26
TOBACCO BUSINESS
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
How does Liberty Tobacco believe it established itself as the “go-to” place for
cigars in San Diego? As its name implies, by fighting for the freedom, truth and
relaxation of cigars and cigar smokers in its southern California community.
P
olitically speaking, Liberty
Tobacco in SanDiego,California
is a cigar force to be reckoned
with. It is certainly not a huge operation;
there are two stores—the main one being
the city’s oldest independent tobacco
store—and a unique wholesale division,
which provides fine cigars to area hotels,
restaurants, bars and golf courses. But
faced with increased taxation and anti-
smoking legislation, “Liberty T,” as owner
of 28 years Charlie Hennegan refers to it,
is a staunch proponent of cigar smokers’
rights, and boldly takes its cause to many
battlefields—courtrooms, city hall and the
media—presenting itself like a tobacco
powerhouse that other independent
retailers can learn from.
“I think I knew early on that this
industry was on a collision course
with a very vocal opposition,” explains
Hennegan, who purchased the business
in 1985 from a friend who ran it for
10 years prior. “I decided to get involved
from a political standpoint because
that’s where the battle was going to be
fought.”
WHO’S AFRAIDOF ROB REINER?
In the ’90s, Liberty Tobacco was
involved in a local issue with its city
hall, and in 1999 it became a plaintiff in
a statewide lawsuit against Proposition
10, the initiative that placed a huge tax
increase on cigars and pipes, introduced
by movie director Rob Reiner. “Working
with the California Association of Retail
Tobacconists, our newly formed state
organization at the time, we challenged
Proposition 10 in court in an effort to have
it overturned,” says Hennegan. “It was a
huge undertaking,but it was a battle that I
thought needed to be fought.We lost, but
I think it woke up tobacco retailers across
the state and sent a signal that, especially
in California, we had some tough times
in front of us—from both a taxation
standpoint and a regulation standpoint.”
In more recent times, Liberty Tobacco
has been behind the narrow defeat of two
propositions that would have carried huge
tobacco tax increases: Proposition 86 in
2006 and Proposition 29 in 2012. It has
also fought back tobacco tax increases in
legislative proposals in Sacramento.
ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL
“So we have had some success, but we
must be on guard at all times,” Hennegan
says. “The expression that ‘all politics is
local’ is absolutely true and I would urge
retailers everywhere to get friendlywith their
local legislators: democrats, republicans or
independents. See if you can get them into
your store and have them see your operation
as a business.These legislators have to see us
as businesses that employ people and service
consumers. We then become constituents
with serious concerns.This starts to get their
interest.”
A few years ago, the International
PremiumCigar&PipeRetailersAssociation
(IPCPR) gave California retailers some help
by hiring a lobbyist to work its issues in
Sacramento, according to Hennegan. Now,
the association is in the process of forming
a statewide organization, and Hennegan
andLibertyTobacco have been active in that
effort.
“Our group’s main issue right now is the
passage of the 50-cent cigar cap to replace
thepresentOTPtax structure;the capplan is
nowinplace in11 states andwewould like to
Sweet Land of Liberty
By Renee M. Covino
