Starting Up A New Shop: Any Advice?

[ShawnC]

Hello great cigar lovers! I'm opening up a new cigar shop close to West Point, Ny and I was looking fo some great advice from people that love cigars! Let me know what kinds of cigars you love. How much do you spend monthly? How many cigars do you buy a month?

It wold be a big help. Anyone that writes back I'll be sure to write you back; get a address and send you a free sample of what West Point Cigars just to say thanks!

Owner,
ShawnC

 

[Amy]

lets see here, for starters you gotta have the cao lines, those are just great. cusano should be in full effect, and some of them new sol cubanos. of course you gotta have the names people are familiar with like fuente, punch, h upman, and romeo y julieta. i also like to buy mini cigars from local shops, some times i run out and gotta pick up some quickies when i cant put in a big order online. plus people that are new to cigars would be intimidated by a box of cigars, they dont know what to choose. a pretty little box with a cool picture is appealing and people would buy them just because. of course have the simple line of cutters and lighters. and book matches with your name on them.

just some ideas.

is this just going to be a shop or are you going to have a lounge area with chairs and stuff to smoke in? thats what im really looking for. and some drinking stuff, hard stuff and some port. and a good selection of beer would be good. and coffee and espreso stuff. i should open my own shop!! lol

 

[Gyrepin]

More advice than you asked for

I second the statement about CAO - a must have!

The same can be said for Fuente. The 8-5-8 in particular is a very well balanced cigar that can be enjoyed by newcomer and seasoned smoker alike!

Put together a product matrix of sizes and wrapper types to get a sense of the variety you might stock. Focus on the more popular tastes (medium to full bodied), and carry a little bit of the fringe stuff (candela, flavor infused).

For each "class" of cigar (a size/wrapper pair) think of the cigars that you would enjoy, or ask us for input, considering different price ranges. Pick a couple or a few for each class, depending on the general popularity of that class.

Also, if it's possible to include a smoke room in your establishment, it would definitely be a draw (no pun intended) to get people into your shop. Make the purchase of a cigar a requirement for each visit to the smoke room. It will serve you well in bad weather.

(I have a baby in the house, so I don't smoke at home. I generally take a walk. But if it's windy or rainy (and it's often both in Seattle), I can end up putting off a smoke for days or even weeks. If there were an establishment nearby like a local cigar club, I would go there.)

Just my buck-o-five. I hope it helps; and break a leg!

 

[Amy]

seattle guy eh? there are a few places in seattle that allow indoor smoking. grouchos is one, downtown i think. its pretty high class, buy the smoke there or a 5 dollar cutting fee. i dont go there too often cause its not my kindof place. im on the east side and i dont think theres a place around that allows indoor smoking. where are you located?

 

[Amy]

oh yea, another great thing for newbies at a cigar shop would be a guide of some kind, and some order to the cigars. every shop i have ever been to doesnt tell you what to expect from any of the smokes. you should organise the sticks into groups, strong, medium, mild, flavored and so on. then some signs on the more popular cigars saying "if you like this one you might like this one..."
maybe a featured cigar or somthing once in a while like cigar.com has.

 

[ShawnC]

Awsome!

Thanks for the input. I'm so excited. So I'll put them into strenghs, and mabey flavors with flavors. And put little notes stated where it's from and brother of i's kind. Just give the customer alittle back ground on each cigar. Great idea!

Now I'm in New York so I don't think I can allow smoking inside. But the store I bought has an outside back area. Mabey just mabey I could inclose it some how.

I have another question....
Anyone know where can get custom cigar rings? That way I can put my own special touch on each cigar(at lest the lower priced ones).

Thanks for all your input some for. Keep it coming in........


Owner West Point Cigars,
ShawnC

 

[Nails]

New ciagr shop

I buy most of my cigars online due to the savings, but I'm always trying new cigars via the local shops.I'm amazed at how poor the retailers market their product. I almost never see a sale. Have never seen a sign that states a discount on box purchased.They do a lousy job.Just copy what all the other retailers do.I would always have a special section for " cigars under $2.00".
Good luck
Malone

 

[Gyrepin]

Eastside huh?

Hey jihiggs,

I too am on the eastside - just a couple blocks north of Kirkland Park Place. If you're in the area, you might see me wandering the park between the grocery and the ball field from time to time.

I'm afraid the high class establishments are out for me. I have no sense of propriety (and really don't care to develop one). That keeps my smoking limited either to the outdoors or maybe to a nearby dirty tavern; but I'm not accustomed to hanging out in taverns either.

If only there were a smoke club on the eastside. An informal hang-out specifically for cigars and pipe smokers - maybe serving alchohol with a low drink limit. But I doubt if there's enough of a market in the area for it. Then again, with the number of cigar stores supported by the neighborhood, I may be wrong about that.

 

[Gyrepin]

Yeah, a covered outdoor area may do it. Bummer about not being able to smoke indoors. We've got our own group of self-righteous lung Nazi's in the Seattle area trying to push the same kind of crap. But I digress.

I really like Jihiggs guide idea. A few ideas spawning from that:

- Have a world map marking the tobacco regions and what produce. Just about anyone can tell you wine grapes are grown in California and France; but most people didn't even know where Sumatra is until the recent tsunami tragedy (and they're probably still not sure)*. It would provide a sense of worldliness.

- Cigars have a rich history going back to pre-colonial times. Maybe an arrangement of artwork to instill a sense of that history to customers.

- Maybe offer a cigar starter kit with a small bundle of cigars and some fliers describing the components of a cigar and suggestions for cutting and lighting.




* I recently heard on the news that there were requests for those providing aid to the tsunami affected regions in Indonesia to stop sending items such as winter coats and water.

 

[Amy]

why would you want to put a custom band on a cigar that already has one? then you dont know what it is. outdoor covered would be very good. you can build a wood frame that you can leave open in the summer and put up plastic in the winter to make "walls" and put a propane heater or somthing, one of those that have the big dome on top that radiate heat down. those things put off so much heat its ridiculous. the reason i say plastic is cause its not permanent and cant be counted as indoors or a permanent addition :wink: . a starter kit is a good idea, a fancy looking humidor, 5-10 cigars, a cutter a lighter. i cant stress enough how important it is to give customers some idea of what they are looking at, newbies dont have any idea what they are looking for in a cigar. you should also give out tip cards or somthing to people that dont know what their doing. they wont like the cigar if they torch the crap out of it and suck on it like their getting paid.

 

[Amy]

gyrepin, were pretty close then, im in the north end of bellevue right next to 405 and 520. i think theres a pretty good market for somthing like that, especialy if the business doesnt rely on the sales of cigars to stay in business.

 

[Gyrepin]

Yeah, here's just hoping the bill for a smoking ban fails in state congress. :evil:

 

[chip8720]

New shop

I live and work right over the mtn. in Newburgh City, as a cop. Many of my partners and I are cigar enthusiasts and a new shop is always a welcome sight. In this area, as I'm sure you are aware, a good, "helpful" shop is hard to find.

As for your stock........keep some good Davidoff's and you'll do fine by me.

 

[FreedomGuns]

Know your product! I have asked many a shopkeeper about cigars they have for sale and very few can even give me a brief description of strength, origin & characteristics. I love the idea of a brief description hanging from the shelf. The bigger the selection, the better the shop. A small, struggling shop near my house had a pitifully small selection when it first opened. But I returned anyway just because I wished to see it succeed. Well...everytime I went back, the selection got better. Now it is quite a nice shop. I talked with the owner and he commented on how hard it was to build his inventory on a tight budget. It's a catch 22, he needed the sales to get the inventory, but he needed the inventory to get the sales. Another local shop had a nice wine and beer cigar-bar. The wine and cheese crowd loved it, but disliked the smoke. The cigars eventually got moved next door. A year later the cigar shop closed, but the wine bar is still doing well. Location and some other intangibles also factor into fortunes of new shops. Anyway, Here's to your success!

 

[Switchblade45]

GET OUT OF NEW YORK! Go somewhere where they don't TAX you at 37%! Really though, Shawn, learn all you can about operating in New York. You MUST have the basic Federal Tax ID, a State Tax ID, a form DTF-720 for your business($100), Might as well get one for the truck($100), and the house($100). You must also register locally with a DBA...Doing Business As(your business name)($24), make sure you have several copies($6ea), a bank account for your business(make sure anyone who needs access to it has their name on the DBA). Make sure you are a SOLE PROPRIETER(tax time, you will say thanks). Go see your local Small Business Administration rep for advice. Advertise. Get online. Make sure you are set to use secure credit cards(I am currently looking at INTUIT over Paypal).
Above all else, KNOW YOUR PRODUCT. Know everything about what you sell. Repeat customers will not tolerate BS if they are experienced. Oh yeah! Offer free cutters with box, or large purchases, as well as lighters and matches(these freebies are cheap, and when labeled with the company name bring more business).
Get a Great Tax Accountant. and have FUN doing it!
Good Luck!