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this way,” he says. “And that’s Four Seasons with more
kindness. We are high-end and elegant but with warm
sensibility. We treat everyone equally, from a contractor
with dirt under his nails to someone in a four-figure suit.”
Lounge of the Future?
What does the Lone Wolf lounge of the future look like
and how will it evolve? Weiss notices that real estate is
shifting to more experience-driven retail, something that
already fits perfectly with the Lone Wolf concept.
“We are here to offer more experience and [a] desti-
nation, not just things for sale, which is why I like lounges
—there is more to do than just buy something,” he says.
“They have an incentive to purchase, yes, but ultimately
we offer a great, comfortable, luxurious space.”
Moving forward from a conceptual level, “we would
love to offer additional and great pairings with alcohol
and food, where legal,” notes Weiss. “We can’t do it in
L.A., but where we can, we want to do culinary elements
and spirits, beer and wine. The great part about cigars
is the celebration behind them—deal signings, a child’s
birth, weddings—I would like to provide spaces for that.”
Weiss sees great cigars, dark chocolate, fine chees-
es and spirits in Lone Wolf lounges of the future. “We
would like to see municipalities allow people to congre-
gate in this fashion, getting smokers away from common
areas of the buildings, taking them out of the shadows
and making the feel free and comfortable. I have chil-
dren and elderly parents, and I’m opposed to smoking in
their faces; I want cigar sanctuaries.”
That’s why Weiss believes strongly in helping the new
legislative approach and not fighting against it. He also
believes in supporting the green trend and more. “I’m
a dad with two little kids, and I feel passionate about
protecting our liberties and freedoms. But I’m just as
passionate about those who don’t want cigar smoke in
their lives. If we don’t protect non-smokers, we lose our
rights. You have to really care about your neighbors, and
that’s why I stopped the [on-premise] smoking in Santa
Monica—it was the right thing to do.”
A Grandfathered Manufacturer
From a manufacturing perspective, “we’re a grandfa-
thered brand, which puts us on a very fortunate list,”
says Weiss. “We were established in the mid-’90s, which
is why we can expand from a regulation standpoint—it
means we have an easier time with the accreditation pro-
cess with the FDA. We have history and pedigree; now
it’s time to scale up.”
By scaling up, Weiss means he is entertaining the idea
of “strategic alliances with other great cigar people.
It’s tough to say now, but we’re talking to a few differ-
ent players about joining together for different aspects,
wholesale primarily.”
Regarding the FDA’s intervention in the cigar busi-
ness, Lone Wolf intends to “stay focused and follow the
rules, whatever they are,” according to Weiss. As a com-
pany, “we’ve already been through a lot of struggles:
Proposition 10 in California, the raising of our taxes,
the death of the cigar fad, the 9/11 market bubble, the
housing crisis—there were and will be a lot of difficult
times, but the lone wolf survives and thrives.”
TB
David Weiss
Continued
TheWorkingWolf
Buying the Lone Wolf
Cigar Company in 2000,
after working there for
three years at the rate
of $8 per hour, was “one
of those serendipitous
situations,” says the re-
established company’s
leader, David Weiss. “A
job turned into an opportu-
nity. I leveraged every-
thing I had and bought it.”
Weiss connected with
the cigar camaraderie
and the brand. “I loved
the one-on-one part of
the business, I loved the
business, and I loved the
people. After a few years
of working there, I realized
it fit perfectly with
my personality.”
Weiss maintains he is
really “in the hospitali-
ty business; my conduit
is cigars. Getting paid is
part of life, but the reward
comes from making
people happy.”
In his high school years,
Weiss worked as a waiter.
“It’s where I get my hos-
pitality and people skills
from,” he says.
He’s so invested in his
service to others that
Weiss doubts he will
ever retire. “Retirement
is death to me,” he tells
Tobacco Business
. “So if
I can see this to the end,
my goal is to open up in
places I hope to visit. I’d
love to have locations that
are culturally interesting
but where our hospitality
makes it more reason to
go there.”