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April,
2008
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TRENDS AND TRENDSETTERS IN TOBACCO RETAILING
Corona Cigar Co. Debuts New Downtown Orlando Store Featuring Industry’s Second Diamond Crown Lounge
Orlando, FL - Corona Cigar Company's new downtown Orlando store opened with an official ribbon cutting on March 27 and marks the third central Florida location for the 12-year-old retailer.
The ceremony began with V.I.P. guest U.S. Congressman Ric Keller cutting the ribbon with Jeff Borysiewicz, president and founder of Corona Cigar Company.
The new shop is a prominent part of the redevelopment of downtown Orlando, located in the heart of the downtown district on the corner of Orange Avenue and Pine Street in The Plaza - the largest new development in the history of Orlando.
The shop’s interior décor resembles a small Nicaraguan village with a brightly colored two-story hacienda and authentic hand- carved Central American furniture and doors. The atmosphere is further accented through various artifacts and music.
The store features a Diamond Crown Cigar Lounge, the second such branded facility to open in the United States through an agreement with J.C. Newman Cigar Co. which produces Diamond Crown premium cigars and humidors. The 3,000-square-foot lounge offers patrons a unique experience with flat screen televisions, knowledgeable staff, and one the world's largest selections of fine Cognacs, aged Scotches, rare whiskies, and pre-embargo Cuban rums.
The spacious, lively, and very stylish lounge is designed to offer patrons a “superb experience” whether they are there to enjoy a sporting event game orthe camaraderie of other cigar enthusiasts.
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State-Mandated Age Verification of Tobacco Deliveries is Struck Down
The U.S. Supreme Court in February unanimously invalidated key portions of a Maine state law intended to prevent minors from purchasing cigarettes and other tobacco products over the Internet or through other mail-order services.
At issue was whether the 2003 state law was preempted by federal efforts to deregulate the shipping industry nationwide. The justices concluded the federal government's interstate commerce authority trumped the state's public health policing powers. A federal appeals court earlier had found the law, which required a shipping company's delivery driver to verify that the individual who ordered and was receiving the tobacco was 18 or older, unconstitutional.
Three New England trade associations challenged the law, complaining that age checks would slow down delivery times and - more importantly - that it was an illegal restraint on interstate commerce.
In agreeing with the shipping companies, the court said Maine’s law - while well intentioned - interfered with a congressional determination to prevent shipping companies from becoming mired in conflicting state regulations. Instead, Congress sought to leave it to the competitive marketplace to determine which services companies might offer or decline to offer.
“To allow Maine to insist that the carriers provide a special checking system would allow other states to do the same,” wrote Justice Stephen Breyer in the court's decision. “To interpret the federal law to permit these, and similar, state requirements could easily lead to a patchwork of state service-determining laws, rules, and regulations.”
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NEW & NOTABLE
The Briar and Bean tobacco shop of Clarksville, Tenn. has left its location at the Governor’s Square Mall - where it the store first opened in 1986 - and moved into a new1200-sq. ft. free-standing location in nearby St. Bethlehem. Owners Don and Ann Clark said the new site offers additional freedom in operating the business, which is no longer tied to mall hours or its smoking restrictions. In addition to cigars, pipes, and tobaccos, the shop is known for its selection of gourmet coffee beans and teas and a TV-equipped lounge at the rear of the store. Henry Bailey remains the store’s manager.
Jason Alvator, founder and owner of the three-year-old Velvet Cigar Lounge in Manhattan’s East Village, has sold the business to five new owners - Dan Bsharat, Tariq Bsharat, Patricio Cahue, Samuel Kwon, and Amar Lalvani.
In a bid to attract more smokers to its stores, Smoker Friendly International has added a smoking lounge with free wireless Internet access, couches, and large flat-screen TVs to a Denver-area store and plans to retrofit other select stores. Under Colorado’s smoking ban, retailers of tobacco products and bars classified as “cigar-tobacco bars” are exempt.
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BITS & PIECES
The recently-formed Cigar Association of Washington (CAW) is working to place a legislative initiative before voters to allow smoking in tobacco shops, cigar lounges, and private clubs as an exemption from the state’s smoking ban which was passed by voters in 2005. “In the first three months of the smoking ban, we were down over 40 percent and for the year we were down over 30 percent, and it hasn't come back,” says Keith Robbins, owner of Seattle martini bar Tini Big. “We’re asking for a very narrow exemption. Oregon and New Jersey both have exemptions for cigar bars.” CAW is working to collect the signatures of 225,000 registered voters by a June 30, 2008 deadline in order for the initiative, I-1016, to appear before voters on the November 2008 general election ballot.
ACME Sports & Entertainment has retained Epic Corporation to procure future Casa Havana Coffee & Cigar Bar locations nationwide. Casa Havana is a coffee bar and cigar retail concept which allows smoking within its operations, targeting a void for customers that once enjoyed smoking in restaurants, bars, and coffee houses where smoking is now banned in most states. Casa Havana will provide a full coffee line and light menu.
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SMOKESHOP - April, 2008
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