In your opinion, what does it take to be a great tobacconist?
A great tobacconist understands that science and art are equally important. Science is numbers and spreadsheets. You must understand what every single product costs, and you must understand your margin on every single product. Be that a beer, be that the cup that the beer goes in, be that your hats and your merchandising, what your lockers cost to build—you must understand the science of your business.
Equally as important, you must understand the art as the culture and the love of your business and your products. A tobacconist should understand, yes, this San Andres wrapper is grown in this region, and the characteristics of San Andres tobacco are this, but the art of that cigar is why the San Andres tobacco is used, why Dominican piloto is put into the filler—that’s the art. You take the blend, and the pieces of it are the science of the cigar. The blend of it is the art of the cigar—the same thing as it relates to the business and company.
What can other tobacconists do to transform their stores and businesses?
I meet with a lot of tobacconists because I travel all the time, and whenever I travel I go into cigar shops. I’ll sit in there, I’ll introduce myself, and I’ll just listen. So much of the industry right now is fear and worry. Fearing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and worrying about smoking laws, worrying about taxes going up—it’s just constant worry. Everywhere I go, cigar shop owners say they’re saving their money because they’re worried. In racing, which I used to do, your car will go wherever you’re looking. If you’re in a tight situation or the roads are wet, if you’re hydroplaning, wherever you put your eyes is where your vehicle is going to end up. If you’re looking at the ditch and think, “Oh sh*t, I hope I don’t end up in that ditch,” or “I hope I don’t hit that light pole,” or “I hope I don’t hit that wall,” guess what you’re going to hit?
If you’re looking down the road, and you’re looking at the positives—you’re looking at the art of tobacco, you’re looking at the culture, and you’re looking at the positives in this industry, guess where you’re going to go? Guess where you’re going to end up? The thing that I would tell the cigar industry owners and retailers is to stop looking in the rearview mirror and thinking about the Cigar Boom of the 1990s; stop sitting there staring at the light pole. If we’re all hydroplaning right now, the ones looking at the light pole and the FDA regulations and the taxation are going to be buried by it, and they are going to crash. The ones that are looking down the highway with both hands on the wheel with the music cranked up and smiling with a cigar in their mouth—they’re going to keep on going, and they’re going to be so much happier and so much more successful.
This story first appeared in the November/December 2019 issue of Tobacco Business magazine. Members of the tobacco industry are eligible for a complimentary subscription to our magazine. Click here for details.
– Story by Antoine Reid, senior editor and digital content director for Tobacco Business Magazine.
