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Succeeding in
a
Changing Market
In a wide-ranging discussion on
succeeding in a changing market,
five panelists offered tips on
succeeding in a changing market.
THE PEOPLE FACTOR:
Hiring well and incenting employ-
ees is critical to success at the retail level, noted Terry Gal-
lagher, CEO of Smoker Friendly International. “It’s the
quality of the people that we hire that has given us the
ability to succeed,” he reported. Agreed Darren Collett,
owner of the Collett Enterprises chain of tobacco stores:
“You must empower your workforce to get involved in de-
cision-making—sharing profits makes all the difference.”
APPEAL AND INFORM:
A clean, well-organized store
where customers can count on being served by friendly,
well-informed employees will always have an edge. “Em-
ployee knowledge—product knowledge is critical,” noted
Rocky Patel. “When you go to a store that looks sophisti-
cated and is well merchandised and the employees culti-
vate a relationship—remember your name and what you
like— you are going to keep going back.”
EXPERIMENT WITH NEW CATEGORIES:
“In this is won-
derful dynamic industry, things that we did 20 years ago
no longer work,” said Collett, who urged retailers to con-
tinually adapt. “As an example, cannabis is more socially
acceptable today. Five years ago, I never thought we would
have accessories in our stores, but it’s a new thing for us
now—and if you aren’t carrying them yet, believe me, they
are selling.”
PARTNER WITH YOUR SUPPLIERS:
“One of the real an-
chors for our company has been to recognize that the con-
sumer comes into contact with your brand at the retail en-
vironment, and we count on making that engagement pos-
itive,” said Jim Young, president of Davidoff U.S.A., who
says the tobacco outlet channel is an “emerging” player in
the premium cigar category. “We look to be an
indispens-
able business partner with our [retail] customers by having
discussions about what is working and what is not and how
to course correct. Once we have the insight, we work hard
to help retailers develop their [cigar] customer base.”
“One key of our company is the importance of build-
ing relationships with the manufacturers,” agreed
Gallagher. “That relationship is a two-way street. It is
important that we deliver on our promises to manu-
facturers, and not always be looking for handouts from
them. The growth of our company has come working
with our manufacturing partners.
REMEMBER, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CONSUMER:
Ultimate-
ly, the end consumer should be at the center of everything
retailers and manufacturers do, noted Collett. “From retail
perspective, we are able to bring in new innovative prod-
ucts and get that sales information and customer feedback
back to manufacturers. Our goal is the same: we are both
trying to take care of that consumer.”
TB
[ T O B A C C O B U S I N E S S . C O M ]
TOBACCO BUSINESS
[ 23 ]
Smoker Friendly’s Terry Gallagher,
Davidoff’s JimYoung, Halfwheel’s
Charlie Minato, Rocky Patel
Cigars’ Rocky Patel and Collett
Enterprises’s Darren Collett
"It is important
that we deliver
on our promises
to manufacturers,
and not always
be looking
for handouts
from them."
—TERRY GALLAGHER,
SMOKER FRIENDLY
"When you go to
a store that looks
sophisticated and
is well merchan-
dised and the em-
ployees cultivate
a relationship—
remember your
name and what
you like— you
are going to
keep going back."
—ROCKY PATEL,
ROCKY PATEL CIGARS
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