My Local B&M

howtobass

Finally stopped by my local B&M. Smoked two, and for the first time I might have a third! They are great people, and this place is amazing. It has a sports room with flat screen, another room for just chatting, the bar area, and then where I am sitting in the "living room". Best part is you can smoke where ever you want. This is the life.... Oh! and they have an awesome selection of cigars! Bombing my fellow brothers is finally in sight!

 

ENFIDL

Very cool! That place sounds awesome

KingoftheCove

Nice! I wish we had one here.

Direwolf

That's a great looking place

howtobass

I'm sure i'll be posting more pics once I get to know the owners better. I just didn't want to be running all over the place taking photo's. If you guys are ever in south Georgia, let me know!

The Kid

Direwolf:

That's a great looking place

+10

Bobbo2009

Looks awesome. I really wish I had a place like that here. Enjoy!!

Rob

Teege

howtobass:

I'm sure i'll be posting more pics once I get to know the owners better. I just didn't want to be running all over the place taking photo's. If you guys are ever in south Georgia, let me know!

How far south?

howtobass

Teege:

howtobass:

I'm sure i'll be posting more pics once I get to know the owners better. I just didn't want to be running all over the place taking photo's. If you guys are ever in south Georgia, let me know!

How far south?

I'm in Valdosta right off 75.

RampMonkey

Nice indeed. Nothing like that here...but maybe one day they might branch out west.

jr_p951

Sounds like an awesome B&M! I wish we had a good lounge here in Temecula! One you have to pay a daily fee or be an annual member. The other is small and the worker almost sucks the life out of you with her eyes. Your B&M sounds like the spot!!

bandyt09

jr_p951:

Sounds like an awesome B&M! I wish we had a good lounge here in Temecula! One you have to pay a daily fee or be an annual member. The other is small and the worker almost sucks the life out of you with her eyes. Your B&M sounds like the spot!!

Jr. anytime you make it down to the OC, I'll take you to the Tobacco Barn Lounge............

deejmemixx

do the places like this charge you a yearly fee like they do here?

bandyt09

deejmemixx:

do the places like this charge you a yearly fee like they do here?

Shane, mine is a $27.00 a month fee ($37.00 a month if you go with a locker there) or youy can spend $20.00 on cigars there and they will let you in for the day. The My Father Lounge Exclusives (only available there or in a B&M in Scottsdale Arizona) are $11.95 a pop so if you go with 2 of those you are good to go.

Direwolf

The have a couple here ,but they charge huge amounts for the membership. The B&M smoke shop I go to has a sitting area, but doesn't serve drinks.

deejmemixx

ok, ya here it is 400 for membership and an additional 100 if you want a locker. You can sit in the lobby if you buy a smoke from them, but at $8 a pop i cant make myself do that often. Makes me want to start one up and cut the prices in half and see how many more people you would get.

Bubba3650

I would join you!

The Kid

deejmemixx:

ok, ya here it is 400 for membership and an additional 100 if you want a locker. You can sit in the lobby if you buy a smoke from them, but at $8 a pop i cant make myself do that often. Makes me want to start one up and cut the prices in half and see how many more people you would get.

charging membership IMO is BS. F that

StrongStyle

mines 250 a year, get member exclusive deals and 10% off all purchases plus the ability to smoke in the lounge. byob. im gonna join next week i think.

The Kid

Thought I'd share this with y'all. When I was on vacation I ventured to a B&M to pick up some great smokes. They had an awesome selection. some prices were high, others were average and still others were great, I made a pretty big purchase and was talkin with a co-owner tellin her I live in a different state, She was accomodating and said she'd be more than happy to ship any future purchases to me if neccessarry. We got on the subject of Tobacco tax that varies from state to state which is built in to their selling price. I then was forthcoming and told them that a good majority of my purchases were made on-line. Well to put it bluntly that didnt go over too well. I knew it was something they didnt like to hear.To say her attitude took a 180 would be an understatement. No longer was it a pleasant conversation between two cigar enthusiasist, it was more along the lines of take your cigars and get the F out of my store..lol.. Seriously!!. but Im not gonna lie and tell em I buy exclusively from B&M's. I told them the truth.. Anyway I'll be talking to the main man at that loacation soon to at least tell em how I was treated. I'd like to hear others thoughts on this.

CharlieCordus

When people tell me they shopped at wal-mart yesterday or they have taken their business to mail order/internet I just smile and nod and wish them well. Ya know, I can sort of understand her attitude but i would never act that way. It doesnt feel good to be on that end of the stick. What would you want her to say? Is it her fault the playing field isn't level? Hey, I understand it is the way it is, that's why I wish people well on their way out the door. On the other hand you made a big purchase and sounded like you were very cordial and supportive toward them so maybe you deserved to be treated better. BTW. back to the original thread, I would love to have a place to visit like that, looks awesome!

docbp87

CharlieCordus:

I own a retail store and when people tell me they shopped at wal-mart yesterday or they have taken their business to mail order/internet I just smile and nod and wish them well. Ya know, I can sort of understand her attitude but i would never act that way. It doesnt feel good to be on that end of the stick. What would you want her to say? Is it her fault the playing field isn't level? Hey, I understand it is the way it is, that's why I wish people well on their way out the door. On the other hand you made a big purchase and sounded like you were very cordial and supportive toward them so maybe you deserved to be treated better. BTW. back to the original thread, I would love to have a place to visit like that, looks awesome!

This. I totally understand the B&M owners who dislike online shops, especially the HUGE ones like CCom, that can offer much lower prices, without the addition of the brutal taxes that have done so much damage to the B&M industry lately, but while actually dealing with a customer, especially a new one, face to face... I would never act that way. Talk about poor handling of a situation. The guy that runs the little shop I spend most of my time at (the smallest of a few Havana Connections shops, a Richmond B&M that has 5 locations) knows me pretty well, and we shoot the *** on the regular, so when he gripes about online retailers to me, that's no big deal, because he knows how I feel about it, and they it isn't going to keep me from shopping at his store a few times a week, because I'm an established customer, a regular even, but it sounds like that woman needs to take a refresher course on customer interaction...

camgfs

I think it's great that people can have a place to have a cigar and chat. That was taken away from us in Ontario many years ago. A friend of mine invested a fortune in a "cigar bar" in this city, only to have the place closed down one week before it opened. The Gov. passed a 'no smoking in indoor public places' bill (not the correct name, but you know what I mean). His business was built around being able to smoke a cigar while playing pool or watching the game. Furniture was in place, air circulation with fresh air and vents to remove some of the smoke, all the greatest/latest in air systems....and then the law changes. The place did open, but with the largest space designed as a smoking lounge and no one allowed to smoke, it only lasted a couple weeks.

I almost invested with him, but I knew that changes were in the making....so many never believed the laws would pass and they lost a fortune on that gamble.

My old garage, with uneven cement floor and drafty doors is now my 'man cave', and it suits the purpose when the snow is too deep for a lawn chair.

Teege

CharlieCordus:

I own a retail store and when people tell me they shopped at wal-mart yesterday or they have taken their business to mail order/internet I just smile and nod and wish them well. Ya know, I can sort of understand her attitude but i would never act that way. It doesnt feel good to be on that end of the stick. What would you want her to say? Is it her fault the playing field isn't level? Hey, I understand it is the way it is, that's why I wish people well on their way out the door. On the other hand you made a big purchase and sounded like you were very cordial and supportive toward them so maybe you deserved to be treated better. BTW. back to the original thread, I would love to have a place to visit like that, looks awesome!

If I was an owner and someone came in and said pfft im not buying anything here prices are crazy compared to online and left maybe then I would be a little mad however in Kids case he spent money (not sure the amount but doesnt really matter) and they were just talking and he mentioned that he buys most of his stuff online.

There is NO reason at that point to be mad or get an attitude. Not only is he not someone who does not live in your area but he just spent his money in your store. Money that could of been spent online had he chose. Or at another B&M even.

A store owner needs to learn and adapt to their place in the marketplace. Since there are so many online retailers of all products you have to offer something else that draws customers to you and makes them not mind the price differences. Such as a nice lounge, drinks and just friendly people. The atmosphere is what draws people to most B&Ms (along with selection) So while no im not gonna go in and buy many boxes I will go in and buy a few single sticks I wanted to try.

Retail is all about customer experience having an attitude is never good you need more business and the main way is word of mouth, if that word is bad then that is not going to work in your favor.

That just MHO