Tobacco Retailer articles from February 2002

Tobacco Retailer archives from February 2002

Look on the bright side. (From the editor).(keeping small businesses running)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
February 1, 2002... If the numbers are to be believed, if you receive this magazine and are reading it, you probably are a small-business owner. In fact, recent research has shown that of the nearly 9,000 CTS sites in the country, about half are run by single-site...

RJR acquires Santa Fe Natural Tobacco. (Industry News).(RJ Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings, Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., in December signed a definitive merger agreement with Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, Inc., Santa Fe, N.M. RJR will acquire 100 percent of the shares of privately held Santa Fee for...

California lowers tax on smokeless Tobacco. (Industry News).(US Smokeless Tobacco Co.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... In December, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, Greenwich, Conn., announced that the California State Board of Equalization had voted to settle the litigation the company and other parties had brought to overturn an increase in the state excise...

Washington smokers now footing largest tax bill. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... In January, smokers in Washington state began paying the highest prices in the nation for tobacco products following a November 2001 ballot initiative that raised the state's cigarette tax by 60 cents to $ 1.425 per pack. Initiative 773 was...

Health groups target "alternative-tobacco products". (Industry News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... It's ironic that anti-tobacco groups that have criticized tobacco companies for failing to develop products with fewer toxins are now attacking a smokeless tobacco product that meets their challenge, said Paul L. Perito, chairman, president and...

Canada loses cigarette-smuggling lawsuit against RJR. (Industry News).(RJR-MacDonald Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... In December, a United States Court of Appeals likely brought to an end an expensive legal battle fought by the Canadian government, by refusing to hear a $1 billion lawsuit accusing R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Winston-Salem, N.C., of...

Cigarette companies offer price protection. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... As the increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes was about to go into effect on Jan. 1, Reuters reported that the two largest United States cigarette companies, New York-based Philip Morris U.S.A. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc.,...

Vector: Omni has lower carcinogen levels. (Industry News).(Vector Tobacco)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Vector Tobacco, part of Miami-based Vector Group Ltd., in December unveiled comprehensive data about Omni, the first reduced carcinogen cigarette that tastes, smokes and burns just like any other premium cigarette. Omni cigarettes, launched...

NYACS (New York Association of Convenience Stores) fights cigarette tax increase. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Rather than give smokers an incentive to evade taxation, New York state should require all retailers to collect and remit applicable sales and excise taxes, said James S. Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores,...

Doral Web site offers "community," but no sales. (Industry News). SmokersWelcome.com.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Winston-Salem, N.C.-based R.J. Reynolds said its new SmokersWelcome.com Web site aimed at adult Doral smokers will not be used to sell cigarettes directly to consumers, instead offering an "online community" featuring lifestyle articles and...

Decision against PMI (Philip Morris Companies Inc.) tops list of 2001 jury awards. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... A $3 billion decision against Philip Morris Cos. Inc., New York, topped the list of the 10 biggest damage awards handed down by juries in 2001, according to Lawyers Weekly. The decision against Philip Morris, which was handed down in June,...

Colibri Inc. gets into the cigar business with DiMeola. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... In December, The Colibri Group, Providence, R.I., signed an agreement to license and distribute DiMeola premium handmade cigars to tobacconists in the United States. "This is our first venture into the cigar market and we're very excited...

Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company names "Retailer of the Year" winners. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... In November, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, Santa Fe, N.M., announced the winners of the company's fourth-annual Retailer of the Year contest. The contest awarded over $35,000 in cash and prizes to the winners. The 2001 grand-prize...

Brick-Hanauer Compnay Inc. exclusive distributor of La Plata Cigars. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... In November, Waltham, Mass.-based Brick-Hanauer Co., Inc. became the exclusive distributor of La Plata premium cigars. La Plata Cigars was established in 1947 in Los Angeles by Victor Migenes, Sr., before he turned the business over to son...

Supreme Court won't hear appeal of MSA. (Master Settlement Agreement) (Washington Report).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... In January, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear, without comment, an appeal by cigarette wholesalers of the $206 billion 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. The wholesalers were arguing that the settlement between major tobacco...

International Tobacco Expo a state of "mine". (Cover Story).
February 1, 2002... Billed as a one-stop venue for CTS outlets, tobacconists, distributors/wholesalers, drug stores, liquor stores, mass merchandisers, catalogs/Internet and hotels/casinos looking for cigarettes, cigars, related accessories and ancillary items...

Looking to increase traffic in your store? Adding lotto may be worth the gamble. (CTS Retailing).
February 1, 2002... With competition from convenience stores and supermarkets lurking on every corner, and cigarettes coming under constant scrutiny from state and local governments, owning a CTS can be a risky proposition. While there are many ways to increase...

Old reliable: Price helps keep low-cost cigars a viable option for the tobacco retailer. (Product Profile).
February 1, 2002... You were 18 years old. You had smoked your first cigarette. And like everything else, you were looking to try something new. You wanted to smoke something else, something different, and so you decided to buy your first cigar, maybe a full box...

On the rise: The roll-your-own category offers smokers advantages in the current economic climate. (Tobacco).
February 1, 2002... It's an image etched into the American psyche, the rider on horseback in the Old West rolling a cigarette between his fingers as the sun sets in the background -- the original Marlboro Man without the pack. Indeed, rolling your own was the only...

Leveraged gifts. (Tax Tips).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Want to win the estate tax game? Think gifts. Leveraged gifts. Lifetime gifts to your family represent a major tax-planning strategy. Gifts are an easy way to move income within the family unit, remove future income from your estate and provide...

Smoke Screens. (Web Directory).
February 1, 2002... Beginning with this issue, Tobacco Retailer introduces a new feature, Smoke Screens, a listing of Web sites that may be of interest to the CTS owner. www.laperlahabana.com Aiming to be "informational to both smokers and retailers,...

Kretek new exclusive importer of Djarums. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... In November 2001, Kretek International became the exclusive importer of all Djarum clove cigarettes in the United States and Canada. Djarum clove cigarettes are the No. 1-selling clove cigarettes in the United States. They consist of a blend of...

Indianhead releases new organic cigar. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... In late 2001, as the line's exclusive worldwide distributor, Indianhead released the 100 percent organic Plasencia Reserva Oragnica premium-cigar line, the latest offering from cigar-maker Nestor Plasencia. The line consists of four shapes:...

Metrologic expands product portfolio. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... New to Metrologic's point-of-sale product portfolio is the MS7320 In Vista, a fixed-mount presentation scanner with a multi-positioning stand, small footprint, Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) deactivation, and FLASH memory. Also new to...

Felipe Gregorio brings new cigar to market. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Felipe Gregorio, Inc., has brought a new Petrus handmade, long-filler premium cigar to the market with the introduction of the Petrus Etiquette Rouge Royal Maduro line. The coffee-black cigars come in three shapes: Belicoso (54 x 7, $8...

Cupido Cigars extends Classic series. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Cupido Cigars has unveiled the eighth premium cigar in its Classic series, the Campana, a 56 x 5 1/2 pyramid that is box-pressed on top and bottom in the old Cuban Press style, and has a foot that is slightly flared to give it a bell shape....

Kiki Berger unveils Criollo-Corojo offering. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Noted cigar maker Henry "Kiki" Berger has launched a new line of premium cigars that use his new farm's first crop of corojo-wrapper tobacco. The all-Nicaraguan Criollo-Corojo's filler blend consists of Criollo and Habana leaf. The corojo...

American Western expands island collection line. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... American Western Cigar Co. has introduced the latest addition to its Island Collection Flavored Cigars line - Cool Mint. The new hand-rolled, 100-percent tobacco Cool Mint flavor is popular with younger smokers, women and people preferring a...

La Perla Habana goes blond. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... The latest offering from La Perla Habana packs the punch desired by seasoned smokers, but is distinguishable from other brawny cigars by its claro, rather than maduro, wrapper. "Blond by La Perla Habana" is a Dominican-made premium cigar with a...

Box art, ad campaign pay homage to Cuban tradition. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... La Tradicion Cubana, Inc., has created new box art and an advertising campaign to celebrate its heritage as one of the few surviving cigar factories in the United States that preserves traditional Cuban cigar-making techniques. The company's...

Metrologic laser bar-code scanner. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Metrologic Instruments, Inc., has introduced the MS5145 Eclipse, a laser-based, economically priced, handheld bar-code scanner that features Metrologic's patented CodeGate technology. CodeGate gives the operator control over targeting the...

Ad campaign highlights new Puros indios products. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Puros Indios Cigars, Inc., is using a year-long ad campaign to spotlight three of its new products: the Puros Indios Genuine, the Puros Indios Maxima Reserve and the new tubed presentation of the Puros Indios line complete with cedar sleeves....

Guhrka adds shapes to premium-cigar line. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Beach Cigar Group has expanded its Master Select line of Guhrka premium cigars, adding three new shapes. The latest shapes are the Robusto (50 x 6), Churchill (52 x 7 1/2) and Torpedo (53 x 6 1/2). The filler and binder tobacco is Cuban-seed...

New pipe honors respected author. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... For actors, one of the hallmarks of recognition is winning an Oscar, but for best-selling pipe book author Richard Carleton Hacker, it is the creation of a limited-edition pipe in his honor. Thus was created the Richard Carleton Hacker...

DjJEEP luxury disposable lighters. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... DjEEP has announced the introduction of DjEEP Luxury Lighters in single-unit blister cards and three-tray counter-display units. The new Luxury Lighters are available in three metallic finishes: gold, silver and copper. The new lighters are...

Doubly blended Doral. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Doral has announcing the biggest upgrade in the brand's history, bringing premium taste to the savings segment with an upgraded product. Doral's better-blended flavor is the result of the new Doral double-blending process, which uses a...

Cusano Corojo cigars carry quality award. (Products).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Boxes of DomRey Cigars' Cusano Corojo premium-cigar line now bear labels emblazoned with "ProCigar Guarantee of Quality" after that authentication was issued to the line by the Association of Dominican Cigar Manufacturers. The wrapper is...