Holiday sales in general have been way down this year. People are still paying off holiday shopping from two years ago. I sell a luxury item. I get it, when the purse strings tighten, cigars are one of the first items to go. Our Black Friday deals were left untouched, too. This holiday season has been one of thrift.
As it turns out, I've spoken to a number of other small business owners aside from my boss, and they're experiencing similar issues. Good friend of mine who owns a Mercedes Benz repair facility just recently took in an S-class Benz that the guy had to default on - he couldn't pay the repair bill, and it went into lien, that's truly sad.
So we've had to change our game up around here, too. Previously, we've floated comfortably on our collection of regular customers, never really excelling as a business, but never in danger of closing our doors, either. Many of our clientele are affluent, some are downright wealthy, but when surrounded by people cutting costs, they've seen the writing on the wall and cut back alongside them. I'm not sure whether it's a show of solidarity or out of fear. The money has to go somewhere, and I go everywhere.
So our previous lineup was a fairly large percentage of super premium blends surrounded by many other top end sticks, moderately priced, like Pepin Garcia, Fuente, etc. We've kept the super premium lineup, but cut down the "middle class" of cigars. Now I know how Obama feels. ZING!
So I've brought in a lot of cheaper cigars. Not entirely comfortable about it, but that endless stream of reps has been good for something. I want to keep making money, and they share in my dream. Solidarity.
Take the Azan line we just stocked for example:
These cigars represent some great blends that have come out on the market recently, but their goal is to shoot down the competition based on price.
The right cigar is an Authentico Maduro at about ten bucks. Closest competition is Hoja de Florez's Maduro at around 12.50.
The tubo in the back? That's their burgundy line, a dark Sumatra at 5.50, sweet, and similar to Pepin Garcia's Flor de las Antillas (at around 7.50). I've sold a ton of these as gifts, since the tube makes for a better presentation.
None of the Azan line has really perfected what the competition is doing, but the small ring gauges and price tags represent a great choice for someone who doesn't want to blow as much money as the competition wants. We make slightly less on the lower-priced cigars, naturally, but retain a customer or get a new sale out of it. That's okay, I'm okay with that.
We've also been selling samplers, over a hundred of the damn things. I just pull five similar-bodied cigars off the shelf, bundle and label them, and knock 20% off the price. Suddenly a one or two stick sale becomes a five stick sale, albeit at a lower profit margin. That's okay, I'm okay with that.
Bundles are in now, we got ninety of them the night of the event from another rep, who was disappointed he couldn't showcase his premium product the same night, so it goes. In just shy of a week, I've iced over 20% of that stock. We only make about twenty dollars on a bundle, but they make a perfect companion for a new humidor, which should be kept at or above 50% capacity. That's okay, I'm okay with that.
We're working hard to keep business in Central Florida, and truth to be told, it's working.
-Ephram Rafael Nadaner
Current Smoke: Bundle Ecuadorian Habana (Solidarity, brothers!), and it ain't half bad.
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