Got this from DallasNews.com - it was in Friday's paper. I'm pasting the article, because their site requires registration to read the articles.
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Law has cigar smokers turning over a new leaf
Merchant says tobacco industry feeling effects of municipal bans
08:46 PM CST on Thursday, December 25, 2003
By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News
Some local business owners have cause to light up a celebratory cigar due to Dallas' anti-smoking ordinance.
Cigar shop owners say that in the 10 months since the restaurant smoking ban went into effect, they have experienced a boost in income and customers as smokers seek safe, upscale havens where they can indulge their habit.
Cigar specialty stores are catering to the smoking crowd not interested in the routine bar scene in Dallas and other cities across the country where smoking is increasingly difficult. Vendors are opening high-tech smoking rooms and upscale cigar bars, marketing their atmosphere to fill the void.
Sabino Sotelo feared that the smoking ban would snuff out business at his shop.
Instead, D'Havana Cigars' income and clientele have more than doubled. After struggling to accommodate increased business in his Greenville Avenue shop, Mr. Sotelo moved to a larger site in North Dallas, adding a spacious smoking lounge and increasing his inventory.
"I went from having a few people coming in every day to 30 or 40 people coming in at lunch and dinnertime," said Mr. Sotelo at the grand opening of his new store, where suited businessmen – and businesswomen – gathered to smoke expensive cigars. "Once they couldn't smoke in restaurants anymore, I didn't have the capacity to handle them all."
Mr. Sotelo is confident enough in his success that he has moved to within a five-mile radius of four competing tobacco stores.
"Since the law, this has become a very big business," he said. "Everybody in the industry sees this, and if they have the capacity, all the newer shops are adding smoking areas."
Traditionally, anti-smoking laws have hurt tobacco sales. Joe Rowe, associate director of the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America, said that when consumers can't use a product, they are usually less inclined to buy it.
But in some markets – such as New York, Florida, Massachusetts and now Dallas – smoking laws have inspired tobacco shops to get creative.
"Notably in New York City, which went basically nonsmoking, we have seen major retailers turning into smoking lounges," Mr. Rowe said. "We see that as an unusual perspective."
Tom Talamantez, executive vice president of First American Pension Services, said smoking rooms in tobacco stores are a sanctuary. He said there is nothing better than savoring a cigar in a welcoming environment.
"Cigar shops are going a step beyond and marketing their atmosphere," Mr. Talamantez said. "They're replacing restaurants as the place for smokers to go."
At Ifs, Ands & Butts in the Bishop Arts District of Oak Cliff, owner Hamilton Rousseau says business is growing. He's restocking shelves more frequently, and revenues are up. He said that since March, when the city outlawed smoking in restaurants, people no longer drop in just to buy cigars. They stay and socialize, meeting friends or coming in for a post-meal smoke.
"We have a very high concentration of restaurants around here, and their business has really suffered," Mr. Rousseau said. "Since people aren't allowed to smoke there, they're coming in here."
Robert Preston, a real estate agent, used to take his clients out to lunch or dinner. But now that he can't smoke in restaurants, he brings them to these upscale shops, sealing deals over top-of-the-line cigars.
"It's like the Starbucks of the cigar industry," Mr. Preston said. "The places we used to go, we're not going so much anymore. Here, when you're smoking and relaxed, it's good for networking."
Mr. Sotelo is working to accommodate these business clients, furnishing his new North Dallas shop with plush sofas, personal cigar lockers, TVs and ports for laptop computers. He also provides copies of the Wall Street Journal at no extra cost and hosts Sex in the City parties for his newest customers – women.
"It used to be just men, coming in to get away from their wives," Mr. Sotelo said. "It's surprising to me, but lately we've had more women coming in than men."
Mr. Rousseau said that despite the upswing, the tobacco industry has continued to suffer from anti-smoking campaigns and legislation.
"Overall, the decline in the tobacco market has been substantial," he said.
And shop owners say the current increase doesn't compare to the cigar boom of the early to mid-'90s, when magazines featured celebrities framed in clouds of smoke.
"It was a really big fad for a while," Mr. Sotelo said. "Today, we're just left with the true cigar smokers."
At The Palm, a high-end downtown steakhouse, patrons could buy cigars before the smoking ban was enacted. David Knouse, the restaurant's general manager, said that while business is still strong, the new rules have changed The Palm's image.
"The concept of the big steak and the fine cigar was part of our mystique," Mr. Knouse said. "All we have now is a little bench outside where die-hard smokers can go."
He said the restaurant has not experienced a noticeable decline in business.
Clifton Miller, a cigar aficionado who manages a Dallas consulting firm, said the shift toward smoking rooms is not a surprise, considering the social nature of stogies.
"Cigars are very communal, and the smoking ban, for a time, displaced some of that communal activity," Mr. Miller said. "They were limiting our opportunity to develop camaraderie, but they didn't stop us."
E-mail eramshaw@dallasnews.com
=========================================
Law has cigar smokers turning over a new leaf
Merchant says tobacco industry feeling effects of municipal bans
08:46 PM CST on Thursday, December 25, 2003
By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News
Some local business owners have cause to light up a celebratory cigar due to Dallas' anti-smoking ordinance.
Cigar shop owners say that in the 10 months since the restaurant smoking ban went into effect, they have experienced a boost in income and customers as smokers seek safe, upscale havens where they can indulge their habit.
Cigar specialty stores are catering to the smoking crowd not interested in the routine bar scene in Dallas and other cities across the country where smoking is increasingly difficult. Vendors are opening high-tech smoking rooms and upscale cigar bars, marketing their atmosphere to fill the void.
Sabino Sotelo feared that the smoking ban would snuff out business at his shop.
Instead, D'Havana Cigars' income and clientele have more than doubled. After struggling to accommodate increased business in his Greenville Avenue shop, Mr. Sotelo moved to a larger site in North Dallas, adding a spacious smoking lounge and increasing his inventory.
"I went from having a few people coming in every day to 30 or 40 people coming in at lunch and dinnertime," said Mr. Sotelo at the grand opening of his new store, where suited businessmen – and businesswomen – gathered to smoke expensive cigars. "Once they couldn't smoke in restaurants anymore, I didn't have the capacity to handle them all."
Mr. Sotelo is confident enough in his success that he has moved to within a five-mile radius of four competing tobacco stores.
"Since the law, this has become a very big business," he said. "Everybody in the industry sees this, and if they have the capacity, all the newer shops are adding smoking areas."
Traditionally, anti-smoking laws have hurt tobacco sales. Joe Rowe, associate director of the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America, said that when consumers can't use a product, they are usually less inclined to buy it.
But in some markets – such as New York, Florida, Massachusetts and now Dallas – smoking laws have inspired tobacco shops to get creative.
"Notably in New York City, which went basically nonsmoking, we have seen major retailers turning into smoking lounges," Mr. Rowe said. "We see that as an unusual perspective."
Tom Talamantez, executive vice president of First American Pension Services, said smoking rooms in tobacco stores are a sanctuary. He said there is nothing better than savoring a cigar in a welcoming environment.
"Cigar shops are going a step beyond and marketing their atmosphere," Mr. Talamantez said. "They're replacing restaurants as the place for smokers to go."
At Ifs, Ands & Butts in the Bishop Arts District of Oak Cliff, owner Hamilton Rousseau says business is growing. He's restocking shelves more frequently, and revenues are up. He said that since March, when the city outlawed smoking in restaurants, people no longer drop in just to buy cigars. They stay and socialize, meeting friends or coming in for a post-meal smoke.
"We have a very high concentration of restaurants around here, and their business has really suffered," Mr. Rousseau said. "Since people aren't allowed to smoke there, they're coming in here."
Robert Preston, a real estate agent, used to take his clients out to lunch or dinner. But now that he can't smoke in restaurants, he brings them to these upscale shops, sealing deals over top-of-the-line cigars.
"It's like the Starbucks of the cigar industry," Mr. Preston said. "The places we used to go, we're not going so much anymore. Here, when you're smoking and relaxed, it's good for networking."
Mr. Sotelo is working to accommodate these business clients, furnishing his new North Dallas shop with plush sofas, personal cigar lockers, TVs and ports for laptop computers. He also provides copies of the Wall Street Journal at no extra cost and hosts Sex in the City parties for his newest customers – women.
"It used to be just men, coming in to get away from their wives," Mr. Sotelo said. "It's surprising to me, but lately we've had more women coming in than men."
Mr. Rousseau said that despite the upswing, the tobacco industry has continued to suffer from anti-smoking campaigns and legislation.
"Overall, the decline in the tobacco market has been substantial," he said.
And shop owners say the current increase doesn't compare to the cigar boom of the early to mid-'90s, when magazines featured celebrities framed in clouds of smoke.
"It was a really big fad for a while," Mr. Sotelo said. "Today, we're just left with the true cigar smokers."
At The Palm, a high-end downtown steakhouse, patrons could buy cigars before the smoking ban was enacted. David Knouse, the restaurant's general manager, said that while business is still strong, the new rules have changed The Palm's image.
"The concept of the big steak and the fine cigar was part of our mystique," Mr. Knouse said. "All we have now is a little bench outside where die-hard smokers can go."
He said the restaurant has not experienced a noticeable decline in business.
Clifton Miller, a cigar aficionado who manages a Dallas consulting firm, said the shift toward smoking rooms is not a surprise, considering the social nature of stogies.
"Cigars are very communal, and the smoking ban, for a time, displaced some of that communal activity," Mr. Miller said. "They were limiting our opportunity to develop camaraderie, but they didn't stop us."
E-mail eramshaw@dallasnews.com