Tobacco Business

Padrón, a brand that, much like JR Cigar, has gone on to earn its place among the greats in the cigar industry. “One major lesson from Lew that still holds true today is to never stop innovating and never settle,” says Libretti. “Always keep coming up with new ways to get people in the door. For example, Lew came up with a brilliant idea of making two giant signs that covered the store’s entire windows. The signs read, ‘BUSINESS STINKS SALE.’ One of the most popular New York columnists was Earl Wilson, who must have seen the signs and wrote about them in his column. All of the TV stations picked up on the “business stinks” story, and JR Cigar became famous overnight.” As the 1970s progressed, Rothman continued to grow and expand the JRCigar brand. With brands like Macanudo, Hoyo de Monterrey, Punch and Royal Jamaica, Rothman was able to transform his retail operation and offer its customers even more value through its own branded products, such as the JR Alternative. Launched in 1975, JR Alternative was conceived as a cigar that imitated the taste of some of the most popular cigars of the time. These cigars were sold in 20-count bundles and offered at competitive prices. JR Alternative cigars were made in some of the same factories as the cigars that inspired them, and to this day they remain one of JR Cigar’s most popular brands. The success of JR Alternative allowed Rothman to reinvest in his store. With some of the profits from the cigar, Rothman hired three new employees who were tasked with handling the sales of these value-priced cigars. JR Cigar experienced its biggest growth from 1976 to 1978 as Rothman took what he learned from JR Alternative’s success to create and launch the cigar brands Excalibur, JR Ultimate and Santa Clara. It was also during this time that JR Cigar became direct importers of cigars and began buying closeouts of cigars from failing or cash-strapped companies, a practice known as “ job lots.” By 1977, JR Cigar was a major player in the cigar industry and was Tobacconist Lew Rothman (left) opened the doors of the first JR Cigar store back in March 1970. The store and Rothman's busi- ness model changed several times over the years as consumer preferences and buying habits evolved. One major lesson from Lew that still holds true today is to never stop innovating and never settle. –Nick Libretti “ ” [ 40 ] TOBACCO BUSINESS [ SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER | 21 ]