Tatuaje Pulled from B&M

K

ky toker

Chestbeating Pack Leader
Made a run downtown to Kremer's to pick up a Tatuaje or 4 and found the shelf empty. Now, I went down there not because of convenvience but because of prices. The closest place to me is Oxmoor Smoke Shoppe, but most cigars have a high price tag on them so I prefer a few more minutes in the car.

I inquired about the Tatuaje's and was told that another shop had complained to the company because they were supposed to be the exclusive retailer in our area. So they may be back or they may not. This is some BS!

He didn't have to tell me who the other shop was and I don't have to retype the name for you to know either.;) If you can take a minute to shoot and email to Pete Johnson and/or the Garcia guys if you feel the same why I do, it would be much appreciated.

Pete@TatuajeCigars.com
 
That sucks. Our local shop which is their exclusive for our area is always out of stock. They tried to limit it to 2 sticks per size but still they go out faster than they can open the boxes.
 
Check out the box split thread. Trying to get a box split of Tatuaje Havana VI Angeles deal going.
 
what a pisser... I can count at least 5 retailers off the top of my head in my area that carry the Tats.
 
Some B&M's didn't care the Tatuaje's because of Pete Johnsons tactics. He was modelling himself after Davidoff but without the name recognition or production. This is when Tat first came out though and I have heard that he's not so strict any more but maybe not after reading this thread.
 
jdean33442 said:
Some B&M's didn't care the Tatuaje's because of Pete Johnsons tactics. He was modelling himself after Davidoff but without the name recognition or production. This is when Tat first came out though and I have heard that he's not so strict any more but maybe not after reading this thread.
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I know what he is doing with some retailers. They have to buy 5 boxes of the Red lables to get one box of the Brown lables and stuff like that.
 
It's the right of the owner to set his own business model, but I think it is correct that it is a poorly designed business model. If it works for him, great, but if not, it will be because he doesn't have the brand name, customer base or demand for his product. Unless they have a damn good reason, most people are not going to drive all the way across town to buy Tats.
 
That's messed up. I wouldn't bend to the complaints of another vendor especially if my prices were better. That is if the vendor didn't come directly to me and ask me to stop. Course that would be weird a vendor saying he doesn't want you to sell his stuff cause your not cool enough.
 
RJT said:
I know what he is doing with some retailers. They have to buy 5 boxes of the Red lables to get one box of the Brown lables and stuff like that.
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If that's the case that's stupid. I think it's dumb that some companies force a retailer to buy certain quantities of something to get something else. I heard that Camacho wanted retailers who wanted to carry their new triple maduro cigar to buy 12-13 boxes of them. Stupid. :hn
 
CigarNation said:
If that's the case that's stupid. I think it's dumb that some companies force a retailer to buy certain quantities of something to get something else. I heard that Camacho wanted retailers who wanted to carry their new triple maduro cigar to buy 12-13 boxes of them. Stupid. :hn
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Happens all the time in the cigar world. Fuente has been doing it for years and many others have followed similar business tactics. Mostly a supply and demand issue for the most part. You are dealing with a natural product that can only be produced so fast. Not that I agree with these pratices, but it does go on in the industry.
 
No one, not the manufacturer or the competition, could force your local guy to take product bought and paid for off his shelves. There's something else going on.
 
Sounds like they are trying to create artificial demand by restricting supply. Not cool but likely works to a certain extent at least.
 
cigar no baka said:
It's the right of the owner to set his own business model, but I think it is correct that it is a poorly designed business model. If it works for him, great, but if not, it will be because he doesn't have the brand name, customer base or demand for his product. Unless they have a damn good reason, most people are not going to drive all the way across town to buy Tats.
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I drive eleven miles (one way) for Tats all the time...they ARE a damn good reason! :tu :ss
 
That really sucks, it makes who have the chance and the abundance of them tatuajes appreciate them more and more.
 
I have noticed a lot of retailers now have the red label Havana VI and the series P.

I just think there is not enough supply when it comes to the Miami-made Tatuajes. The Miami factory produces a ton of other cigars as well (DPG Labels, Padilla Miami's, other varies house blends), so the brown labels are probably limited. Hence the reason not every retailer can get them.

From what Pete has said, they only make 350,000 of the brown labels. So that is only ~14,000 boxes. If they have lets say 200 retailers (that is only four per state), that would only be 70 boxes a year. If they gave every retailer the brown labels, there would not be enough boxes to go around. That would also hurt their long standing customers who were with them from the beginner.

If they make one million cigars total, that means there are a lot more of the Havana VI to go around.

Not defending them in anyway, just looking at the statistics. Not sure why they would pull them from a retailer who already has them. Maybe the B&M was not giving you the whole story.

http://www2.cigarweekly.com/magazine/interviews/200701_pete_johnson.php
 
jmcrawf1 said:
i can count ummmm....let's see.....0 in louisiana. :tg
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I know for sure the Cigar Merchant in Lafayette has Red Label Tatuaje and Brown Label too I think. I know that's quite a drive from Hammond, but if you're ever on that end of the state...
 
montecristo#2 said:
I have noticed a lot of retailers now have the red label Havana VI and the series P.

I just think there is not enough supply when it comes to the Miami-made Tatuajes. The Miami factory produces a ton of other cigars as well (DPG Labels, Padilla Miami's, other varies house blends), so the brown labels are probably limited. Hence the reason not every retailer can get them.

From what Pete has said, they only make 350,000 of the brown labels. So that is only ~14,000 boxes. If they have lets say 200 retailers (that is only four per state), that would only be 70 boxes a year. If they gave every retailer the brown labels, there would not be enough boxes to go around. That would also hurt their long standing customers who were with them from the beginner.

If they make one million cigars total, that means there are a lot more of the Havana VI to go around.

Not defending them in anyway, just looking at the statistics. Not sure why they would pull them from a retailer who already has them. Maybe the B&M was not giving you the whole story.

http://www2.cigarweekly.com/magazine/interviews/200701_pete_johnson.php
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Monte2, I believe you hit the nail on the head.

I got to spend several hours with Pete last week at an inpromptu meeting. One of the things that was discussed was the distribution of his cigars. Brown label accounts have been restricted to only those who have been Tat accounts from the beginning. Now, at the local reps request, a dealer who has sold " X " amount of other products can be given the opportunity to have some of the brown labels, but the original customer will still be protected. And the Tat Cabs are a very limited item as stated above.
I don't think the cigars were "pulled" from the shelves, but instead, won't be replenished as frequently as others. It's no different than what Fuente or Ashton or Davidoff or CAO or several others do.
 
acharpe said:
I know for sure the Cigar Merchant in Lafayette has Red Label Tatuaje and Brown Label too I think. I know that's quite a drive from Hammond, but if you're ever on that end of the state...
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Really...shoot me a pm with the whereabouts if you get a chance. I go to Lafayette about once a week. you from the area?
 
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