Tobacco Business

the supply of cigars, leading to inferior products entering the market as well as price hikes on the cigars that were available. Rothman, who had built a business around pivoting and adapting when backed into a corner, responded to the Cigar Boom and dwindling supply of cigars by making the bold decision that JR Cigar would only sell cigars to its established customers. This new policy remained in place until production improved in 1997 and the overpriced low-quality cigars, which were referred to as “Don Nobodies” by many retailers at the time, finally started to lose traction. JR Cigar yet again was experiencing its own boom, requiring it to move its headquarters from Fairfield to Whippany, New Jersey. In 1998, the company formed a subsidiary in Burlington, North Carolina, and named it JR Tobacco of Burlington, Inc. This new facility housed a 28,000-square-foot outlet that served as a distribution and shipping facility for the company’s retail and wholesale accounts. The Burlington facility, which remains in operation today, became known as the world’s largest humidor, and thanks to the use of billboards, it became a retail destination for many traveling through North Carolina in search of anything from cigars and jeans to fragrances and fishing rods. Much of the 2000s played out like the previous decades: As the company grew, it expanded, it scaled, and it adapted to the times. In 2003, JR Cigar was acquired by Altadis USA, a division of Imperial Tobacco and now part of Tabacalera USA. With this acquisition, JR Cigar became the distributor for some of the highly rated and regarded brands in Altadis USA’s portfolio, including Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, H. Upmann, Henry Clay and Vega Fina, to name a few. Much like the early days of the company, the new partnership not only gave JR Cigar much-needed products and brands that would also give it buying power. Under the Altadis USA umbrella, JR Cigar continued to flourish. “The acquisition was instrumental to premiumize the JR product portfolio,” says Davide Moro, CEO of JR Cigar. “Altadis brought new know-how to JR in terms of product capabilities, including new collaborations with the best manufacturers. Consumer demand is stronger in the premium segment. Cigar smokers are becoming more and more discerning. Selling cheap and fast isn’t the only thing big retailers should do. Our consumers are always looking for new products with higher quality standards.” In 2014, JR Cigar acquired two Cigar Inn locations in New York. During 2014-2015, JR Cigar went through another transformation as all of its stores, including those it acquired fromCigar Inn, became known as Casa de Montecristo. These stores shifted from the broad focus that some of the JR Cigar stores had in the past and focused on serving those customers seeking premium cigars and other tobacco accessories. Today, there are a total of 16 Casa de Montecristo-branded retail locations that have a focus on lifestyle and experience with In celebration of its 50th anniversary, JR Cigar has released a series of special collaborations with brands including Aging Room, Crowned Heads, Davidoff, and Alec Bradley Cigar Co., among others. [ 44 ] TOBACCO BUSINESS [ SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER | 21 ]