sir-smokes-a-lot
A Freudian Slip in progress
- Joined
- May 1, 2003
- Messages
- 2,025
Dudes,
I think I should start to work more on my neg. skills to be more like these guys.
:thumbs:
""The Apprentices Target Cigars
Posted: Friday, February 13, 2004
By Michael Moretti
Davidoff's Madison Avenue store got an unexpected visit from contestants on the reality television show The Apprentice recently and was taken for a couple bucks. The NBC network series pits young, ambitious businessmen and women against one another in competition for a grand prize dream job with famed Manhattan and Atlantic City real estate tycoon Donald Trump.
To test negotiation skills, contestants (who were split into a men's and women's team) were sent out into Manhattan with a list of items. On a limited budget, the contestants were instructed to purchase all the items on the list for the best price they could haggle. The team with the most savings at the end would win. One of those items was a box of the high-end Zino Platinum cigars.
The men's team ended up on the doorstep of the Davidoff shop looking to bargain.
"They were sold a box of Chubbys," said David Kitchens, manager of the store. "They normally sell for $120 a box, and the team got them for about $80…I almost fired the employee who sold them the cigars for that price."
Kitchens said this is the last time customers will cut such a deal in his store. He said there that some people have tried to achieve similar results and calls have been raining in on the store, but no one has been as successful as the contestants.
It wasn't a total loss for the store; following the run-in with reality television, the store experienced a spike in sales of Zino Platinum cigars. Club Macanudo, the Manhattan cigar bar, ordered nearly twice as many Zino Platinum Double Grandes than normal from the shop after the episode aired, said Kitchens, anticipating an increase in sales from cigar-smoking fans of the show. Not to mention, the store also got a free spot on national television.
Cigars have made quite a showing on The Apprentice. In addition to the Davidoff visit, one of the contestants, Bill Rancic, is the owner of a cigar retail Web site, cigarsaroundtheworld.com. He is still in contention on the show, lighting up the competition. ""
I think I should start to work more on my neg. skills to be more like these guys.
:thumbs:
""The Apprentices Target Cigars
Posted: Friday, February 13, 2004
By Michael Moretti
Davidoff's Madison Avenue store got an unexpected visit from contestants on the reality television show The Apprentice recently and was taken for a couple bucks. The NBC network series pits young, ambitious businessmen and women against one another in competition for a grand prize dream job with famed Manhattan and Atlantic City real estate tycoon Donald Trump.
To test negotiation skills, contestants (who were split into a men's and women's team) were sent out into Manhattan with a list of items. On a limited budget, the contestants were instructed to purchase all the items on the list for the best price they could haggle. The team with the most savings at the end would win. One of those items was a box of the high-end Zino Platinum cigars.
The men's team ended up on the doorstep of the Davidoff shop looking to bargain.
"They were sold a box of Chubbys," said David Kitchens, manager of the store. "They normally sell for $120 a box, and the team got them for about $80…I almost fired the employee who sold them the cigars for that price."
Kitchens said this is the last time customers will cut such a deal in his store. He said there that some people have tried to achieve similar results and calls have been raining in on the store, but no one has been as successful as the contestants.
It wasn't a total loss for the store; following the run-in with reality television, the store experienced a spike in sales of Zino Platinum cigars. Club Macanudo, the Manhattan cigar bar, ordered nearly twice as many Zino Platinum Double Grandes than normal from the shop after the episode aired, said Kitchens, anticipating an increase in sales from cigar-smoking fans of the show. Not to mention, the store also got a free spot on national television.
Cigars have made quite a showing on The Apprentice. In addition to the Davidoff visit, one of the contestants, Bill Rancic, is the owner of a cigar retail Web site, cigarsaroundtheworld.com. He is still in contention on the show, lighting up the competition. ""