43 / 50
78
TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
MAY/JUNE 2015
for his customers. Since then, of course,
Uhle has retired.The business also moved
two blocks away to a downtown location
many decades ago. But aside from those
changes and the addition of some key
technology in the past five years, the
operation largely looks, feels and smells
the same as it ever did, and that’s not
likely going to change anytime soon.
Landmarks like Uhle’s are often
imitated, but as Steinbock points out,
you can’t make something authentic with
a can of paint. “This is it—the one and
only,” he says. “Of course, over the years
we have considered franchises or opening
other locations because the opportunities
have been there. But we never did it, and
we don’t regret it because this is a very
unique store. It’s an old-school tobacco
shop whose flavor can’t be duplicated in
some strip mall.
“Uhle’s has a very welcoming
personality, but it is not new and shiny,”
he says. “There’s lots of old wood
everywhere, and we’ve got a smoking
lounge but it doesn’t have a TV. It has a
sign that says, ‘members only,’ and we’ll
often have new customers ask us how to
become members, to which we always say,
‘You just bought a cigar—you’re in.’ And
while they might not know anyone when
they walk in there, [when] they come
out…they do. It’s a regular community
with lots of lively conversation.”
That camaraderie coupled with a
focus on customer service is critical
for the store’s success. “We try to be as
welcoming as possible, which is hugely
important because of competition we get
on the Internet,”notes Steinbock. “We’ve
got to be good in this area; you have to
focus on service.”
While Uhle’s continues to sell a wide
array of tobacco products, including
pipes, pipe accessories, lighters, cigarettes,
vaping products and chewing tobacco,
it primarily focuses on premium cigars
and pipe tobacco. “With cigars, we have
trench marketing
Uhle Tobacco Company’s Jeff Steinbock