Steve Saka, the founder and owner of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust (DTT) has most likely forgotten more about tobacco than almost anyone could ever hope to learn. A pure tobacco and cigar man if there ever was one, Saka has enjoyed a long and varied career in the premium cigar industry. He’s authored countless books and articles on cigars and black tobacco and he has worked with companies such as J.R. Cigars and Drew Estate, where he held executive positions, before creating his own company in 2015 and produced brands such as Sobremesa, Mi Querida, Todos las Dias and Sin Compromiso. With the cancellation of so many of 2020’s trade shows preventing face-to-face interaction, Saka will now share some of his deep knowledge with DTT’s retail customers and staffs in a series of unique, virtual online programs that he jokingly calls “The DTT Timeshare Experience.” The programs will begin in the second half of July 2020.
“Everyone is trying to figure out the best way to serve their retail customers and their own interests in this very topsy-turvy year of trade show and event cancellations,” Saka explains in a press release announcing The DTT Timeshare Experience. “Most are doing virtual sales meetings, others are hosting virtual tradeshows and/or mini-physical travelling trade shows. Honestly, I do not know how these will work, but I am doubtful that any of these strategies are appropriate for our select purveyors currently when it comes to our brands. For us, sales have been solid and we are on track for another record setting year; this is thanks to steady growth with ever-increasing turns and volume per turn. In my opinion, the best thing we can do is remain steady and continue to enhance our brands’ value for our retailers and their customers.
“So rather than focus on sales, we have created an interactive program that will educate and engage our select purveyors and any of their staff they wish to include. It will be focused on our products, industry trends, business strategy for continued growth, etc. in my typical no-nonsense manner. But ‘man does not live on work alone’, so we decided to spice it up a bit and jokingly bring in some elements of those really crappy timeshare pitches that we all endured as children whose parents just wanted the free whatever for listening. Now I cannot promise it will be good, but it will definitely be different and hopefully fun! And of course we will throw out some sort of deal or two at the end, but that will not be the primary focus—we want our purveyors to buy our puros not because they are discounted, but because they are exceptional and serve the needs of the most experienced and discerning customers.”
Emails soliciting for registration in the DTT Timeshare Experience have been transmitted to DTT’s select purveyors. Some opportunities will only be extended to those who participate in the program. Interested DTT select purveyors who have not yet registered should contact David Lafferty, DTT’s vice president of sales at dlafferty@dttcigars.com.
