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DaBear · 04-26-2013, 09:43 PM

Good discussion thread Todd. I've actually had a few of these discussions up at the shop I work at with some friends who have been smoking a heck of a lot longer than I have.

In my opinion, as a B&M employee, I see a lot of sales toward newer stuff from those willing to try just about anything. Personally, I make it a point to at least try everything we have in stock, but thats because I feel its my duty to have an informed opinion on our stock in order to recommend things to people. But, when I get a newbie into the shop and have them ask for a recommendation, I find the stuff I recommend first is almost always one of the tried and true classics; Ashton Classics, Avo Classics, Hemingways(this one I may harbor a little bit of sentimental value in as my first stick), etc. I personally tend to try and get the newbies acquainted with the classics before having them venture out to the newer stuff that can be a pain in the ass to keep up with. Though I will say I do break from this rule of thumb for the Curivaris, as they are personally one of the best sticks on the market(amusingly, I find their two best sticks are the most expensive, EGR Prominentes, and cheapest, Buenaventura BV500s, are the best they have).

One thing I do think should be noted is the changes even I've been able to see in the just over 3 years I've been smoking. The two biggest shocks to me were the introduction of the PAM/N 64 No. 4 monstrosity of a 6x60 and Davidoff releasing(or at least soon to be releasing) a cigar with any Nicaraguan tobacco, let alone a nic puro. To me, Padron was one of those companies I thought was pretty much set in their ways and was no way in hell gonna release a new size, let alone the 6x60. Hell, they've even started on the whole LE path with their SI and WCD exclusives they've released. As with Davidoff, I was kind of floored when I saw the Davidoff Nicaraguan announcement as they're much like Padron to me(or maybe it should be the other way around), I thought they were fairly set in their ways of Dominican Puros only.

As I see it, the new stuff does take away from some of the old guard, but as far as who we order from, its almost always the old guard we order the most of. New stuff will sell for a couple months(or weeks if its frankly just OK), and then turn over to something else. Thats what I've noticed in retail. Just as an example, when the Cain F Lanceros first came out, the number of those suckers we sold, there wasn't a doubt in my mind we could sell a couple hundred boxes of those by the end of the year(we got them in in June IIRC). After 2 months though, sales of em had slowed significantly, to somewhere between a quarter to an eighth of what they were in that first month. Yes they were still selling, but they had already been replaced by something else as the new hot stick of the month. They're a great smoke, and still sell, but we ain't movin 30 boxes a month any more, even with two shops now. But if you were to look back at sales of the F Lanceros, and say, the Ashton Classic Churchills since the F Lanceros got released, I'd be willing to put money down that the Churchill have outsold the Lanceros by a long shot.

04-26-2013, 09:43 PM	#16
DaBear Have My Own Room Join Date: Sep 2010 First Name: Bear Location: Raleigh, NC(NC State) Posts: 2,010 Trading: (26)	Re: New Cigar brands Good discussion thread Todd. I've actually had a few of these discussions up at the shop I work at with some friends who have been smoking a heck of a lot longer than I have. In my opinion, as a B&M employee, I see a lot of sales toward newer stuff from those willing to try just about anything. Personally, I make it a point to at least try everything we have in stock, but thats because I feel its my duty to have an informed opinion on our stock in order to recommend things to people. But, when I get a newbie into the shop and have them ask for a recommendation, I find the stuff I recommend first is almost always one of the tried and true classics; Ashton Classics, Avo Classics, Hemingways(this one I may harbor a little bit of sentimental value in as my first stick), etc. I personally tend to try and get the newbies acquainted with the classics before having them venture out to the newer stuff that can be a pain in the ass to keep up with. Though I will say I do break from this rule of thumb for the Curivaris, as they are personally one of the best sticks on the market(amusingly, I find their two best sticks are the most expensive, EGR Prominentes, and cheapest, Buenaventura BV500s, are the best they have). One thing I do think should be noted is the changes even I've been able to see in the just over 3 years I've been smoking. The two biggest shocks to me were the introduction of the PAM/N 64 No. 4 monstrosity of a 6x60 and Davidoff releasing(or at least soon to be releasing) a cigar with any Nicaraguan tobacco, let alone a nic puro. To me, Padron was one of those companies I thought was pretty much set in their ways and was no way in hell gonna release a new size, let alone the 6x60. Hell, they've even started on the whole LE path with their SI and WCD exclusives they've released. As with Davidoff, I was kind of floored when I saw the Davidoff Nicaraguan announcement as they're much like Padron to me(or maybe it should be the other way around), I thought they were fairly set in their ways of Dominican Puros only. As I see it, the new stuff does take away from some of the old guard, but as far as who we order from, its almost always the old guard we order the most of. New stuff will sell for a couple months(or weeks if its frankly just OK), and then turn over to something else. Thats what I've noticed in retail. Just as an example, when the Cain F Lanceros first came out, the number of those suckers we sold, there wasn't a doubt in my mind we could sell a couple hundred boxes of those by the end of the year(we got them in in June IIRC). After 2 months though, sales of em had slowed significantly, to somewhere between a quarter to an eighth of what they were in that first month. Yes they were still selling, but they had already been replaced by something else as the new hot stick of the month. They're a great smoke, and still sell, but we ain't movin 30 boxes a month any more, even with two shops now. But if you were to look back at sales of the F Lanceros, and say, the Ashton Classic Churchills since the F Lanceros got released, I'd be willing to put money down that the Churchill have outsold the Lanceros by a long shot.