Cigar Shop Uk

[Kevin.A]

Hi everyone, new to the forums, I'm looking for a bit of advice. My friend and I are new cigar and pipe smoking enthusiasts, unfortunately there are no specialist tobacconists in the area that sell a large selection of cigars, pipes or tobacco, other than a few newsagents that have a handful of products on their shelves.

That's where we come in, the thing is, we don't know where to start, where to look for advice, or who to get in touch with. We'd like to know the legalities, taxes, anyone we can get in touch with, or maybe if it would be a good idea to call other stores around the UK and see if they have some free advice.

Maybe I've answered my own question, but it would be great to get some feedback.

 

[Multi-store]

First thing I'd suggest is to find out if there is any desire for this type of product. Smoking is somewhat old fashioned in my opinion and my own guess would be that in 20 years it will be virtually dormant in the UK, with prices rising 10-15% per year and awareness so much greater now than it was 10 years ago. Kids cannot access / afford tobacco anymore and therefore as generation move on it becomes less and less likely they will smoke. In our local town there is one specialist smoking shop that is always booming and has been there for years, but they specialise in the marijuana side of things, bongs, pipes, blunt paper and accessories which is still hugely popular and is actually a growing community (excuse the pun)

In my opinion, knock it on the head. If the lack of sales don't kill you, the cigars will.

 

[ITsoldUK]

To be blunt (and not getting on my high horse about smoking so worry not)...does the lack of these type of shops not tell you something?

They used to be a few, now there are even fewer...

 

[Multi-store]

To be blunt (and not getting on my high horse about smoking so worry not)...does the lack of these type of shops not tell you something?

They used to be a few, now there are even fewer...

ITSold You know "the very bizarre" on silver street? They do really well, but they're range is so much more than just the paraphernalia, they have a great following.

 

[ITsoldUK]

ITSold You know "the very bizarre" on silver street? They do really well, but they're range is so much more than just the paraphernalia, they have a great following.

I do indeed, in fact, I love that whole area (St Martins) some great stores...Josephs is where I used to buy all my clothes before kids began draining my wallet

I also remember 2 stores that used to specialize in tobacco etc and now one is a general newsagent and the other is gone completely I think (Cank St).

There is a micro niche for this I think but as a stand alone store/niche it may struggle.

 

[Kevin.A]

Thanks for the quick feedback.

The fact that there are a lack of stores were a concern for us, seeing as we live near towns like Cambridge, Huntingdon and Newmarket, or in fact any town along the A14. Maybe it will just remain a dream for us then .

We aren't the sort of guys that just rush into these things, we will no doubt, brew over this idea for months before we take any action, or any action at all. Like it was mentioned, cigars and pipes are so old fashioned and such a niche that it's probably not worth investing in.

A lot more research is in order I think!

 

[ITsoldUK]

Thanks for the quick feedback.

The fact that there are a lack of stores were a concern for us, seeing as we live near towns like Cambridge, Huntingdon and Newmarket, or in fact any town along the A14. Maybe it will just remain a dream for us then .

We aren't the sort of guys that just rush into these things, we will no doubt, brew over this idea for months before we take any action, or any action at all. Like it was mentioned, cigars and pipes are so old fashioned and such a niche that it's probably not worth investing in.

A lot more research is in order I think!

I wouldn't say not worth investing in.

Maybe a bit more micro niche research for example, 2 keywords I would associate with these types of product resulted in 1500 searches in uk per month...about 50 per day.

I am sure you could hone in on productive products if you researched but you need to ascertain the demand first.

Good luck with it though and NEVER stop shooting, you will score one day