By: John Lofstock, Editor. Convenience Store Decisions‘ annual Category Management Outlook issue is routinely one of my favorite issues of the year because it gives the CSD staff an opportunity not only to analyze the industry’s performance over the past 12 months, but to forecast the sales trends retailers can expect to see over the…
Renewed Optimism for Cigars
Amid the chaos of legislation and taxation, convenience store retailers remain optimistic they can retain OTP customers and even pick up some new ones trading down from cigarettes. By: Joe Bush, Contributing Editor. Not much been predictable about the tobacco category over the past 18 months. Huge taxes increases have renewed questions about just how…
Heavy Weights
Like all Dean’s cigars and pipe tobaccos, Dean’s new Heavy Weights cigars, a product of M & R Holdings, contain only the highest-quality tobacco. Heavy Weights are the same size as the company’s 2003 release—its 100mm Dean’s Large Cigars—containing slow-burning, air-cured burley filler and 100% homogenized tobacco wrapper. Both filter-tipped cigar brands come in nine…
New White Grape Cigarillos
Swisher International has introduced a new white grape flavor to its lineup of Swisher Sweets Cigars. The white grape flavor offers customers a mild-sweet taste, smooth flavor and an excellent aroma. These new cigarillos are individually wrapped in the company’s sealed-fresh foil wrapping and come in a variety of packaging—Bonus Box 60s, 25-count impulse units…
The Future of Cigarette Retailing
With graphic new warning labels destined for individual packages and higher tobacco prices, retailers are facing a harsh new reality. On November 10, 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unveiled 36 graphic warning label images, one of which will be selected to go on every cigarette package no later than Sept. 22, 2012.…
Lighting the Way to Profitability
Lighters can be an afterthought. There are relatively few manufacturers, everyone merchandises them near the front counter, liability issues have cut down on cheap products and differentiation is only skin deep. But even given the limited number of companies supplying products, lighters produce an excellent margin—between 40% and 60%—and sales have been steady for the…
Sweetening Cigar Sales
Small filtered cigarellos represent a real albeit temporary opportunity for convenience stores to rack up sales, so get going before the window of opportunity slams shut. These diminutive cigars have gained strong appeal among smokers laboring to afford cigarettes in the wake of multiple tobacco tax hikes. The price differential between filtered cigars and cigarettes…
Mini Wine Flavor Cigarillos
Swisher International Inc. has combined one of its newest and most popular flavors with the convenient shape of mini cigarillos to make the new Swisher Sweets Mini Wine Cigarillos. These new, smaller cigars offer the quick smoke many customers prefer, and come individually wrapped with the company’s unique special sealed-fresh wrapper to ensure fresh, flavorful…
TPE 2011 Expecting Strong Attendance
Building on the success of the Tobacco Plus Expo (TPE) 2010, the Tobacco Plus Expo slated for March 2-3 at the Las Vegas Convention Center is attracting a record level of early interest from both exhibitors and attendees. “A full 10 months out we already have commitments from the majority of last year’s exhibitors, as…
Cigars and Papers
HBI International offers Juicy Bluntarillo Quad Wrapped Cigars, which are smaller than a blunt, but bigger than a cigarillo. The Bluntarillos have four wraps because the flavor of a cigar is mostly held in its wrapper. By using four, this cigar has four times the flavor. Plus some of the wraps can be peeled off…