I'm a little worried about my local B&M~

[Not A Nice Person]

I've been a customer there for years and years now, through three locations. But their latest move was a costly (and forced) one and they don't seem to have regained traction since then . . . and now, with the economic downturn, it seems like the humidor is looking a little bit sparser every time I drop by. Things that used to be regular stock haven't been on the shelf in months. The lounge is the same dozen or so guys playing Texas Hold 'Em, drinking free beer, and not really spending anything every night. And there hasn't been a tasting or event in months.

*sigh*

Anyone else seeing signs of a crunch lately? Man, if they go under there won't be anyplace to buy cigars locally anymore!

~Boar

 

[grateful1]

Mine has everything he's had before....I believe it's fresh stock.

I know the Opus are!

 

[northernmoris]

Mine is flowing full also. The son said their last quarter has been the highest in a long time. Sorry to hear the bad news Boar.

 

[jy0567]

Its funny that you bring this up. Just yesterday i finally had a day off from work so i went to my local B&M. While talking to the owner about his stock in the humidor he began to tell me about our town being small and with the economy the way it is not being able to sell anything much more than the 4 to 5 dollar sticks.After a little longer he told me that he was able to get most anything that i wanted , he would just order it for me so that he would not have it just sitting on his shelves for months on end. I believe he was really happy to talk cigars with me. I think most of his sells are just the average Joe off the street wanting something to make them look cool . On a side note after about 3 hours of chatting with him he gave me 20% off my bill.

 

[Big A]

Only one here closed down back in June. And they have been here since 1970. Who wants to open one up?

 

[regor1]

It appears to me that while we are in this the bad economy, I am able to find sticks in my local B&M's as well as on-line that I had trouble finding in the past. I guess where's always an up side to bad times.

 

[Daniel]

I've been a customer there for years and years now, through three locations. But their latest move was a costly (and forced) one and they don't seem to have regained traction since then . . . and now, with the economic downturn, it seems like the humidor is looking a little bit sparser every time I drop by. Things that used to be regular stock haven't been on the shelf in months. The lounge is the same dozen or so guys playing Texas Hold 'Em, drinking free beer, and not really spending anything every night. And there hasn't been a tasting or event in months.

*sigh*

Anyone else seeing signs of a crunch lately? Man, if they go under there won't be anyplace to buy cigars locally anymore!

~Boar

Did you say FREE BEER? I can't even find a shop with a lounge let alone a lounge where you can get free beer.

That's a shame that those guys don't even make a purchase some of the nights that they hang out there. If I had a smoke shop with a cigar lounge that had free beer I would make a purchase every hour I was there.

 

[whopper]

I've been a customer there for years and years now, through three locations. But their latest move was a costly (and forced) one and they don't seem to have regained traction since then . . . and now, with the economic downturn, it seems like the humidor is looking a little bit sparser every time I drop by. Things that used to be regular stock haven't been on the shelf in months. The lounge is the same dozen or so guys playing Texas Hold 'Em, drinking free beer, and not really spending anything every night. And there hasn't been a tasting or event in months.

*sigh*

Anyone else seeing signs of a crunch lately? Man, if they go under there won't be anyplace to buy cigars locally anymore!

~Boar

What was the costly move?

 

[Not A Nice Person]

What was the costly move?

They had been in a small strip location next to a large store for 25 years (current owners bought from the previous one about 6, 7 years ago, not long before I discovered them). About 2 years ago, the larger space next to them became vacant, and they moved into it, added a lounge, and started doing more events. The dental clinic next to the new space---actually, ONE person at the dental clinic---started complaining about "the smell." (they had a state of the art smoke removal system). Complaining to the landlord, the city, the cops, the health inspector . . . even though smoking in the shop was grandfathered in, the landlord, who took the dental offices side for who knows what reason, made fighting it so expensive they sued/arbitrated out of their lease and moved.

The new shop was raw space, so there was a buildout to pay for, plus a higher sq. ft. price . . . but it's on a major arterial on the boom side of town where all the growth is trending. Everything south of them is new housing developments, everything around them is new, busy retail space. It should be a good location. I'm hoping they can weather the transition and thrive there, but lately there's just . . . a different feel.

~Boar

 

[jorel]

Sadly my local B&M is more like Boar"s in that his supply is low and I'm afraid he can't lay out for a lot of high end stock at the moment. Hate buying from others but if he can't carry what I want only so many mid range I enjoy.

 

[Tapewormboy]

Wait, there's frree beer? Where did you say this place was again? :blush: