more often.

Arent there a couple other places in Temecula to hang out and smoke in? How far is Stinki's place from Temecula? I will be in Fallbrook in June. Might go up if it is not too far.

 

[beyond the band]

I really didn't either...because if you think about it, here's the nitty gritty on the following numbers IMO:

Member pays $1200/yr. for a membership (now that he's got his license, prices doubled).

That's an average profit of $3.28/day out of that member, average profit of $23.07/week. Not too bad I suppose.

Now, you take the average Joe who can't afford to put up $1200 dollars for his membership, but if he continued the "Day Pass," the numbers would be the following:

Customer pays $10 to get in, maybe even $15 now because of the liquor. Average consumer is there, they're probably going to purchase a cigar that averages anywhere from $10-$20 dollars (thank you CA taxes), and the Lounge gets exposure (AKA "Free Advertising") from the customer's good experience there!

You take all of that, average it that the consumer will go there maybe once a week or so, that's an average profit of $17.09/day out of the consumer, average profit of $30/week.


So hands down, if Zarka's kep their policy of "Day Passes," they will make more money off of the pass than they would on their average member... It just seems foolhardy to me, and as I told Beyond the Band last night, "We have witnessed the beginning of the end...of Zarka's."


And Stinki, you always treat us like gentlmen when we go to your place. I'll be there more often.

Arent there a couple other places in Temecula to hang out and smoke in? How far is Stinki's place from Temecula? I will be in Fallbrook in June. Might go up if it is not too far.

Stinkis is about half and hour North of Temecula.

There are 2 more places in Temecula.
Olde Towne which serves nothing and has 2 tables and a few chairs. But it is free. I don't even think they check if the stick you are smoking is from them.
I was there last Friday and brought my own stick but it was one I purchased there a couple weeks prior.

There is another one in Temecula I think it is called Old World. Never been there. Souldog reviewed it before though......

Make the trek to Stinkis.
Be sure to let us know when you are in town.

 

[effinwill]

Wait a minute!! This is tremendous news!

Azucar's lounge is super nice. The gentlemen there were also very gracious and entertaining. Great cigar selection, reasonable pricing by Cali B&M standards, good beer pricing....

I'll pass on the shaves, but expect me back soon, LOL!