14
TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012
NEWS & TRENDS
Highlights
New Accounts
Manager for
Villiger
Roy MacLaren, president
of Villiger Cigar North
America, has announced
the
appointment
of
Shawna
Williams
as
national accounts manager
for Villiger Cigars North
America,
a
subsidiary
of Villiger Sons Cigar Manufacturer of
Switzerland.
Prior to being named national accounts
manager, Williams held the position of
regional sales manager with Gurkha Cigars.
She brings to her new role over 10 years
of experience in the cigar industry and will
be responsible for managing key accounts
at the distributor level and throughout the
retail marketplace.
“
In our search for a national accounts
manager, wewere looking for someonewith
deep product knowledge and exceptional
selling experience who could accelerate the
growth of our brands,” said MacLaren. “We
are confident that Shawna’s past success
will provide us with significant results and
that she will be able to develop strong
relationships with our partners.”
Tobacconists are concerned that the FDA might employ its regulatory
authority over tobacco to restrict cigar sales. Among the possibilities are the
potential for a ban on retail displays of cigars and cigar accessories, which
would limit cigar retail to customers placing orders from a list of products
rather than browsing in a store.
Retailers like Brian Telford of Telford’s Pipe & Cigar in Mill Valley, California,
have speculated that the FDA may pursue such a restriction in an effort to
prevent minors from seeing cigar packaging despite the fact that customers
for expensive, premium cigars tend to be older.
Other tobacco retailers, such as Arthur Zaretsky, operator of The Famous
Smoke Shop in Forks Township, Pennsylvania, suggest that the FDA will
target small, machine-made cigars, which are a much larger market than
premium cigars. Zaretsky pointed out that about seven billion small,
machine-made cigars are sold every year, compared with only 250 million
premium cigars.
The various cigar regulations under consideration are, to some extent,
dividing the industry, as retailers who sell premium cigars look to distance
themselves from marketers of cheaper, smaller cigars. Through the Cigar
Rights of America, makers and sellers of premium cigars have sponsored
S.1461 and H.R.1639, to stop the FDA from regulating “traditional large and
premium cigars.”
A post on the FDA’s website claims that the agency is moving “as
expeditiouslyaspossible” to release for publiccomment anewruleapplicable
to additional forms of tobacco products, but an FDA spokesperson said no
date has been set for that release.
Tobacconists Fight FDA
Regulation Of Premium Cigars
Concerns are dividing the cigar industry.
Senator Still Seeks Cigar Ban
U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) charges that flavored cigars are designed for the youth market.
U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) has
again asked for a ban of flavored cigars,
according to NJToday.net, which quotes
the senator as saying that flavored cigars
are “designed to attract young adults.”
Lautenberg reportedly went on to
charge that a new CDC report “indicates
Big Tobacco is succeeding in its mission.
The federal government must use its
full authority over the tobacco industry
and ban flavored cigars before the next
generation of tobacco users are hooked.
The increase in cigar use is troubling, and
we must continue to do everything we
can to keep our kids healthy and safe.”
Lautenberg’s reference was to the
recent 2011 National Youth Tobacco
Survey, released by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
which reported that flavored cigar
smoking remains a popular high-school
student habit, even though overall
tobacco use has declined. The survey
showed an increase in cigar smoking
from7.1 percent to 11.7 percent between
2009
and 2011.
In addition to calling for a ban on
flavored cigars, Lautenberg was a
sponsor of the
Tobacco Tax Equity Act
in May, a measure that was intended to
close a tax loophole allegedly benefitting
retailers who sell loose pipe tobacco for
use with roll-your-own machines.
