Daily Record, The (Baltimore): Cigar-bus tour revs sales at Maryland stores

The return of the Macanudo American Passion Tour bus last week is being viewed by Maryland cigar merchants as a gift from a god who probably looks a lot like cigar-smoking George Burns.

Its arrival so close to Father's Day, this Sunday, had retailers singing the traveling cigar lounge's praises while counting their profits. Tobacconists are hoping buzz generated by the bus will keep sales growth steady through the summer. Sales often slacken after Father's Day, merchants said.

It was an excellent sales day, said David Castro, founder and co- owner of Davidus Cigars Ltd. following a Wednesday stop at his Frederick store. The four-hour event, which featured free cigars as well as T-shirt and hat giveaways, attracted about 100 people.

The 45-foot-long bus is modeled after General Cigar Co.'s Club Macanudo in New York. It features a VIP section where customers can sample, for free, one of three styles of Macanudo, America's best- selling premium brand. A blackjack table where no money changes hands is also part of the scene. Adirondack chairs and umbrellas are available for smokers wishing to relax outdoors.

Customers and employees at The Humidour Inc. Cigar Shoppe in Timonium, where the bus stopped Friday, were eagerly anticipating the event, sales associate George Stavrakis said. Bus sightings had the store abuzz.

Some guys spotted it [the bus] coming from another event and were talking about it [Thursday], Stavrakis said. I told them, 'Come here tomorrow and you can go on board.'

The event generated one of the store's top sales days, said Stavrakis, adding that timing helped. Any time we do a public event sales go up, he said. But with the bus and it being so close to Father's Day we knew were going to have an especially good day.

It exceeded expectations, said Don Bennett, president and co- owner of Fader's of Catonsville, summing up a Thursday stop at his store. The event, attended by 150 people, was also one of that shop's best sales days of the year.

There were people waiting for the bus when it arrived and we had to kick people off when it was time for it to leave, Bennett said.

Relaxation and prestige are two elements of the mystique that keeps cigars popular amid a climate of declining tobacco consumption, particularly of cigarettes. Year-to-date industry sales are up about 10 percent over last year, said Victoria McKee, New York-based General Cigar's public relations manager.

It's two different experiences, said Castro in comparing cigarette and premium cigar smoking. Cigarettes are mostly habitual. Cigars are a festive event.

An affordable luxury is how McKee explains cigars' enduring popularity.

Successful professionals 25 to 35 are the industry's fastest- growing market segment, McKee said. About one fifth of adults are cigar smokers, according to figures from the American Lung Association. About 300 to 320 million premium cigars are sold in the U.S. annually, McKee said, citing statistics from the Cigar Association of America Inc.

This year's tour began March 8 in Jupiter, Fla., and finishes July 30 in Albany, N.Y. Objectives include promoting the Macanudo brand and boosting retail sales, said McKee, a 1994 Towson University communications graduate.

We've found it to be a good sales vehicle for us, she said, playing on words.

General Cigar conducted the first tour in 2001, and included stops in Maryland the first three years. This year's six-month jaunt concentrates on states in the East and Southeast. General Cigar will decide in the next two months whether to move back to a year-long format next year, she said.

Maryland tobacconists say they'd like to see the bus more often so every day could be more like Father's Day.