The Importance of Private Label Cigars for Retailers

Private label and "house cigars" are no longer a novelty or vanity project, they are a strategic asset for modern brick and mortar retailers.  When executed properly, they increase margins, strengthen customer loyalty and differentiate your business in the physical and web-based marketplace.  

As retailers, we operate in a marketplace where the largest manufacturers are vertically integrated into retail and internet sales, selling the same brands direct-to-consumer that they want you to carry.  In that model, the economic advantage is entirely theirs.

Too often, retail tobacconists introduce brands to the market, build awareness, educate consumers, host events and create demand, only to watch those same cigars appear discounted online - undercutting the very retailers who helped establish them in the first place.

Sound familiar?  

This dynamic puts brick-and-mortar retailers in a structurally disadvantaged position: higher overhead, limited pricing control and competition from the very suppliers they support.  It's a reality that demands a strategic response!

Private label cigars are one of the few tools that restore balance, allowing retailers to reclaim margin, exclusivity and long-term customer loyalty. 

Margin Control & Profit Maximization: double your profits, control your pricing.

Differentiation in a Saturated Market: sell yourself and your brand, not others.

Customer Loyalty & Repeat Visits: customers want to be loyal, give them good reason.

Brand Equity for the Retailer: build loyalty to your brand.

Insulation From Supply Constraints & Volatility: there are no allocation limitations when you own the brand.

Higher ROI on Shelf Space: it's all about the profit.

Education, Storytelling & Engagement: hand selling and story telling is where retail tobacconists shine!

THE BOTTOM LINE
Private label cigars shift the balance of power back to the retailer.  They increase margins, deepen customer loyalty, strengthen your brand identity and create long-term resilience.  For forward-thinking tobacconists, private label cigars are not option, they are fundamental.

TU PRIVATE LABEL CIGARS
Tobacconist University has partnered with a boutique factory in Nicaragua, led by one of Cuba's most renown protege's - an operation that values both the culture and substance of our Certified Tobacconists.  

Through this exclusive relationship, our factory can offer dozens of wrapper and vitola combinations to help you launch your house blend business immediately.  A house blend is typically an unbanded cigar that is an exclusive for you and your market: giving you immediate differentiation and control.  

After you get sales rolling, you can take the next step: add custom bands, have branding handled directly by the factory and ultimately evolve your house blend into a fully realized cigar brand of your own, just like the big names you already know.  

The sooner you start, the better off you will be, so don't delay.  We can't do it for you, but we spent over a decade building this very special factory relationship just for Certified Tobacconists.  The pricing and quality will genuinely stun you!

Email TUPrivateLabel@gmail.com to contact our factory directly, they will be able to answer all of your questions and get you samples.

My 3 Biggest Mistakes As A Retail Tobacconist

After nearly thirty years as a retail tobacconist, operating multiple stores in different states, I am still haunted by regrets and mistakes I made.  I left a lot of money on the table by not being smart enough or wise enough.  

Control Your Real Estate
My first great mistake was not controlling or owning my own real estate.  Being beholden to a landlord and paying rent means you will never build an asset and get the benefits of appreciating real estate down the road.  I knew this in the early 2000s yet I chose to fund Tobacconist University (TU) instead of buying the building(s) my stores occupied.  I can forgive myself for this because my dream of helping other retail tobacconists and elevating the luxury tobacco industry became my real passion.   My next two mistakes are the ones that really haunt me.

Sell Your Own Brands
I spent most of my time and energy building other people's brands instead of my own.  I took great pride in procuring and selling popular and hard-to-get cigar brands that my customers wanted but neglected consistently building my own brand(s).  I should have dedicated 20% of my shelf space and focus to private label and house brands.  That would have greatly increased my profitability and given me a portfolio of dedicated and happy customers that I could keep forever.  They could continue to be customers beyond brick and mortar and be an asset and income stream indefinitely into the future.  

Embrace E-Commerce
Lastly, I failed to see the future and value of the internet in the 1990s when I opened my first store.  I was always focused on the physical environment and community of retail without seeing the power of permanently tethering my customers to my store with an ecommerce website.  If I had better foresight, I could still have proactive and enriching relationships with thousands of customers who were just 'passing through' town and loved my stores.  It makes me sick just to think of the lost potential.  And it is all my fault.

SOLUTIONS & STRATEGIES FOR YOU

On the bright side, my failures represent new opportunities for TU Certified Tobacconists.  I am trying to make up for my failures by creating solutions and resources for TU Certified Tobacconists.  Our TUECOM and TU Private Label programs exist so you won't make the same mistakes I did.  Above all, TU seeks to help retail tobacconists succeed because they are the keystone which makes the luxury tobacco industry so special!

Turnkey mail order websites for Certified Retail Tobacconists.  Our goal is to make it as cheap and easy as possible for retailers to operate their own mail order websites. 

We have partnered with extraordinary cigar makers to give TU Certified Tobacconists exclusive access to highly profitable cigars.  Having started with our R&D Cigars and moving forward with our private label cigars, we are shepherding products to market with an educational component.  In fact, we have created the only cigars in the world which require you to be certified to sell: a bona fide competitive advantage!

In Closing ...

I want to emphasize the key to capitalizing on these resources is to start early and take the long-term approach!  It takes time to reap the rewards and build the business so you must be consistent about investing in these programs now so you can benefit in the future.  There is no easy path or magic trick to success.  But by committing yourself now you will certainly be more successful in the future.  

Email info@tobacconsituniversity.org or call 609.651.2311 if you have any questions.