As a manager at Woody’s Smokes & Brews I am always looking at our competitors’ prices. With that said, in the last couple years retail cigar stores have had to compete with on-line cigar stores. Many of these on-line stores say they have the lowest prices on cigars. I wanted to know if they did and how our prices compared to their prices. What I found was surprising. They all claim to have the lowest prices and claim that you will save a lot of money, but do you really? Woody’s Smokes & Brews has always had the lowest prices in middle Tennessee and we back that with a guarantee. But how would we stack up against the on-line stores? What I found is we still had the lowest prices. The first site I visited was Thompson Cigars, as they are one of the biggest on-line stores. I picked 5 cigars that we both carried then compared box prices and this is what I found:
Fuente Don Carlos No. 3- Woody’s price is $179.78(box of 25) and Thompson’s price is $207.00(box of 25) That is a difference of $27.22 with a 13.15% savings
Romeo Y Julita Reserva Real Toro- Woody’s price is $112.27(box of 25) and Thompson’s price is $138.00(box of 25) That is a difference of $25.73 with a 18.65% savings
La Flor Dom. Chisel Nat.- Woody’s price is $129.42(box of 20) and Thompson’ s price is $145.00(box of 20) That is a difference of $15.58 with a savings of 10.75%
Montecristo Robusto- Woody’s price is $173.03(box of 25) and Thompson’s price is $225.00(box of 25) That is a difference of $51.97 with a savings of 23.1%
Montecristo Churchill- Woody’s price is $184.28(box of 25) and Thompson’s price is $238.00(box of 25) on sale regular $257.00 so that is a difference of $53.72 with a savings of 22.6%
Woody’s was lower on every cigar and the Thompson prices did not include shipping and handling. This was a good start. After checking out some more on-line stores like cigarsonline.com, cigarinternational.com, nickscigarworld.com, and Holtz.com I got similar results. I found that we were cheaper most of the time and once I figured in shipping and handling we were almost always cheaper. What I had found was Woody’s Smokes & Brews is the best place to buy cigars if you live in middle Tennessee, unless you want to pay more. The other plus to buying from a retail store like Woody’s is you can see what you are buying before you buy. You know it has been properly stored and you’re not taking any risks. When you buy on-line you don’t know if the cigars have been cared for properly. Why pay more to take that risk? If you live in middle Tennessee you are going to find that Woody’s Smokes & Brews is the best place to buy your cigars, so stop in and see for yourself.
1 response so far ↓
Tom Featherstone // June 13, 2008 at 4:55 am
Conversing with my friends at a local cigar shop, I suddenly realized what a great time I was having. Was it the fine cigar, the laughs or just the comradery among men, and women, who love the cigar culture? I am going with the comradery, as I enjoy that as much, if not more than the cigars we smoke. Then I thought to myself; “what if cigar shops didn’t exist?”
You see, if it weren’t for the neighborhood cigar shop, you would have to buy your cigars at the local gas and go market down the street. Those folks don’t know what to suggest as a fine hand rolled cigar. If it were up to them, we would all be smoking Philly Blunts and White Owls. Do you want to buy your cigars from a pimple faced teen at the counter or a gentleman who knows and smokes cigars? Most people pick up what’s pretty anyway!
Sure, your thinking you could buy them online, but before online retailers were selling cigars, or we had the internet, it was up to the local cigar shop. The sad thing is that a lot of them are going out of business. Why? Because online retailers, mostly wholesale companies selling retail online, are selling cigars cheaper to the consumer, bypassing the local shop that helped them build the brands we know and love today.
Another thing that’s killing the local cigar shops are the new state and county smoking bans in restaurants and clubs. You see, a lot of smokers used to stop and pick up a few sticks before heading out on the town. Now that they can’t smoke in public, they don’t buy cigars before going out! This is why it’s important to support your local cigar shop.
I know the online deals are great, and sometimes you should buy a box or two online, as I have done the same thing to save some money, but don’t totally stop visiting your local shops. You have to buy a stick to try before you buy a box, and if we don’t do our part, you won’t have that luxury anymore. Just think; you will have to buy a box online just to try one cigar.
A lot of cigar shops are adding smoking lounges, so you can enjoy a cigar without the nasty look from others and have some good conversation with other cigar aficionados. This is great for those who can afford to do this, but a lot of the shops that are struggling won’t gamble adding a lounge, just to be told that the smoking ban includes their place of business!
Another way you can support your local cigar shops, and score a few free smokes for yourself, is to start a local cigar smokers club and have the shops host your club. That is what we are doing in Nashville Tennessee with the Nashville Cigar Club. You can go to http://www.nashvillecigarclub.com for an example of what we are doing. Its fun and we get to try and enjoy new cigars all the time.
Nashville Cigar Club has an updated event calendar, a cigar smoker’s forum and soon will be launching a cigar smoker’s podcast with cigar reviews and special guests.
We are doing our part, so see what you can do to keep cigar smoking around for future generations in your neck of the woods. Support your local tobacconist.
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