The name Ernesto Perez-Carrillo has a 30-year history in the tobacco industry. His impressive career began while working alongside his father, who founded the family’s first cigar company in Miami back in 1968. Ernesto ultimately took the family business to new heights, creating the famous La Gloria Cubana cigar and becoming one of the world’s premier cigar makers. As the economy starts getting back on track, retailers need to reach out to as many adult smoking consumers as possible. Mintel, a market research company, recently predicted seven consumer trends for 2010 that discuss general purchasing habits and ideals behind this year’s consumers and are easily applied to tobacco retail and c-store atmospheres. As we dive headfirst into a new year and a new decade, we are all too aware of the many challenges facing us in 2010. Will the state of the economy continue to decline or finally begin to improve? Will jobs continue to be lost at a rapid rate? Will businesses continue to feel the sting of the recession? These are all questions facing tobacco retailers and manufacturers today. Ask any roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco industry player what the biggest impact the industry experienced in 2009, and the majority will point to the controversial tobacco tax imposed on RYO products in the beginning of the year. Smoker Friendly® has grown to be the largest cigarette and tobacco store in the United States with 69 Authorized Dealer companies that represent more than 700 retail tobacco stores across 35 states. The success and growth of the company can be attributed to strong business ethics, a long-time presence in the retailing industry, a dedicated team of professionals working hard to build the best business possible, smart partnership decisions and the development and continued growth of The Smoker Friendly® Authorized Dealer Program. Despite the global economic slowdown, the U.S. convenience-store industry is expected to grow significantly, as people are more inclined to spend a little extra money at convenience stores for time-savings and convenience. Convenience stores remain, and will for the foreseeable future, an important stop for the nation's consumers for daily consumable items. An introduction to the faces and placeof the retail tobacco community ... For 2010, the Tobacco Plus Expo Trade Show returns to Las Vegas on March 3-4, 2010 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Known as “The Show That Means Business”, the Tobacco Plus Expo is a one of a kind trade show that includes the full spectrum of tobacco products and accessories. From cigarettes and cigars, to RYO and smokeless tobacco, to pipes, cigar cutters and lighters, the show has the industry covered. Winter is upon us and it’s the time when outdoor cigar smoking is at is best in the warm climes and those in the great white north are searching for indoor venues to enjoy their favorites. Indoor cigar habitats are getting more difficult to find and in answer to that, we see more cigar bars and lounges opening. The added benefit to the owners is having the additional revenue from the alcohol sales. The Las Vegas Convention Center will be an industry hotspot March 3-4, as the 2010 Tobacco Plus Expo International takes center stage ... and we're not just blowing smoke. After spending 2009's show in New Orleans due to a re-working of Las Vegas' smoke ordinances, Marilene Rivea, sales manager, Reuter Exposition Services, LLC, which has managed the Tobacco Plus Expo International for six years, is excited about the show's return to Vegas. I wrote this column just after the 2009 NACS (National Association of Convenience Stores) annual convention, which was held in Las Vegas. And no, my body has not recovered! That’s a key sign you’re getting old – when your body doesn’t bounce back as quickly as it did in your younger years. Such is life right? Like most people selling tobacco products these days, Issa Baba is looking for effective ways to bring in new customers, bring in more customers and sell more product. Early last fall, he took what he thinks is an important step in that direction. He signed up with Smoker Friendly® International’s Authorized Dealer Program. “With the industry going the way it is, we’re just seeking an edge that no one in the immediate area can give,” Baba says. Not surprisingly, with smoking bans breaking out all around us and taxes making the sky the limit on cigarette prices, smokeless is one area of the tobacco industry that’s doing pretty darn well. David Sutton, of Altria’s media affairs, isn’t willing to tie category growth to any specifics, however, either in terms of why the market is growing or if certain areas in the category are growing or shrinking. If you followed my advice earlier in the year and signed up for the weekly newsletter on www.marketingsurvivalkit.com, you’d already know about the advantages of postcard marketing. I’m going to assume that most of you didn’t follow my advice. | 
