Talking Shop: Building a Friendly Business

retailer finds his edge in the Smoker Friendly line

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.

He opened his shop, Smoke Mart, in the Houston suburb of Baytown, Texas, in 2004, but had been involved in other family smoke shops before that. In fact, Smoke Mart is one of four shops known locally as “the Baba brothers’ tobacco shops.” The other three, located in other Houston suburbs, are owned by his four brothers and uncle.

“Only this shop is participating in Smoker Friendly right now,” Baba says. “We’re hoping in the next few months to get everyone on the wagon. It’s something exciting for our customers.”

Smoke Mart carries a full complement of tobacco products, accessories and all the extras: cigarettes and premium cigars, RYO, smokeless, hookahs and their complement, candles to cancel out smoke, and both Zippo and Colibri lighters. The shop has 12 feet of RYO and 12 feet of humidors, though not a walk-in. “Our space is limited,” Baba says. “I’d have to eliminate my office to put in a walk-in.” The limited space has also prevented Baba from trying to sell beer and wine as he wanted to do. He also tried having a small Web site to sell cigars online, but found his business was too small for the online business to work. “We’re trying to stick with face-to-face right now,” he says. For now, he and employee Kathy Blaire are providing that face-to-face contact. Blaire has been working at Smoke Mart since it opened and is an important asset to the business, Baba says. Like many other tobacco retailers, he says good help is hard to find and dishonest help can really cost in this business. At current cigarette prices, if someone steals a carton a day, it can amount to $1,200 a month, he says.

Baba thinks the Smoker Friendly connection brings a lot of important things to the party. “It’s the exclusivity that really helps,” he says. “I think in the … Houston area, I’m the first one.” He knows that there are no other stores within the city limits. He also thinks Smoker Friendly gives the shop another type of exclusivity. “Here recently, we wanted the private label—something with a full line,” he says, adding that the private label gives the store more of the feel of a private store.

Smoker Friendly also brings name recognition for customers who have moved to the Houston area from areas up north like Ohio and Michigan, he says. He acknowledges that, for locals, the name might be less well known, but he’s taking that in his stride.

“We’re trying to educate them,” Baba says.

“Mainly the RYO is selling really, really well,” he says. “Price-wise, it’s really competitive with the local products. Little cigars are really competitive. I would say RYO and cigars are doing the best.” So far, he is finding the Smoker Friendly cigarettes a bit of a hard sell. “We have a ton of cigarettes that are cheaper, although we try to push it and display it up front,” Baba says. And though he can’t put Smoker Friendly cigarettes up top on his shelves because of contracts with Phillip Morris and RJ Reynolds, he does put his Smoker Friendly cigarettes in a prominent visible space.

“It’s a good talking point,” Baba says. “It’s an attractive name, the name is ‘friendly.’ It’s a good marketing point.”

He is also doing other things to attract customers. He’s added things like gift items and incense burners. He also offers Moneygram services. The shop can now fill money orders, handle bill payments and both local and international money transfers. “We also recently started cashing checks,” Baba says, noting that if somebody cashes their check in the store, they’re also inclined to make purchases.

“It’s hard to create that buzz,” he says. He does run 20-percent-off specials on cigars and has 20 percent off on Zippo lighters all the time, but events like cigar tastings are hard because smoking is prohibited indoors even in tobacco shops.

Baba hopes and thinks the Smoker Friendly line will provide the buzz he’s been looking for. “We’re seeing the potential of it,” he says.