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Opening a Cigar store

TheVitaleMob said:
Humidified Lockers. A place nearby charges $100 a year. Now you're customers have cigars here already to smoke, and most of them will buy something from you and say, "just put it in my locker."
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My hope is to have one wall in the walk-in dedicated to lockers (that's assuming I decide to go for this adventure).

gmiranda33 said:
The best advice I can give you is be aggressive when negotiating your lease agreement!
This will determine how soon you can become profitable. Try to get a location right next to one of the restaurants and make sure to include in your lease that it will be a "retail & smoking lounge."
I have heard tons of stories about stores having to move or close because the landlord kciked them out because of the smoking onpremise.


I have been in the cigar business for almost 14 years, dont hesitate to pm with specific questions should you have any. I am more than willing to offer up some advice.

All the best.
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Good advice, I'm going to contact the developer this week for info on the area I'm looking at.

fivebyfifty said:
I always like a shop with a fresh cup of coffee maybe get a krups or flavia. I like the krups better,I have had both.
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Coffee is always good! Well make that GOOD coffee is always good.
 
Some really great ideas have been presented so I will throw some things out there I like about some B&Ms I have visited. My favorite to date is an International Tobacco at the King of Prussia mall. They have the following amenities that keep bringing me back.

These are in no particular order, just what is coming to mind.

1. At a mall. The wife goes shopping and I go enjoy a nice cigar in peace. Need I say more :)

2. Assortment of beverages, including coffee, tea, soda. Nothing like a nice cup of coffee and a cigar I have never tried. note to self, a RP Decade and two cups up of coffee keeps me up 'til 2 AM.

3. TVs. While there are the occasional patrons to chat with, I do not go enough to strike up a conversation with the regulars too often. The owner is busy so I cannot expect him to dedicate himself to me and my endless questions.

4. Knowledgeable and helpful. The owner knows his business and knows it well. And is not condescending to noobs like myself. He runs through the normal questions, what do you smoke, like, etc.? I am always looking for advice and knowledge and he has it. in short customer service.

5. Very nice selection of cigars in a walk in humidor.

If anything else strikes me I will try to post it. I hope this helps in some way. Good luck.
 
Be sure to apply to the SBA for a loan. It's important to give the government covert ways to support tobacco.

Speak to a tax accountant, bring him some realistic numbers and have him advise you on what type of entity to create. An S-corp could protect you're personal assets.

Join the CRA. Ask them for help establishing yourself in the community.

Write a business plan, you need to show why it's a good idea to open a shop for a product that is being legislated into a corner or out of business.

Figure out how you're going to get customers there the first time. Getting them to come back again is important, but you have to get them there before you can impress them.



Best of luck, I hope you can pull this off. Hell, some days I wish I could pull it off.
 
bankerjoe said:
Just out of curiousity...where would said cigar shop/bar b

There's an upper scale outdoor mall area thats perfect.

mmburtch, great ideas, the SBA site is very confusing. Doing more leg work this week and meeting with someone knowledgeable next week for more guidance.
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fivebyfifty said:
I always like a shop with a fresh cup of coffee maybe get a krups or flavia. I like the krups better,I have had both.
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I've always liked the idea of having a small coffee bar. If I were running a cigar store, I would most likely just buy a quality drip coffee maker and burr grinder. Also, I would get a cold coffee maker, a Toddy or a Filtron, so the guys could enjoy a cold cup of coffee in the summer, if that is their preference. Some people warm up cold coffee in the microwave, depends on the person.

Have somewhere to hang mugs. Later on, you might be able to offer French Press or ChemEx brewed coffee on a limited basis. The cleanup/proper set-up might be a bit of a hassle...

-Mark

*If you don't mind the hassle, go the ChemEx route. IMHO, it is too hard to get a consistently clean cup of coffee with the press. At any rate, coffee at a cigar store is a secondary concern.
 
Bringing up old thread with new questions....


Anyone know anything about making a business plan? I have lists of people to call and things to look up on the internet. The one thing I have no understanding of is how to use a business plan to convince a bank or investor that I have a good idea.
 
Bu11dog...interesting venture. I've often thought about doing this myself on the side, unfortunately I don't have your dedication. For me it would have been more of a hobby than anything else. Who knows...maybe one day. Until then I can dream about it. I wish you the best of luck on your venture Bu11dog. Live the dream. There is a lot of great advice here that has been posted. Especially about the SBA. They can be a big help to you. The biggest initial hurdles will be your lease, licensing, insurance, and construction, furnishing. After you have built up a clientele, then you can worry about building up other ammenities. Coffee is likely better than alcohol, at least initially. I don't know where you are, but in NY an alochol license is prohibilitvely expensive for many and very hard to get. It's easier to buy a business with an existing license and then convert the establishment if it is zoned in an area where you can covert it into a cigar store/lounge. It is a big endeavour, and I wish you success. Please keep us posted on any devleopments.
 
TheVitaleMob said:
Humidified Lockers. A place nearby charges $100 a year. Now your customers have cigars here already to smoke, and most of them will buy something from you and say, "just put it in my locker."
Click to expand...

One of the places I recently visited had humidified lockers large enough to keep a fifth of your favorite bourbon. He had a large room in the back (well ventilated) with a big screen TV and several nice leather chairs. The place was full in the afternoon after work. He had a good loyal clientèle.

Good luck!

redraider said:
I used this Buisness Plan Pro In college a few years ago to make a buisness plan for a project. It worked extremely well, very easy to use.
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Thanks for posting; I was just looking for something like this!
 
Funny the wife and I were just talking about lockers that would allow members to store their own liquor. The ammenities are an easy set-up in my mind, coffee and such that is. The key in my mind is to have the best ventilation system you can so you don't leave smelling like an old cigar.

I am going to have about 3-4 weeks off due to some pretty serious knee surgery, I'm hoping to spend a lot of that time that I would be at work doing as much leg work as I can, how to get the licenses, how to get funding, trying to figure out how to get a SBA grant. I've started a list of people to call and questions to ask.

I think one of the interesting developments is the wife wants to open up a jewelry store that caters handmade silver and such. A joint venture is going to be more easy to keep afloat in my head as the 2 shops would share space and make the overhead easier, even though the shops would be separate.
 
Bu11dog said:
Funny the wife and I were just talking about lockers that would allow members to store their own liquor. The ammenities are an easy set-up in my mind, coffee and such that is. The key in my mind is to have the best ventilation system you can so you don't leave smelling like an old cigar.

I am going to have about 3-4 weeks off due to some pretty serious knee surgery, I'm hoping to spend a lot of that time that I would be at work doing as much leg work as I can, how to get the licenses, how to get funding, trying to figure out how to get a SBA grant. I've started a list of people to call and questions to ask.

I think one of the interesting developments is the wife wants to open up a jewelry store that caters handmade silver and such. A joint venture is going to be more easy to keep afloat in my head as the 2 shops would share space and make the overhead easier, even though the shops would be separate.
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You probably don't need me to mention this but keep the smoke smell far away from the jewelery.

I think the most important thing to remember is, you aren't actually in the cigar business, you have cigars available but what you are selling is the experience of sitting in your shop and having a stick.

If you try to make it selling cigars, then you compete with the Internet but unless you own a Man Cave, you can't smoke on the Internet.
 
I've never been to this B&M but I saw it on Craigslist a while back: Retail Cigar and Pipe Business.

On another note, I travel a lot. As such, before I leave, I Google for B&M at my destination city. I am surprised at the lack of web pages for cigar shops. Although I'll get a map showing locations of shops, I only visit the ones that actually have a web page. Reviews go along way with me also. Just food for thought.
 
steamboat said:
Bu11dog said:
Funny the wife and I were just talking about lockers that would allow members to store their own liquor. The ammenities are an easy set-up in my mind, coffee and such that is. The key in my mind is to have the best ventilation system you can so you don't leave smelling like an old cigar.

I am going to have about 3-4 weeks off due to some pretty serious knee surgery, I'm hoping to spend a lot of that time that I would be at work doing as much leg work as I can, how to get the licenses, how to get funding, trying to figure out how to get a SBA grant. I've started a list of people to call and questions to ask.

I think one of the interesting developments is the wife wants to open up a jewelry store that caters handmade silver and such. A joint venture is going to be more easy to keep afloat in my head as the 2 shops would share space and make the overhead easier, even though the shops would be separate.
Click to expand...
You probably don't need me to mention this but keep the smoke smell far away from the jewelery.

I think the most important thing to remember is, you aren't actually in the cigar business, you have cigars available but what you are selling is the experience of sitting in your shop and having a stick.

If you try to make it selling cigars, then you compete with the Internet but unless you own a Man Cave, you can't smoke on the Internet.
Click to expand...

That is an excellent point.
 
Events are what makes my local B&M such a great place to hang out, and keeps them afloat---not big flashy gee-whiz events, just more like this:

Monday night: Football in season. Pizzas from next door.
Wednesdays: Movie night in the lounge.
Thursdays: Scotch tastings, with a couple nice bottles and some deli trays. $15 buy in gets you 2 cigars and we sit around, drink Scotch 'n bourbon, and shoot the breeze till long after closing.
Fridays: Friday Night Fiesta/Poker Night. Texas Hold 'Em and free beer.

Big screen TV in the lounge, friendly atmosphere, lots of big and little events---tastings, fish fries, you name it. It creates a social atmosphere, and for most of us, a social LIFE and keeps customers coming back for years and years.

~Boar
 
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