In need of help from my brothers!!!

[Lasalt]

Hello brothers after three long years im finally getting my cigar store off the ground. Now i need all of your help. i Live in houston north houston and im looking to open a place around where i live, its going to have a full lounge and a nice big humidor in it with a fully stocked bar with beer liquor and wine. so what i need from yall is to know what all of you would want to see in a nice cigar bar. i play to host a lot of BOTL events and always BOTL specials so that my brothers are always happy to come and visit. so please any advice you have or just supportive comments would help.
please and thank,
Your brother Josh

 

[ciggy]

Yea...Could you bring your bar here to Kalamazoo, MI? That would be awsome seeing how we don't have anything cool like that around here at all.

 

[Grego]

I am up in the Dallas area the items I have seen that really make a lounge comfortable,
Comfortable seating with several seating areas enable patrons the ability to interact to their desire, good filtration, wifi and a quiet area would be great
if it could be found.

Best of luck to you and dont hesitate to pm me youre store info, would love to visit youre store.

 

[Goalee1]

Will depend on your footprint of what you have available but lounge-wise, its important that on top of comfortable seating, I've found it important that there is enough space to walk. May sound funny but a lot of lounges I've been to have tried to cram as many big chairs/couches as they could which is fine if you're sitting but leave only a small amount of space to walk around through or by the seating. My shop for example, only had 3 chairs but plenty of "leaning" space with the smaller amount of floor space. They could have put more seating in but that would have limited the number of people in the shop. They're moving and their new space is much larger so separate lounge etc.

Adequate venting/filtration always a plus. I don't mind it but people esp those who come in to buy gifts for their smoker friends won't want to cut through the smoke. Have coffee/water available. Wifi, I guess is important, I never use it as when I go, I'm usually just chilling watching a game or talking to others. You may want to have lockers etc if you have the space and time to keep em up.
A couple of places I've been to have things like pool tables, not necessary! put more seating in!
Good luck,I'm sure I've missed a bunch of things but these come to mind at 8:30 am lol. G1

 

[Kenman25]

You going to open around Kingwood? I am from around there (Magnolia) and now live South of Houston...Sounds cool! Will have to make the trip up there once your up and running!

 

[JDog]

I look for a comfortable area but also an area to do some serious work... See below interesting tour... I like the booths since you can set-up a mini office.

http://www.casademontecristo-chicago.com/STORE_TOUR.html

 

[goin' fer smoke]

You should carry craft beers.

 

[Fourtotheflush]

think sports bare meets cigar lounge.
Comfortable leather chairs, large screen TV's.


Draft beer & bottled craft beer.
lost of Whiskeys, Rum & fine wine.

 

[funkejj]

Well I think the must for being in houston is to make sure to carry Erics favorite brands. He says it is hard to find good smokes there.

 

[tx_tuff]

Sounds like this is going to be a Cigar Bar and not just a store with a lounge? Do you already have all the licenses you need etc..? If I'm wrong and this is just going to be a store with a lounge then really I wouldn't even bother with a stocked bar and beer. You may want to have a few beers on hand for the regulars or get like one keg every week or two. Otherwise just let people bring in their own. Of course plenty of good seating, at least one nice TV, free wifi and cheaply priced lockers.

Good luck! There are a lot of very nice places in the Houston area to buy and smoke cigars.

 

[MReschke0626]

Haha, I agree with the above suggestion to check out CdM, you can tell if wasn't cheap, but their lounge is awesome. I 2nd the comment on not too many chairs. One thing I've always found annoying; from cigar lounge to any lounge, is when somebody walks past me in my chair, they're practically in my lap because there's not enough open space. Also, wifi is key. Must have. I know of myself and many others who use their cigar time at a lounge as their time to get work done and think without being bothered before going home.

Good luck, and if you're open the next time I see my sister in Texas, I'll seek you out. (Texas is a small state, I'm sure it wouldn't be too bad of a drive....)

 

[JP8]

How about an outdoor seating area?

 

[1camTEG]

Already got a location? What I like to see in a B&M is friendly but not over bearing service. If you have that and a good selection I'll go back.

 

[D Quintero]

Nice !!

rotate some fine texas craft drafts Bro!

 

[The EVP]

Make it a lounge your customers feel welcome in first and foremost. If you're going to make it a theme decor, make it a cigar theme decor. Not a sports team, not a nationality, etc. You want to attract the widest possible audience.

If you're going to have a membership, make it worth buying other than the typical 10% discount. Could be a free cigar each month, member-only events / outings, member appreciation dinner, etc. Make it so that people WANT to be a member.

Have things for the members to do...TV / DVD player (no porn...never know who's going to walk into the store), Satelite Radio, Games, etc.

Sectionalize the seating. Sometimes I don't want to talk to everybody and I don't feel like shouting over another conversation. If I'm with 2-3 friends, I might want a little privacy.

Have a nice selection of cigars...sizes and brands.

Mark the boxes for strength (not every customer is an expert).

Enforce the policies equally and from the start.

Drinks (coffee, bottled water, etc.) is a nice touch. Alcohol....I'd make it BYOB, but that's just me.

Most important, be engaging to your customers. I have one B&M up here that I've shopped at just because of the selection. The owner never comes out of his office. If you have a question you ask the counterperson and they relay the question and the response. I've never been greeted by him, never seen him or anything. But they're the only store in the area that has Opus and HTF cigars.

 

[GoingPostal]

first and foremost you got to create a friendly welcoming atmoshpere from the decor to the staff it has to be place people want to go.
Also stock a wide range of cigars so that there is something for everyone, and yes that includes Acid, RP, Gurkha, the NC version of CC brands. They may not be popular here but they are popular brands smokers look for.
Guess the only other thing is try to have several different things for your customers to do, pool table is popular(takes up a lot of room), Domino table, Darts, Poker table, and of course a tv to watch the game.

 

[dpricenator]

Big screen TV's several of them, and a gaming system with some games. I know Cigar smokers are a bunch of old fuddy duddies, but there is a group of younger guys who grew up on video games and would just as soon play Call of Duty as they would watch the Masters. Dart boards, are fun and don't take up much room. 2-3 boards in the corner, and you know where to find me.

 

[MaduroFan]

I'll second what everyone has said here, plus add this:

*Find a niche and stick to it. If you're the same as everyone else, no reason to drive all the way to your place.
*DON'T try to be everything to everyone. Business means making choices. No one cares if I like Tats; if I'm running a cigar bar, I've got to stock what SELLS, not what I smoke. Otherwise, its a hobby. Nothing wrong with that, BTB-just know it going in.
*Do your homework. Talk to people running successful operations; find out how they got successful. No, the guy you're going to compete directly with won't help, but anyone an hour or more away might.

My fav place and home base is T&C in Euless; they have a bar, a GREAT selection of sticks, and most of all, a knowledgeable staff that takes care of you. They know what every member and regular likes, and tells them what new stuff to buy -- and avoid -- as it comes in. Great folks.

And, finally, politically incorrect but true-hire some good looking women.

T&C site is here: http://www.tccigarseuless.com/

cjf

 

[vivalanation734]

Good Beer. Good Scotch. Maybe a legit coffee bar?


EDIT: Saw darts. Great idea.

 

[Lasalt]

Wow thank you all for all the advice.
The plan is to have a humidor in the front of the store then go into a lounge with four TVs flat screen on diffrent walls so that may have diffrent things and the remote is there so the customers can change the channel. I want a full bar with beer liquar wine and many diffrent
things. i want dart boards and if i have the space i want a pool table. but the walk space and lounge chairs come first. i plan to carry as many diffrent sticks as the humidor can handle and at first my brother and i will are going to run the store we both have worked in cigar bars before so i have the knowledge and i enjoy talking to all sorts of people.
As far as new comers go i have a cigar 101 class planned for about every two months with specials and beginner packs with diffrent sticks and descriptions a cheep cutter and lighter. if i forgot anything please tell me, theres no such things as bad advice