What you guys look for in a cigar shoppe?

[prophetic_joe]

I LOVE all the help I'm getting!!! this is great guys!!!! I will make sure all of you will be preferred customers! lol!

Ok the other guys here have all given some really funny ideas and I like them. I do think though that how to run a good cigar shop and what to have there is a good question that most don't ask. I have a couple places around my area, and by that I would mean within a 2 hour traveling distance, and the main thing that caused me an issue when I was going was a lack of friendly and helpful staff in most places and the places that had friendly staff didn't seem to have any that had any cigar knowledge whatsoever. The main thing you need is a staff that makes an effort to know your product, is friendly and helpful to the customer and actually seems to enjoy their job. Anything beyond that for me in a cigar shop is gravy.

Preferences though also include:
A good walk-in Humidor
A nice selection of cigars from different manufacturers
Fair and decent prices
A decent selection of lighters, cutters and other accessories
A lounge with a few comfortable chairs and a TV for sports events and such

But again none of that matters in my opinion without friendly, helpful and knowledgeable staff.

[ggiese]

ok the other guys here have all given some really funny ideas and i like them. I do think though that how to run a good cigar shop and what to have there is a good question that most don't ask. I have a couple places around my area, and by that i would mean within a 2 hour traveling distance, and the main thing that caused me an issue when i was going was a lack of friendly and helpful staff in most places and the places that had friendly staff didn't seem to have any that had any cigar knowledge whatsoever. The main thing you need is a staff that makes an effort to know your product, is friendly and helpful to the customer and actually seems to enjoy their job. Anything beyond that for me in a cigar shop is gravy.

Preferences though also include:
A good walk-in humidor
a nice selection of cigars from different manufacturers
fair and decent prices
a decent selection of lighters, cutters and other accessories
a lounge with a few comfortable chairs and a tv for sports events and such

but again none of that matters in my opinion without friendly, helpful and knowledgeable staff.

boring.....

[kmandudeguy]

I appreciate so much how this has taken off! I now am fully confident in my future shop and is success!

[Paddy]

I'm actually an apprentice Sheetmetal worker so I could help with the HVAC. I haven't done any since 1990 though so I'm pretty rusty, but I can bang duct together and hang it like nobody's business. Just don't ask me to do an onsite ogee offset is all.

Also, considering I've spent the last 15+ years in IT with the last 7 specializing in networking I could do all the network cabling for the entire building. I'd suggest 10 Gig fiber optic backbone with Cat 7 cabling to the outlets from the patch panels.

Don't forget on the blue prints to add a data center. It should be big enough for at least 10 APC server racks (I was thinking 5 but one should always double their expectations to allow for growth). Don't forget the integral, redundant UPS's (2 x 100 KvA ought to do) and separate A/C units in the data center. Oh, and you'll need a backup generator as well. A bloody big one as it'll have to run all the power for the whole building. Might be better to have a separate gennie for the data center but that would be up to the electrical engineer.

What about a Casino? Nobody's mentioned that and I'd love to be able to sit and smoke a cigar while playing Texas Hold'em.




Oh yeah, gotta have some hot tubs and a sauna! Good thinking Jamie. I like the idea of a tobacco patch too. Wouldn't there be a need for some storage rooms for the tobacco so it can age? Maybe we should be thinking about hiring a couple cigar rollers too. I volunteer for quality control!

Has anybody mentioned a golf course or maybe just a driving range???

Oh you know what would be REALLY cool..........if we put it all together on a cruise ship!

Ahhh...A Tin-Knocker. Are you Union?

[CptnBlues63]

Ahhh...A Tin-Knocker. Are you Union?

LOL

I'm chuckling cause where I'm from we called them a "tin-basher" Same thing, only different right.

I started out non-union but after a couple years I got into the union. The reason I got into the union was, after almost 3 years of working in the trade I couldn't get to school. The non-union companies told you, "Oh you can go to school alright, but you won't have a job here in 8 weeks when school is done." Plus, they could delay your EI (employment insurance) benefits by just not turning in the lay-off forms for a month or so. For guys like me at that time, it meant not paying rent or eating for a couple weeks so you stayed at work and shut up.

It was sh*tty behaviour on their parts, but in Saskatchewan in the 80's there wasn't a lot of work and they had us by the short hairs. My bad luck was never having a job end when the next round of school started. I finally joined the union and got sent immediately to school on my 1st union job because I had the requisite number of hours for 2nd year as well as 1st.

All told, I have 4 years worth of time in the trade (10,000 hours required for journeyman status) but only ever got to school the one time so technically I am a "2nd year apprentice" but was working at a 4+ level on the job because of experience, smarts, and having worked with several journeymen who knew their stuff and believed it was their job to teach us on the job.

Do you have some experience in working with tin yourself Paddy?