Who is interested in starting a cigar club
- Thread starter Addiction
- Start date
Part of the whole private club thing is exclusivity. Just like the golf courses and social clubs this type of club is looking to attract a certain individual. It needs to be somewhat expensive as to keep the "undesirables" away. Unfortunately, if it is free or low cost many of those who drop by don't take care of the place because they don't have any interest in doing so. People are pigs, just ask your local BM owner if they allow you to smoke in the shop how much trash they have to clean up.
gary106334
Evolving Lead Gorilla
Sound great to me. Too bad it is not in the Montgomery area.
It turns out that our club is not just a place to smoke but to meet and socialize with other cigar smokers. We have a member mix of Doctors, accountants, cops, a chief of detectives, financial planners, contractors, salesmen, etc, etc. It's great to come into the club and sit down with a bunch of guys and watch a game or tv program and shoot the breeze.
Plus we have monthly events.
Remember: cigars are the bridge that connects people who otherwise would not have met.
Of course we have had some prospective members who thought the cost was too high. Others just say 'who do I make the check out to.'
Go to NY and see what Club Macanudo and the Havana whatever club charges. Lockers alone are over a thousand.
Roscoe
The Metropolitan Society
http://www.metrocigar.com
Roscoe
Plus we have monthly events.
Remember: cigars are the bridge that connects people who otherwise would not have met.
Of course we have had some prospective members who thought the cost was too high. Others just say 'who do I make the check out to.'
Go to NY and see what Club Macanudo and the Havana whatever club charges. Lockers alone are over a thousand.
Roscoe
The Metropolitan Society
http://www.metrocigar.com
Roscoe
Rosco belongs to a great club. I herf there with Snowy one Saturday. I think the prices are fair. Although original members pay a lot less. It makes me wish I never moved from Roseland to Central Jersey. I would join in a second if I was closer.
The only con would be if you wanted to go to your locker to get a cigar and leave it would cost you $5.00 to do that.
The only con would be if you wanted to go to your locker to get a cigar and leave it would cost you $5.00 to do that.
AriesOpusX
The Wheel Man
The $40 a month it works out to isn't too bad. $5 just to walk in the door though is a little much though if you were coming and going. A set monthly cost is a better idea IMO. Then again this is a luxury afforded to the guys that have that kind of cash to belong to a club. Cool idea.
The Korean
Gorilla
That's a good point. Other than an extreme day here and there, for the most part, I can go on my back porch and smoke when I want. The more I think about it, if there was some sort of flat fee, so you could come in as many times as you wanted, it may be more attractive. Maybe rolling the annual fee and monthly fee to 12 monthly fees so you know how much to write the check out for each month, and go and come as needed.
Someone said $480 a year, well divided by 12, that comes out to $40 per month in my head. For me that doesn't sound as bad.
Jimmie the Mum: If you just come in to hit your locker you can sign the book and you will not be charged.
hova45: We have monthly dinners that are catered. We always have a cigar rep or liquor rep there to give us a talk and free stuff.
AriesOpusX: If you come in 10 times in one day it is only 5 bucks. That's a daily charge.
Roscoe
hova45: We have monthly dinners that are catered. We always have a cigar rep or liquor rep there to give us a talk and free stuff.
AriesOpusX: If you come in 10 times in one day it is only 5 bucks. That's a daily charge.
Roscoe
michaelc1976
Newbie in the jungle
Addiction,
I live in Reston. During the winter months, I usually head into Arlington to smoke @ Cigar Connection or at a few of the cigar-friendly restaurants in Reston Town Center.
I would *love* to have a local club (local = within 20-25 mins, lets say) to spend some time in. I would love it even more if I could periodically bring guests in (at a fee would be fine). I have consulting clients who fly in to meet with me, and it's always a challenge to find the right after-consult cigar space for us to unwind and socialize.
Good luck with the idea ... keep us posted.
Be well,
Michael Cage
I live in Reston. During the winter months, I usually head into Arlington to smoke @ Cigar Connection or at a few of the cigar-friendly restaurants in Reston Town Center.
I would *love* to have a local club (local = within 20-25 mins, lets say) to spend some time in. I would love it even more if I could periodically bring guests in (at a fee would be fine). I have consulting clients who fly in to meet with me, and it's always a challenge to find the right after-consult cigar space for us to unwind and socialize.
Good luck with the idea ... keep us posted.
Be well,
Michael Cage
avid toker
Maturing Primate
Have you checked the local smoking bans to see whether this type of club would be legal?
I think this type of club is cool especially for winter months but I'd probably pass if I had to deal with Beltway traffic to head into NoVa. If this idea takes off, I'd rather see it centrally located in DC. And the rates are a bit high for my tastes.
I think this type of club is cool especially for winter months but I'd probably pass if I had to deal with Beltway traffic to head into NoVa. If this idea takes off, I'd rather see it centrally located in DC. And the rates are a bit high for my tastes.
Well to even make a run at it we'd need to find a lot more interested members. Then where its located and how it works, all of that, would be decided by members. We'd elect some officers and then turn over the materials that Metro shares with us to them and they would do what officers do.
But right now it appears the large majority of people who have considered the question don't think its a good idea. And the club stogie membership in DC is split all over hells halfacre from Springfield all the way up to the other side of Baltimore. It would be really difficult to come up with one place that fits well for everyone. Tho I have to imagine just based on the cost of commercial square footage DC would be the toughest.
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michaelc1976
Newbie in the jungle
Many of the folks who voted aren't local.
I know the demographics are there to support a $500-$1000/yr plus fees "glorified clubhouse." But starting from scratch, it can be tough to find 'em all in one place unless some of the local B&Ms wanted to help out by talking to their best customers.
What about starting with periodic local cigar dinners? Cycle through a few hundred people who pay $50-100 for a dinner, and the seeds of the club should be present and accounted for.
Don't let the idea die ........ it got me excited enough to make my first and second post!
Michael
Don't worry Mike I won't let it die, just injecting a healthy dose of realism is all. Far from dieing, I think I got a lot of clarity from this.Many of the folks who voted aren't local.
I know the demographics are there to support a $500-$1000/yr plus fees "glorified clubhouse." But starting from scratch, it can be tough to find 'em all in one place unless some of the local B&Ms wanted to help out by talking to their best customers.
What about starting with periodic local cigar dinners? Cycle through a few hundred people who pay $50-100 for a dinner, and the seeds of the club should be present and accounted for.
Don't let the idea die ........ it got me excited enough to make my first and second post!
Michael
And actually as a founder you pay $1000 once, then $60 a year for your box. Thats quite reasonable given the incomes in our area. I have to think there are a 100 people in Reston, Lawnsdowne, Leesburg and Tysons alone who would go for a set up like this.
The important thing is figuring out how to do this and not turning it into some kind of profit thing, keeping it pure.
Out of our 150 members I can safely say that maybe 10 go to cigar forums. I would not use any internet forum as a serious poll for a venture like this.
Fortunately for us, we had a member base already. We were around 12 years prior to the law as a non-profit. We would only meet once per month but we had 100 dues paying members. This base, as investors, contributed our startup capital. However, I have been speaking with some groups in other states that have raised significant funds and may be ready to move forward soon.
Brinson: The monthly fee is based on your daily usage. We bill 20/month minimum based on a 5.00 daily use charge. So if you come in 0 to 4 times in a month you get billed 20.00. If you come in 6 times in a month your monthly billing is 30.00. You never get billed higher than 50.00.
Roscoe
The Metropolitan Society
http://www.metrocigar.com
Fortunately for us, we had a member base already. We were around 12 years prior to the law as a non-profit. We would only meet once per month but we had 100 dues paying members. This base, as investors, contributed our startup capital. However, I have been speaking with some groups in other states that have raised significant funds and may be ready to move forward soon.
Brinson: The monthly fee is based on your daily usage. We bill 20/month minimum based on a 5.00 daily use charge. So if you come in 0 to 4 times in a month you get billed 20.00. If you come in 6 times in a month your monthly billing is 30.00. You never get billed higher than 50.00.
Roscoe
The Metropolitan Society
http://www.metrocigar.com
I can't exactly not take this polls advice, for me this is where cigars really started so I am always curious how ideas are percieved here. But I knew a number of interested parties prior to posting the poll, and the poll has turned up two more so over all I'm pretty pleased with the turn of events. The big thing here is going to be where, but in fact in the National Capitol Area it might be possible to have 3 distictly different clubs over the next 5 or 6 years.