Questions about opening a B&M.

T

The Bruce

ChestBeater
I am thinking of opening a B&M in my neighborhood. My idea is to have a smoke shop and smoking lounge with a private room avaliable to my customers. So I have some questions for current B&M owners on how they started.

I am curious about the initial costs (i.e. the humidor and initial stock or other things I might not know I need)? I am also curious as to how many cigars need to be sold to keep the business going? And the big question I have is how can I see what the demand for cigars would be at the location? If there is no be demand then there is no point in doing this.

We can handle this via PMs so as not to pollute the forum with info others wont care about.

Thanks!

Erik
 
pm me i never owned one but i have done the research for one and a business plan as well for one of my graduate classes
 
One thing to keep in mind is that no distributor or factory will grant you terms while you're new in the business, so cash flow is a constant concern. And some factory accounts, like Fuente or Padron, are difficult to obtain when just starting out....if you want to carry those lines you'll have to pay more through a distributor.
 
the other concern that strikes me is, unfortunately, how much longer a smoking lounge would be viable. The anti-smoking lobby are probably not too far away from Arizona. SOmething to think about.
 
I've got some interest in this, too. smokinpoke, what are your thoughts on the subject? It seems to me that the startup cost would be high for a boutique style store, though it may not be as inventory intensive as some other areas of retail.
 
The owner of a new, local cigar shop opened his store with $80,000 of inventory at retail. He's been open six months and is doing well. A competitor in a neighboring town opened his store with $15,000 of inventory at retail and, sadly, is not doing well.
 
burninator said:
I've got some interest in this, too. smokinpoke, what are your thoughts on the subject? It seems to me that the startup cost would be high for a boutique style store, though it may not be as inventory intensive as some other areas of retail.
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your looking at about $85k by my estimates shoot me your e-mail and I will send you a copy of the business plan I wrote.
 
as teninx has eluded to and with most business it all depends on what your willing to initially invest. and the availability of other stores in your area. if your store is unique and there is not another one like it within about an hours drive then you can start one with less than $25K if your going to compete directly with another store in your area it's going to be tough because you will have to show some sort of uniqueness, also the cigar B&M industry is a niche industry and if you have one or two stores in a medium size town of 60,000 then its going to be tough to maintain positive cash flow.
 
I have thought about the B&M too and came to the conclusion that a lifestyle store with cigars would be a better bet than solely a cigar shop.

A Benelli or Holland & Holland boutique with cigars or a Dunhill, Dupont, Beretta store would fare better as you have more avenues for income than just cigars but it still caters to a crowd that would generally enjoy cigars.

Having cigars secondary in store allows you to carry a more focused selection too.
 
:tpd:
Murr1525 said:
Is it ever possible to get a cigar store with a liquor / beer licencse? :al
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:tpd:

There is one in Beverly Hills that I frequent and it is awesome. Buena Vista Cigar Club. But it is more of a Bar with a humidor than a smoke shop that sells booze. People don't go there and buy boxes either. His mark up is ridiculas, but i go there. Why? because you can smoke cigars inside and drink a cocktail in Cali!!!! I don't know how he gets away with it but he does.

What we need to do is franchise A Club Stoggie Smokeshop!!! We can make it a corparation and be the shareholders!
 
Murr1525 said:
Is it ever possible to get a cigar store with a liquor / beer licencse? :al
Click to expand...
I don't know about Pennsylvania, but here in San Diego, we frequent a cigar shop with a bar in back - beer & wine only but he's well stocked.
 
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