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Actually, Dave at Smoky's has a few estates and if I'm not mistaken so does Leaf & Ale.
 
The question of b&m or internet purchase is sort of like the one between the box store and the local shop, or better yet Amazon vs. the local bookstore.

In almost every business, value equals discounts, and your lcal shop cannot compete with the big store on that basis. I once had a small camera store, north of Toronto. My cost on cameras exceeded the advertised prices of the big Toronto shops, and there was literally nothing I could do about it. If I ordered in the numbers to get the better pricing, I couldn't possibly sell that amount of product in my town, my market wasn't big enough. Because I couldn't meet the price, the customers would drive an hour each way to save $30.00.

Your b&m has to pay for retail space, your typical etailer is paying for a warehouse space, and that is a huge difference. In a mall the retailer is not only paying for his sales space, but something for his % of the parking spaces, and often a per centage of his gross sales as part of his lease, and has to keep hours consistant with the mall hours. The etailer has much less overhead, a much larger potential market, and if he works it right cheaper product costs.

If the anti smoking groups get their way they will outlaw the shipping of tobacco, all in the guise of preventing children from getting smokes through the mail, and then where we be? In Canada all the distributors of pipes and pipe tobacco also distribute cigars, so any retailer who carries good cigars also has access to at least some better pipe tobacco. But they are only willing to carry it if they can sell it. Despite the heavy price I do buy tobacco locally, and am in the process of educating the local cigar smoking shop owner about pipe tobaccos. Luckily other pipe smokers have shown themselves interested in the tobaccos he has brought in, so it is working out for him and for me.

Unless we want to only have Wal Marts and other mega retailers we have to find a way to support smaller local stores. Part of that support is in patronage, sometimes it is in education.
 
Just a couple quick responses to earlier posts in this thread.

Someone in the Nashville area said he had never visited Leaf and Ale. You ought to go if you are in the area. I made a stop there when I was in town a few months ago. They have a good selection of pipes and tobacco including some good looking locally made briars. It is also a pleasant place to sit awhile.

Estate pipes - Yes, some B&M's do sell estate pipes. Smokers Haven, in Columbus, Ohio, has a pretty big display case full of them. They seemed a little pricey but I am no expert. My favorite local B&M here in Cincinnati, Bells House of Tobacco - also has begun to stock and sell estate pipes. So far his selection is limitted but he has steadily increased his inventory of pipes and tobaccos in the last several months. I suspect that more of his cigar customers have switched, at least partially, to pipes in response to the price increases this year.
 
clueless":blckj6ft said:
Just a couple quick responses to earlier posts in this thread.

Someone in the Nashville area said he had never visited Leaf and Ale. You ought to go if you are in the area. I made a stop there when I was in town a few months ago. They have a good selection of pipes and tobacco including some good looking locally made briars. It is also a pleasant place to sit awhile.

Estate pipes - Yes, some B&M's do sell estate pipes. Smokers Haven, in Columbus, Ohio, has a pretty big display case full of them. They seemed a little pricey but I am no expert. My favorite local B&M here in Cincinnati, Bells House of Tobacco - also has begun to stock and sell estate pipes. So far his selection is limitted but he has steadily increased his inventory of pipes and tobaccos in the last several months. I suspect that more of his cigar customers have switched, at least partially, to pipes in response to the price increases this year.
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I was the one who mentioned Leaf and Ale, but in Knoxville...not Nashville. (there might be one there...I don't know).

I do plan to visit though...I get email updates from them from time to time on specials and events at the store.

Mike
 
Its not a matter of either/or..
Its not a vs. thing either...

I like B&M's.. AND I like Etailers...

I could have just as easily turned it around and asked why guys complain when an Etailer doesn't treat them like Joe at the B&M...

I guess its really about reasonable expectations....
 
Some of you here will know my favorite ever B&M having visited there, attending pipe clubs meetings there or simply by reputation. Others will know having done business with her online shop, Joyce White ran Royal Cigar in Atlanta, Ga and still may hostess Atlanta Pipe Club meetings in her home (I know she has as recently as last month). Of all the B&M's I ever been in both in the USA and the UK Royal Cigar stands out for me, in ACES! Selection was/is second to none, service is also second to none ... with Joyce you are NOT just a customer, you are a friend. I believe Joyce gave up the B&M for semi-retirement after serving the community for many years. Those that know her personally will know of her health and life issues and challenges which probably also played a role in her choice to close the doors, though she she does a brisk business online. She has done so since the early 1990's to my understanding.

Many shops try for a personal touch, and some are moderately successful at pulling it off. Others offer a 'membership' including a climate controlled 'cigar locker' and a smoking lounge for paying members.

I now live in an area with no B&M within a reasonable commute. Gainesville, Ga has a shop that is fairly close by, but Gainesville has for me at least very little else to offer that I can't find closer and thus isn't a regular run for me. Our little place in town closed it's doors 2 years ago and the owner went back into DOD electronics. It was a cigar shop with a couple of pipes and some tins of tobacco and the Lane's Jars with creative store names on them kind of place, with a couple of chairs and ash trays for sharing a smoke with the owner and friends. He was a friendly enough sort of chap, but had interests elsewhere which eventually won him back into a much more lucrative business.

I have done a great deal of business online over the years, but I still prefer a face to face transaction and the chance of meeting new friends that a B&M offers. I think online sales have probably hastened the death of several/many B&M's but I feel that they are likely a dying industry anyway. I don't think it does any good to pit one against the other here, and some that manage to offer a B&M and online business do extremely well at it, at least for now.

It's curious to me that no one has mentioned E-Bay in this thread, where the goal is purely a capital gain for the consumer ... get the ultra-rare gold and diamond appointed Bo Nordh for $69.00 delivered employing the very latest and greatest SNIPE SOFTWARE :twisted:

For me, it's all about choices, and given the choice I'd pay a little bit more at a B&M were one a reasonable distance from me and offered the selection and friendship I require. I've never been a 'big spender' either at a B&M or an etailer, what I have been is a steady customer, and when you've earned my repeated business, a LOYAL one.

Isn't that what business is all about anyway? Wouldn't a business person prefer loyal and repeat customers to a big shot who comes in and buys half the inventory?

Just some thoughts gentlemen and ladies ...
 
To be honest, If a B&M carried a good selection of pipes and tobacco, I would probably never buy online, even if the cost was greater. The reason is that I enjoy the experience of selecting a pipe or purchasing tobacco in person. Also, to be able to smoke the pipe and chat with the gents in the shop. Unfortunately, I'm about 35-40 miles from any B&M, so most of my purchasing has been done with e-tailers. I'm just glad that we still have a choice in these tough times :santa:
 
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