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[FEATURE STORY]
Raising the Bar
Cigar bars can be profitable smoking havens
By Tracey Cox
"A cigar bar ... is not a couple of chairs in
the corner."
Steve Browne, The Carson Cigar Company
Today’s cigar bar is comprised of simple pleasures like leather seating, scotch and soda (or just soda), good cigars and friendly conversation. While the amenities may vary from one cigar bar to the next, there are two staples essential in this age of smoking restrictions: a selection of good cigars and the ambiance in which to enjoy them.
Photo courtesy of Oak Brook Tobacco and Club Fumar |
However, “build a cigar bar and they will come” is not always the rule, and retailers looking to invest in their own variations of the cigar bar should assess the pros and cons, says Vince Mascio, general manager of Oak Brook Tobacco Company in Oak Brook, Ill. In January of this year, Mascio opened Club Fumar, a cigar/smoking club, in the basement of his shop. Club Fumar is only available to members and not open to the public, according to Mascio. He says his original vision for the club was that it would be a place for members to network.
While Mascio is enthusiastic about the niche his club serves for members, he says that cigar bars can be both helpful and detrimental at the same time. “When they were the rage, cigar bars helped promote smoking in general and drove the (cigar) prices up, but implied that smoking cigars needed to be attached to special events and group outings, versus enjoying the relaxation aspects and one-on-one benefits,” he says.
One day soon, Mascio says he plans to make the club Internet-friendly so members can bring their work to this hangout. Additionally, the club will host wine tastings and charity events with card games.
Many businesses are finding that the cigar bar is the perfect solution to stagnating sales. Steve Browne, president of The Carson Cigar Company in Carson City, Nev., opened his business in 1995, and started the company’s cigar lounge in 1997. The lounge saved his shirt, he says. “The Internet was killing our box sales, and the bar allows us to survive and thrive,” he says. “From 1997 to 2007, we have doubled our revenue.”
Photo courtesy of the Downing Street Pub |
Designing space
The work that goes into the planning and setting up of a cigar bar is not to be underestimated. “A cigar bar or cigar lounge is not a couple of chairs in the corner,” Browne says. “I know a lot of cigar stores that invest a lot of money into those chairs. It’s the right idea, but these retailers don’t take it all the way.”
Retailers should be sure that any cigar bar has a dedicated space within the store, whether this area of the business is located in a store basement or a sectioned-off area. “A tobacco retailer with a cigar bar should show their different purposes: their dedication to selling tobacco products on-premises and then their dedication to providing customers a place to enjoy these products,” Browne says.
Can the concepts of product display and enjoyment be successfully married? Absolutely, says Browne, who adds that his bar and store exist in the same space, with the cigar store at one end and the club room with seating for about 16 at the other end. An L-shaped bar is the sports bar area, with the lounge beyond. These three sections are well-organized and the layout maximizes a space that is approximately 13 feet wide by 60 feet deep, Browne says.
Aside from room design, an appropriate seating strategy is essential to any cigar bar space, with comfortable conversation the primary focus. Browne’s club room boasts leather captain’s chairs, and his sports room has seating for 21, with chairs that are a little more compact, but comfortable. “Some people like couches, but I always say that men—who make up a lot of my customer base—don’t like couches,” he says. “I have noticed that a lot of male customers prefer a captain’s chair, with arms on both sides. If you have overstuffed couches in your cigar bar, I suggest replacing them with good cushioned leather armchairs.”
Strategize segments
Downing Street Pub, Houston, is a comfortable and luxurious place to spend some time. It offers whiskies, wines, pub sandwiches and cigars, and was recently voted “best place in Houston to smoke a cigar.”
Photo courtesy of Carson Cigar Company |
To this end, Downing Street Pub is focused on cigars and cigar lovers. Six hundred of the pub’s 2,700 square feet is dedicated to humidor space. “We have a giant humidor in the middle of the room, with 140 private lockers inside and an Old English tobacco shop on the outside,” says manager Geoff Neal. “We sell everything you can possibly imagine. Outside of this area, we have leather chairs and comfortable seating, with five individual booths that seat up to eight people. We also have tobacco leaf laid into the bar.”
Although the pub is solidly rooted in cigars, Downing Street Pub also offers customers an outstanding bar. “We have more than 150 whiskies; you really have to see it to believe it,” Neal says. “All along the back of the bar are roughly 180 bottles—from whiskey to Cognac. We’ve got everything to accommodate a good cigar, including probably 100 wines by the bottle. We have about 15 to 20 red wines by the glass and 10 white wines. We have every name and make of vodka.”
Cigar clubs find great success with adding a bar or serving sandwiches, soups and other menu items. With this wide mix of product offerings, retailers must maintain a strategic balance between the store and the lounge/club. “We separate our store with a walk-in humidor, but we do not display in a huge area,” Browne says. “We make sure that customers know where to find everything. The good news is the revenue seems to balance between the two. Certain times of the year it is 60/40 store/bar and other times it is 40/60 store/bar.”
A bar is not always a prerequisite for cigar lounge success. In fact, business owners who say a liquor license is too hard to obtain are only making excuses for failure, Browne says. “If you can’t sell liquor, that’s fine, but you might want to try coffee or soft drinks,” he says. “It’s not so difficult to get a beer and wine license. In the old days, we were barely open past 10 at night, and, even today, we are closed by 10 on some nights. In the end, you don’t have to be a martini bar or a full bar.”
Another strategy is to make sure that whatever else you sell, you sell it successfully. The Carson Cigar Company’s customers are often local legislators, and Browne understands the needs of this demographic. “We get people in here who enjoy our environment, without the slot machines and video poker,” he says. “That’s not what our customers were looking for, and we know this because we talked to them about their needs.”
Photo courtesy of Oak Brook
Tobacco and Club Fumar |
Carson Cigar has developed the bar area of the business so well that customers aren’t always the standard cigar bar crowd. “We find that a lot of non-smokers come to our bar, and it’s because they like the environment that much,” Browne says. “When we started out, our bartender didn’t even have a blender, and our mantra was that ice was our favorite mixer. Now, we are a full bar and upscale on all of our liquors. We offer everything you would expect out of a cigar bar. We are still focused on cigars and smoking, but people know us for other things.”
Keeping Up with Regulations
More than ever, tobacco retailers today need to keep up with the tobacco ordinances and regulations of their community, county and state. It’s a simple fact: a cigar bar with alcohol offerings broadens the issues that affect your business. “You have to know the information that affects your business, and if you’re not sure, get a lawyer who will tell you what you can and cannot do in your jurisdiction,” Browne says.
However, Browne adds, the right atmosphere will always enhance a lounge or cigar bar. “I guarantee you that as long as you are in a tobacco store that allows smoking within the store you can create a lounge,” he says. “You may not be able to offer food and drink, but you can figure that out and design your bar or lounge with that in mind. For this reason, you want to provide an environment where your customer can purchase your product and also enjoy it. Once you do that, you need to watch revenue sales and track them in order to ensure that sales are within the law.”
Browne says cigar enthusiasts are always looking for a place to call home when on the road. “When I travel, that’s one of my favorite things to do—find a local tobacconist where I can go there and enjoy a cigar or pipe,” he says. “And there is a real need for that. Today’s tobacconist needs to become the neighborhood bar of yesterday.”
After all, the cigar bar may just be one of the final frontiers of enjoyment of this product, and retailers should understand this. “Our customers really like the fact that they can come to our place, smoke cigars and hang out,” Neal says.
“We can’t just sit back and watch our market shrink because we can’t sell the product because there is no place to enjoy it,” Browne agrees. “We can take back the market by selling products and providing a place where cigar smoking can be enjoyed. This way, we can move past a lot of the negativity in the marketplace and build our own marketplace.
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