30
TOBACCO BUSINESS
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
stuck with cigars that don’t sell;
• Employee training.
LISTENING LIKE A BARTENDER
Liberty Tobacco is a big proponent
of cigar and tobacco education for its
legislators, its wholesale businesses, and,
of course, its retail clientele. As a former
pub server, Hennegan believes his staff
should relay and listen like bartenders to
ultimately keep customers well informed
and happy.
“I try to have our staff take as much
time as possible to educate customers on
the cigars, then let the consumer make the
choice of what they want,”he says.“I think
this comes from my pub days when the
bartender was always teaching me about
hops. I think it pays dividends down the
road.The customers get into it, and soon
they are coming into the store and telling
us about a new cigar they heard about or
a new tobacco blend they made. It keeps
them excited.”
The company also keeps customers
excited with what Hennegan considers
its best event—its “Legends’ Lunch,” held
once a year at a local restaurant, honoring an
outstanding customer of LibertyTobacco.
It started out as a hall of fame, whereby
the store acknowledged “some of the
older fellows, customers of the store
who had gone out of their way to do a
little something extra for the store, the
staff, or fellow customers,” according to
Hennegan. “It was basically a plaque
on the wall for those customers [who]
showed themselves to be of high character
and quality.”
It went on like this for many years until
a couple of years ago when a group of
customers told Hennegan they wanted
it to be a little larger, with a more formal
event and a way for customers to dress up,
enjoy a nice meal, and allow the awarded
“legends” to make a speech in front of
Liberty’s cigar brethren.
Hennegan thought this was a great
idea and put the Legends’ Lunch into
play. Past awarded legends include a
90-year-old World War II veteran who
Hennegan refers to as “Old Man Pete,”
a retired, regular customer that gets the
coffee pot going, invites other customers
to his house to play pool, and helps other
customers out when store staff is tied up,
as well as “Shotgun” Tom Kelly, a radio
personality in southern California who
often mentions Liberty Tobacco on his
radio shows.
TB
WHERE CIGAR PERSONALITIES CONVERGE
In 2,000 square feet of space, the oldest Liberty Tobacco store located in the
center of San Diego (there is also a second, smaller store located more toward
the north side of town) is generous with its “hangout” areas—500 square feet is
dedicated to its smoking lounge and another 500 square feet is dedicated to an
outdoor patio. “With fewer and fewer places to smoke, a comfortable smoking
lounge has become a very important part of the store,” says owner Charlie
Hennegan. “We don’t do the big-leather-reclining-chair-thing, but the seating
we have is adequate and comfortable. There are five large TVs for sports, news
and other channels of interest.”
Here’s howHennegan further describes the personality of the lounge and how
it accommodates its various cigar customer personalities: “First and foremost,
people come because they know they can find good tobacco products at good
prices. But after that, they come for other reasons: many know there is a good
chance they will run into a friend or business associate; for others, it might serve
as a little bit of a hideaway, a place to escape for a short time while away from the
office or the duties at home; for some, the store is a hangout or ‘man cave,’a place
where guys—and some gals—can kick back and watch the game, work their
laptops with free Wi-Fi, and just take it easy.
“It’s interesting to watch the dynamics,”he continues. “The fellas, by and large,
are very protective of the store.They take care of things and they know what is
acceptable behavior and what is not.There is a self-policing that goes on that is
nice to see and is very much welcomed by me. It has been personally rewarding
over the years to watch customers, who are first strangers to the store, become
close with staff and other customers and eventually form strong friendships. In
many cases, lifetime business relationships are started.”
