Few retailers have put more effort into promoting their business in the community and devising internal employee promotions over the years than Diana Silvius Gits of Up Down Tobacco Shop in Chicago, Illinois.

Gits, and daughter Jeanine, outlined the myriad promotions and press-generating events that they have successfully developed over the years. A continuous series of annual store-based events helps build customer loyalty while generating editorial coverage in the local media. The store's largest undertaking is a three-day cigar party held each November in conjunction with a major cigar manufacturer which features a cigar roller, complimentary cocktails, a smoking contest, and a cigar dinner. A pipe smoking contest is held each spring, and the store also promotes smoking and camaraderie through several organizations it has developed, including the Up Down Sons of Briar and the Chicago Cigar Connoisseurs.

Gits maintains a database of over 800 media contacts which are included in all mailings about store events throughout the year. In addition to generating coverage for particular events, Gits has found that reporters and editors value knowing of a prominent, local expert they can call on should they need information or quotes for a story. "It helps them do their job," adds Gits, while keeping her store's name high on their mind.

Debby Clark, of Bean and Briar in Evansville, Indiana, told fellow retailers that "money talks" when it comes to inspiring employees. The Clarks - who dedicate roughly one-half of their store's merchandise area to coffee - hold holiday sales contests. Employees with the highest daily sales totals from each "department" earn cash bonuses.

Jeanny and Landon Buwalda of the Tinder Box, Citrus Heights, Calif., discovered an ideal way to present themselves as cigar experts in their community - conducting cigar smoking classes at their local Learning Exchange. The couple says the classes are strictly for fun and are not used as a forum to "push merchandise," although participants eager to pursue their new smoking passion are undoubtedly inclined to try the Buwalda's store. The couple also donates merchandise to charitable causes, but not as an excuse to clear out the humidor. "Don't unload slow moving stuff," stresses Landon. "It reflects poorly. Always use exclusive merchandise," he says, a move that draws interested consumers to the product's only local source - their store.

In addition, Jeanny has just started what she calls the male answer to the bridal registry - a "groom registry" where marrying-men can develop their own inspired wedding wish list and include Tinder Box with the local china outlet on their registry list. The store updates a client's list as gifts are purchased, just like traditional bridal registries.

Increasingly, tobacco stores find they must turn to their own merchandising and marketing savvy to sell their services and products. Whether it's winning the confidence of customers who have been burned by poorly equipped competitors, or merely wrestling away business from encroaching competitors, TAA retailers proved they know what it takes to stay in, and dominate, the retail war.

Caught in the Web: A Bit of Net Envy
There's no denying that when it comes to the Internet, there's a terrifying array of techno-babble, acronym madness, and a dizzying display of information. Is there really an appropriate place for the traditional tobacco shop on the Net?

The Internet isn't going away anytime soon; there are an estimated 30 million users and growing. Last year, explained Ron Melendi of De La Concha Tobacconists, electronic commerce on the Net totaled some $500 million. By the year 2000, e-commerce could reach $6.6 billion annually. While many smoke shops have already wet their feet, many are uncertain of need or benefits.

Much like mail-order catalogs, web sites have afforded tobacco shops a larger customer base, and extend the geographic reach of their stores indefinitely. And, information is available to customers 24 hours a day.

Melendi noted that the simplest and least expensive "static" web sites can be created by local Internet service providers, or even college students who are versed in programming.

Dynamic sites add numerous features, such as the capability to conduct purchasing transactions online or automatically display current inventory information, but will cost significantly more.

Ira Lapides of Gatlin-Burlier Tobacconist, Gatlinburg, Tenn., noted that prices for developing and maintaining websites can vary extensively. Lapides, whose store can be found at www.gatlinburlier.com, advised fellow retailers to understand what they want their store's website to accomplish - check out other websites and formulate a sound plan for going online.

The TAA is currently developing its own website, which it hopes to have up and running in time for the RTDA show this August.

Crops at Nature's Mercy
A number of esteemed individuals representing tobacco growers and cigar producers shared their insights into erratic weather conditions that have affected tobacco farming - and leaf availability - throughout the world.

Manuel Quesada, of S.A.G. Imports, confirmed that blue mold damage in the Connecticut valley could cancel out a major portion of the increased plantings from last season, where cultivated acreage had jumped by 10-15 percent. And in Ecuador, excessive rain has caused significant spotting on wrapper leaf.

And although El Nino - a cyclical warming of Pacific waters that has produced particularly extreme weather patterns this past year - has dominated the bad news in many farming regions, the news isn't all bad. Benjamin Menendez of Tabacalera S.A. is extremely optimistic about large plantings that continued up to the February cutoff in the Dominican Republic. Quesada agrees. In Mexico, Menendez says growers had a "fairly good crop," and overall he is optimistic that good tobacco will be available this year, but not in the quantities that would allow for large increases in cigar availability.

Costa Rica, notes Menendez, had very little rain last season and produced a poor crop. Indonesia also had a dry spell, with fires and labor unrest further disrupting confidence in the availability of the country's supply of wrapper leaf, although new plantings were underway by March.

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