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TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014
L
ong before the large RYO
machine business shot up to
fame several years ago, there was
the DIY roll-your-own (RYO)
tobacco and tabletop accessories
segment. Many tobacco outlet retailers
did very well with the category, which
offered smokers an alternative to the
increasingly costly branded cigarette
category.
And even now, two years after a
federal highway bill essentially killed
the large RYO machine business in the
summer of 2012, there is still a very
lucrative business in at-home RYO. It
did not die with the large machines, and
certainly not for retailers who learned
to roll with the regulation and taxation
punches and stay a step ahead of
whatever blow might come next, then
responded with good merchandising,
customer service and an “always ready
to diversify” attitude.
Very Visible edge
Butt Hut of America, based in
Toledo,Ohio with six stores, is one such
savvy tobacco outlet retailer, currently
operating with about 70 percent of
its dollar volume in RYO according
to Don Stienecker, vice president of
operations. Butt Hut of America’s RYO
edge is immediately apparent to its
adult-only customers. “Most stores use
gondolas to merchandise. We don’t do
gondolas, we do slot walls in our stores
The roll-your-own segment
is very much alive and well,
especially for tobacco retailers
who stayed a step ahead
of the “big machine”
government shutdown.
