T O B A C C O B U S I N E S S . C O M 41 LEVEL By Antoine D. Reid Photography by New Ground Photography ON ANOTHER Blend Bar with Davidoff Cigars has been recognized for its exceptional service and hospitality for years. Now the international award-winning team behind it shares how applying a corporate business plan to their retail operation transformed their retail operation into a beloved destination enjoyed by both cigar enthusiasts and non-smokers alike. B Build it and they will come. That’s the business plan many retailers start out with and later come to regret when they realize it’s not as easy as it sounds. Being a retailer is one thing, but being successful in tobacco retail is another. As a tobacconist, you’re working with many obstacles and limitations—local taxes, regulations, supply chain issues and other issues make it extremely difficult to operate and maintain a profitable business. For the team behind Blend Bar with DavidoffCigars, building the business was one of many steps along the way to success. Mark Holden, Corey Johnston and Kim Arbuckle are three entrepreneurs with a shared vision—they didn’t want to open just another store; they wanted to create a retail business that ran and operated like a corporation. That shift in mentality completely set Blend Bar on a different course. It meant they had to view anyone that walked into their stores as guests rather than a customer making a transaction. It meant the entire experience their guests had in stores needed to be on another level, unlike anything available to them in the area. It meant they needed employees that would be passionate about their jobs and hold themselves accountable, and in turn, Blend Bar would have to provide its staff with the proper training. As much as the goal of any business is to make money and a profit year over year, at Blend Bar with Davidoff Cigars, the goal is to provide an exceptional experience to patrons and invest just as much money and time into expanding on the original vision as each partner expected to get out of it in the future. Blend Bar with Davidoff Cigars’ story is a “how to” for the tobacconist looking to scale up without cutting corners. From how to take a concept to market to hiring and conditioning customers to spend more on high-end products, every retailer will learn something from Blend Bar with Davidoff Cigars’ meteoric ascension as one of the world’s most recognized retailers. Dream Team In the early 1990s, Corey Johnston was just your typical college graduate trying to figure out what to do with his life. It was with the launch of Cigar Aficionado that Johnston’s professional future began to take shape. It was after the 1992 launch of the popular cigar magazine when Jim Beam launched its small batch collection that included Booker’s, Baker’s, Knob Creek and Basil Hayden, and the growing popularity of bourbon and cigars inspired Johnston to launch his own wholesale business that sold cigars to country clubs and steakhouses in the Indianapolis market. Johnston would take carts of cigars out to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and different golf events like those hosted by the PGA. After some time, Johnston started to work for a liquor and wine distributor that had a cigar division. Working here taught Johnston
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