De La Concha + Padron = Excellence

On Thursday April 23rd I had the privilege of attending the Padron event and dinner at De La Concha Tobacconist, indubitably one of America's greatest tobacconists. De La Concha's GM and soon to be Certified Retail Tobacconist Ron Melendi was gracious enough to invite me to the event, feed me, and give me the opportunity to learn from the best. As anyone reading this article knows, Padron and De La Concha are the best at what they do, simply because they focus on two things: Products & Customers. It is in their blood; you can see it in their eyes; it is palpable and you can feel it when you are around them. They are focused and committed to the point that they are inspirational.

I think what inspires me the most in this case is the extent to which a great tobacconist will go to provide their customers with extraordinary service and value. Mr. Melendi has started the tradition of turning his retail store into a fine dining restaurant in the middle of NYC since the anti-smoking laws have become so draconian and repressive. He could easily not provide an extravagant dinner event and merely settle for an afternoon visit from a cigar maker. But, he is not the type of person to compromise or give up. Instead, De La Concha closes their store early and transforms their already elegant retail environment into an extraordinary fine dining restaurant, served by nothing less than the best, Rue 57, located just up the block. What other business or group of professionals would go through such trouble to provide their customers with this kind of value? I don't know of any other profession that goes to these lengths to serve.

Ultimately, it was a privilege to attend the event and meet so many great tobacconists. Ron and the other exemplary tobacconists at De La Concha will go down in the annals of history as the best and most committed professionals who refuse to be beaten, stifled, or compromise. It was an honor to see them in action.

Double Our Business - NOW!

It's simple math, really - just convert 10% of cigarette smokers to cigars and you double the size of the cigar industry. This is our reality, and in the process we can help enhance the quality of life for millions of Americans.

I continue to believe that tobacconists are modern day freedom fighters, enduring torture, demonization, and endless taxation for their beliefs and passions. If you don't believe me, just note that today is April 1st, 2009 and tobacconists all over America are being slapped with massive tax and cost increases on their products. The inventory, paperwork, price changes, and customer implications are brutal. Is there any other group of business owner or consumer being as severely taxed, legislated, and debilitated? And in this economy! It's pathetic. But, there is hope! Now is the time to help our cigarette smoking customers end their allegiance to inhaling.... Particularly if they are consuming products laced with chemicals and additives. They will thank us for it. Help someone savor their time and they will be a customer and friend forever.

PS: Dear legislators, politicians, government people; please stop taxing us to death. And by 'us' I mean all Americans, but especially those in the luxury tobacco industry.

PSS: Sign the new Tobacconist Preservation Act petition - we must project our voice and opinions!

Clean & Organize: content preview

"Clean and Organize", while it sounds like simple common sense, there is nothing common about common sense and the simplest things can be the most profound.

Cleaning and Organizing can be the most powerful business practice you employ. If business is slow, clean and organize; if the weather is bad, clean and organize; if the country is in a recession, clean and organize; if you are bored, clean and organize. On the surface, the benefits may seem obvious: the store is cleaner, customers see you cleaning (positive perception), and things look better. But the real benefits of cleaning and organizing can be far greater. I have found thousands of dollars worth of 'missing' inventory while cleaning. More importantly, cleaning and organizing allows you to discover hidden assets, liabilities, and opportunities in your retail store (or any other business). Every basement, storeroom, shelving, closet, cabinet, drawer, and shelf in your store can reveal a hidden opportunity. Sometimes you will find old displays which can freshen up the shop, or products which have long been forgotten. But, the greatest benefit from cleaning and organizing is not the things you will find, but the potential ideas you will have. Nothing clears the mind like a fresh environment or good organization!

Whether you are a shop owner or manager who does this yourself or delegates, the rewards are always positive. Try to Clean & Organize and let us know if you discover anything special! Leave some comments on the blog or send us an email.... we would love to hear from you.

The Tobacconist Alamo

The most frightening thought in the world to any Tobacconist is that smoking bans will be instituted inside retail Tobacconist shops. It has already happened in Delaware and other parts of the country. In addition, many Tobacconists are going to court to preserve their right to smoke and sometimes just to prove they are Tobacconists - because the laws are so poorly and/or maliciously written. No other profession in the world suffers under such draconian laws. Sadly, the hostility of legislators and our society are making it more difficult to survive. Yet we persevere, not because the financial rewards are great, not for the prestige, but because we love our products and customers.

Obviously, Tobacconists must taste their products daily just to be able to communicate their value to customers; and customers need to sample products in order to make informed decisions. Not to neglect the fact that smoking in a smokeshop is akin to eating in a restaurant.

Yet logic alone is not enough to preserve our professional rights. Ultimately, the health zealots and nanny state will try to ban smoking everywhere; and retail Tobacconists will be the final frontier - the Tobacconist Alamo. Here at TU, we are preparing for that last stand. It is our commitment to prove our professional credibility and legitimacy through our curriculum and standards. Through Certifications we are building an army of Certified Tobacconists who are substantive and credentialed enough to fight for our rights. We are not just individuals who feel we have the right to smoke 'just because' or 'just because we like it'; clearly that tactic has not worked. We are professionals who have invested time and money, our lives, into an honorable existence and we will be here to fight when the rest of the industry needs us.

Stay tuned to hear about and participate in The Tobacconist Preservation Act....

The Power of Certification

I have previously written about Outlaw Tobacconist Kendall Culbertson and the Certified Tobacconists at The Outlaw Cigar Co.. I knew they were a special group of Tobacconists when they became the first pilot CRT store in early 2008. And, I knew they would continue to excel after they accepted the Code of Ethics & Standards, studied, and became Certified.

But, I never expected Certification to yield super-human, crime-fighting Tobacconists who would stop carjackings, rescue cigar vendors under attack, and apprehend criminals!!!

I will leave the reporting to TV stations and cigar news websites.... but I just want to go on record stating that there is now anecdotal proof* of even greater benefits to Certification and the power of our Code of Ethics & Standards.

*Admittedly, Outlaw Cigar Co. is an extraordinary organization with equally impressive Tobacconists and customers. At the very least, Certification didn't hurt...

Tobacconist Philanthropy: Cigar Box Charity

The nature of our business presents a unique charitable opportunity; that is, Cigar Boxes. People love cigar boxes! And Tobacconists usually have plenty of them. Unlike a restaurant which has no use for left over food, empty cigar boxes actually have value*. In my stores we sell the boxes for $3 and give the money to a no-kill animal shelter - Last Chance Ranch**. In addition, we give away boxes to children and teachers for projects and hobbies. But, hands down, my favorite Cigar Box charity is the animals. Just last week the shelter received two dogs from a woman who had lost her job, was living in her car, and could no longer take care of her pets. I can't imagine how difficult her life must be, but I know she found comfort in knowing her pets would be well taken care of.

So, Tobacconist University wants to know....

What charity does your Cigar Box money go to?

&

How else do you give?

Let us know as we are developing Service College content on Tobacconist Philanthropy - we estimate that Tobacconists give more to military service men and women than any other retailer group - not to mention schools, churches, arts organizations, etc... And, every Tobacconist gets a steady stream of people requesting product and money contributions... so there is a big story to tell about Tobacconists and charity.


**The Last Chance Ranch saves horses, pigs, chickens, geese, goats, mules, donkeys, sheep, dogs, and cats; actually, they will save any animal, rehabilitate it, and find it a happy home.

* Cigar Box Value: cigar boxes are also useful as gift packaging and for custom samplers.

Default Positions: content preview

According to the CRT Code of Ethics & Standards, a CRT must:

Merchandise all Luxury Tobacco Products with the same care and respect it took to create them.

Merchandising is the physical and visual language with which our products communicate with the customer; and it should be commensurate with the quality of the product and your store.

Special Merchandising involves creating a new display/arrangement which will capture the customer's eye and generate a sale. Other times the effects of merchandising are more subtle, but it will convey that you have an organized, clean, and thoughtful approach to your products and profession. This type of Day-To-Day Merchandising has a powerful impact on your customers even if they do not consciously respond to it or acknowledge it. Good, Clean Merchandising projects professionalism. Haphazard and less-than-clean merchandising says 'we don't care enough'. I stress the word clean here with the intention of conveying two meanings; Clean can refer to uncluttered as well as not-dirty. Every Tobacconist knows that our stores are practically dust factories so it is imperative to keep lighters, cases, humidors, and other products polished and clean.

With these fundamentals already established, we can get to the heart of Default Positions and Retail Theater. In every store, every product, display, machine, chair, ashtray, and instrument has a home; a default position. Events, Receiving Inventory, Customers, and sales will all 'disrupt' organizational equilibrium. In fact, the unique nature of our business creates customers that 'feel at home' when they are in our shops. While this may be our customer service goal, it can also lead to messy stores. Customers move furniture, ashtrays, products, and anything else in order to accommodate themselves; but the 'inmates cannot run the asylum'. So Tobacconists must be thoughtful and proactive about RESTORING DEFAULT POSITIONS. Without this attention to organization a Retail Tobacconist will degenerate into a flea market-like booth instead of the professional luxury retailer that it is.

In the theater, every actor and prop has a 'mark': a physical location where they must be at any given point in time. And Retail Tobacconists are no different. We must have predetermined strategies and layouts for our facilities to keep them from falling apart and running amok. This may seem like a small or frivolous point to a novice or inexperienced Tobacconist, but it is critical to Retail Theater. As a Retail Tobacconist with two stores, I can tell you that a big part of my job is teaching and enforcing Default Positions. If we did not do this successfully, the stores would begin to look like disheveled war zones.

Be disciplined about Restoring Default Positions, and if you don't know where something belongs, ask someone who does. Put things where they belong and then you and your customers will know how to find them. Organization can really be the key to success, and with a little discipline, even disorganized people can become functional retailers. Otherwise, you might as well just sell stuff out of the back of a van*.

*No disrespect was meant to people who sell things out of their vans. In my teens I sold clothes and swimwear out of my van and found it to be fun and profitable. But, this guerrilla style approach to business was not nearly as fulfilling as being a Retail Tobacconist.

Tobacconists - Human Assets: content preview

"The first sign of decline of an industry is loss of appeal to able people."
- The Daily Drucker (Harper Collins 2004)

Ultimately, a business is only as good as its people. The success of luxury tobacco retailers is limited by how many good Tobacconists they have - I know this because I live it.

The Human Assets of a company are the most valuable because you can always borrow money or lease a space, but great people are hard to come by: that is the essence of Tobacconist University. That is why we are not a retailer organization, trade group, or consumer magazine. We are focused and committed to educating, training, and developing the greatest resource in our industry: Tobacconists.

If you ask 100 people "who are the most important people in our industry (not including consumers)?", 99% will answer 'Cigar Makers'. But, they are wrong. Tobacconists are the most important people in our industry because they consummate the relationship between cigar makers and customers; they bridge the gap between producers and consumers. Where would the Fuentes and Padrons be without Tobacconists? They would be lining the shelves of supermarkets, convenience stores, and drug stores. I will live [ and die ] knowing that retail Tobacconists make this industry great. That is where I fell in love with luxury tobacco, and that is where consumers do too. You can't get to know real products through the pages of a magazine or on the internet.

If you own a retail shop you already know the greatest challenge is finding and retaining good people. Tobacconist University EDUCATES, TRAINS, PROMOTES, DEVELOPS, & INVIGORATES our industry's greatest assets - a historical first! All of these benefits increase employee Value, Commitment, & Retention, improving your business and competitiveness all at once. Leverage these resources to your advantage and you will succeed. Invest in your people and the long-term rewards will be exponential! Put people first and the profits will follow.

Hiring Tip: Hire Passion & Smiles. All Great Tobacconists are naturally endowed with a passion for the products and a genuine desire to share that.

Nickname Theory

I've been thinking lately about my chronic habit of giving Tobacconists nicknames. As I think of it, giving people nicknames is a common Cuban trait. Cuban nicknames can be super-obvious like "Chino" for anyone of Asian descent, or bizarre, like "Miacere" which means a group of smelly monkeys. Whatever the case, nicknaming gives me pleasure. Over the years we have had Tobacconists nicknamed BIG, CRACK HEAD, SHAGGY, CHICHO, O.G., YE OLDE, STRETCH, SMOKEY, CHE, CRAZY EYES, and MUNCHKIN, just to name a few. Sometimes even customers merit nicknames, either created by Tobacconists or their peers.

The key to nicknaming is getting approval first; no one should be called anything they do not approve of. I have Tobacconists working for nearly a decade that never got a nickname, either because they wouldn't approve it, or because it did not come naturally; that is OK too.

So, what is the point of a nickname? Without writing a book here, I think a nickname is a form of affection. A way to share humor and bond. As any retail Tobacconist knows, our work is not all fun and games: things need to be cleaned, priced, displayed, maintained, and everything breaks, frequently. Retail Tobacconists actually have a lot of stress, so a nickname can help remind us not to take everything so seriously. While this is not a management theory like Tobacconist Whisperer, I believe there is a good lesson here:

Work hard, but don't forget to have fun and savor your time. Being a Tobacconist is serious business, but life is too short to be serious all the time.

My Favorite Cigar Holder

I'm not embarrassed to admit it, my favorite Cigar Holder is the crevasse between my windshield wiper blade and the arm. Admittedly, I'm a little rustic. While I highly encourage all cigar smokers to Carry An Unlit Cigar, occasionally the cigar must be lit - and then rested while venturing indoors. I understand that the windshield wiper may be dirty, but frankly, I don't care; that is my dirt, my car, and I don't mind it. On occasion I have forgotten about a cigar; and sometimes they make it all the way home in tact - Cigar Miracles Do Happen. So in case you have ever wondered what to do with a smoldering cigar while you are running errands, now you have an option.

Disclaimer: This is not Academic Curriculum or a Content Preview, merely a personal opinion. Tobacconist University does not recommend leaving a lit cigar either inside or outside of your car. We do encourage savoring as much time as possible.

Philosophical Quandary: If you throw an unlit, premium, un-banded, all natural cigar in the grass, is that littering? or gratuitous fertilization?