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TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
JULY/AUGUST 2014
a Tatiana or a Cohiba cigar,’ but the way
my store is set up, we are trying to be the
QuikTrip of Arizona here—we’re into a
little bit of everything.”
And so, after the store went through
remodeling in late 2012 and early 2013, a
small humidor was put in “that has about
nine slots for nine different varieties of
cigars,” Goerts explains. He continues
that he has recently “blown through”
Romeo y Julieta cigars, and also that
“Montecristos do quite well now in the
warmer weather.”
Speedi has also had good success
selling Kretek’s bundled cigars, Cuban
Rejects, which the store breaks up and
sells individually at $3 a stick. But on the
next order, Goerts is getting ready to put
on the store’s own in-house label, “Speedi
Cigars,” as a way to attract a little more
attention to the low-priced premium
cigar, and to build a small local following.
“After about two years, the cigar does
quite well, even without the in-house
label.There are some—mostly local guys
with local accounts—who really love
them,” he says. “My best customer on
these is an owner/operator of a towing
company in town; he and his son and
his in-laws all work for the company and
they are all tobacco users that are now
happy Speedi customers.”
Because of Arizona tobacco laws,Speedi
is not allowed to advertise cigars,so it relies
on word-of-mouth to get the message out.
Goerts takes advantage of the fact that the
store is right next door to a bar.
“I go around town, including the bar,
and let people know about my shop next
door and that we have great prices on
tobacco,” he says. “We also get customers
from the bar coming in and I let them
know [about] the assortment and [the]
premium items [that] we carry. I’m also
very honest—if they want something we
don’t carry, I’ll steer them to the Chevron
or the local tobacco shop.”
Goerts also makes good use of the fact
that one of his employees also works at
a smoke shop part-time. “I really look to
him to help provide me with knowledge
and information about what adult
smokers his age are looking for, and just
tobacco knowledge in general,”he admits.
Speedi also utilizes the displays that
the foil pouch cigar manufacturers
are making available for counter
merchandising. Drew Estate’s Acid line
is one such brand that really does well as
an impulse cigar purchase, according to
Goerts. “I am planning to merchandise
the next batch on the counter and in the
humidor, even though they don’t need to
be humidified, just to cross-merchandise
them and give them double exposure,”
he adds. “It’s an impressive, reasonably-
priced smoke that some of my customers
already know about, so I’m playing it
up that we carry them and are in the
premium business.”
TBI
The Pros on Premium
Why premium cigars are a plus for the convenience channel:
•They yield high margins;
• Consumers of higher-end cigars ring up larger overall baskets;
• Little premium indulgences are popular with millennials, a core c-store market;
• FDA regulation is expected to be less onerous on premium cigars than on
machine-made cigars.
While c-stores typically can’t offer the premium-cigar smoker a place of cigar
education or lounging, it can offer stogie lovers some quality cigars on the run
or in a pinch, as well as more flexible and/or longer store hours than the typical
tobacco shop.
