DeBeers diamond company, thank you for the cigars

[mahtofire14]

Damn James. Is it worth driving over there to grab cigars? I'd much rather give my money to my local, but with taxes so much lower over there I've been thinking about it for a little while now.

[FUEL]

Originally Posted by mahtofire14

Damn James. Is it worth driving over there to grab cigars? I'd much rather give my money to my local, but with taxes so much lower over there I've been thinking about it for a little while now.

Got the low down as well about the new MN taxes. Its going from 70% to 95% in August. However its a good thing as there is now a $3.75 cent cap per cigar that retails for $12 or over meaning that pricing on higher end sticks such as the Ligas, Padron, Opus, God of Fire et al will actually come down due to the cap. Biggest impact will be to cig smokers and chewers.

I was told the goal was to separate cigs, flavored cigars & chew from premium hand rolled cigars which was accomplished this legislative session.

Now the goal is to show the state over the next two years that cigars need to broken out into their own tax bracket or to lower the cap by 25% to 50% as the upcoming new cap will actually bring in less tax revenue for the state vs their current methodology.

What a pain in the ass but that's the latest scoop directly from a MN State Senator that was at the Viaje event tonight.


J.

[mahtofire14]

Yeah that's what I heard as well. I'm just so sick of paying almost more money on taxes than the cigar itself. Not to mention the shop owners don't see any of that money.

[FUEL]

Originally Posted by mahtofire14

Yeah that's what I heard as well. I'm just so sick of paying almost more money on taxes than the cigar itself. Not to mention the shop owners don't see any of that money.

Yeah I got into a long conversation with the owner of BURN and a TobaccoGrover about that tonight. They are happy as the higher end sticks will come down in price due to the cap which means they will sell more and they won't have to lower their retail price thus, at least in theory, profits will go up due to more bang for your buck...in theory.

The Senator is a big cigar guy so are two of his closest friends. Inge Thulin and Greg Page, CEO's of 3M and Cargill respectively.

And quiet as its kept, look for a new B&M with a large "ultra lounge" in a joint venture from BURN & TobaccoGrove coming to a Twin Cities suburb towards the end of 4th quarter 2013 to 1st quarter 2014 with a big big name sponsoring the Grand Opening weekend.

[mahtofire14]

Originally Posted by FUEL

Yeah I got into a long conversation with the owner of BURN and a TobaccoGrover about that tonight. They are happy as the higher end sticks will come down in price due to the cap which means they will sell more and they won't have to lower their retail price thus, at least in theory, profits will go up due to more bang for your buck...in theory.

The Senator is a big cigar guy so are two of his closest friends. Inge Thulin and Greg Page, CEO's of 3M and Cargill respectively.

And quiet as its kept, look for a new B&M with a large "ultra lounge" in a joint venture from BURN & TobaccoGrove coming to a Twin Cities suburb towards the end of 4th quarter 2013 to 1st quarter 2014 with a big big name sponsoring the Grand Opening weekend.

I would hope that this "ultra lounge" will be in the east metro as the other two are in the west?

[FUEL]

Originally Posted by mahtofire14

I would hope that this "ultra lounge" will be in the east metro as the other two are in the west?

The ultra lounge is supposedly going to be the nicest in the Twin Cities on par with the private club Fuegos and a titch less than the ultra exclusive $30,000 mandatory 10 year lease that's capped at 50 members & good luck even finding the place Herrbies.

No comment on the 3 potential locations other than one is East of 35W. Fuegos is also opening a St Paul location by the end of year with a b!tchen roof top deck similar but smaller than Seven and Crave down on Block E in Minneapolis.

Only thing that blows is the yearly membership dues went up quite a bit from 2012 to 2013 and to get reciprocity between the two the cost is going up again in 2014 unless you join at the Churchill level by the end of 2013 as then you have no additional cost between locations.

[Ciro]

Very Nice Pick Up! It's always a great feeling when you receive "Surprise Money"!