Hi everyone! This is my 100th blog entry! I still remember being asked to write a weekly blog and thinking to myself – How do I fit in everything I do in one post! However I like to think I do a good job and it’s great to hear all of the positive feedback from my loyal readers. As a reward I am giving away 500 loyalty points to everyone reading! Just send me an email ([email protected]) and I will add your points to your account! 

On Monday, it was Josh and myself, we picked loads of online orders! It felt like we were picking orders for everyone in Britain! Afterwards, I helped the packing department, pack all of those orders we picked! Meanwhile, I served a lovely lady, who I serve every year at Christmas. She wanted a nice whisky and cigar to treat her son. She knew he liked sweet whisky, so I suggested the C.Gars Malt, it is one of my favourite whisky and has always rated highly and world whisky awards including gold in 2019! It will always be close to my heart too as it was the first whisky that I actually enjoyed! Before the C.Gars Malt, I hadn’t enjoyed any whisky, but since the C.Gars Malt, I have found many different whiskies to savour. I then showed her all of our New World cigars and upon our chat she decided to try my favourite cigar – The Alec Bradley Orchant Seleccion Skinny.  

Tuesday was my marketing day, I had a monumental task to do. There was an old article on the C.Gars Cigar Library that had all of our exclusive cigars, I was asked to change all of the pictures, update the text and add in new exclusives. This included finding out new information and taking around 15 pictures to a similar style. It took me all day to change the text and update the current pictures but I got there in the end. However, upon completion, we wasn’t happy with the outcome. So I had a meeting with the promotional departments and we are still figuring out a style that we all like.

On Thursday, I spent some time picking orders, however I spent most of my day taking on a new role! As many of you will know, I create the New World Cigar Subscription, well now I am responsible for the Classic and Premium New World and Cuban Subscription! That’s right! I now control three out of four subscriptions and these two are a lot more difficult. Cuban cigars can be difficult to get even for recognised retailers like ourselves, so I need to plan my subscriptions around that. So I spent a few hours choosing the cigars and creating the leaflets for them. It was difficult to do and a lot more time consuming but I am sure I will get quicker the more I do! 

On Friday, I was picking online orders again as well as opening deliveries. I rarely open the deliveries due to always being busy, but I do spend the time to put away the cigars we get, as I like to have an organised humidor for our customers. I also worked on some layouts for articles in the C.Gars cigar library going forward, hoping I would get approval. However, despite my efforts, we are all in agreement that we may need to upgrade the library to get our desired outcome, this task is above my role, but I will be making sure I have my input. In the afternoon, I completed the Cuban stock count with Lisa. It was her first Cuban stock count and I can tell she enjoyed herself!

On Saturday, I was working with Josh and Porscha. We firstly spent some time picking orders, and then stocked up the humidors. I then served a gentleman who claimed to have tried every brand of cigar! Impossible in my eyes but you never know, so I caught him off guard when I showed him the Puffin cigars! They are brand new to us and were made for our Puffin Rooms in Liverpool and Edinburgh! The customer decided to try one of each (Shorty, Skinny and Chubby) and left very happy, he said he will be back to let me know what they are like.

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks blog and don’t forget to email me to get your 500 loyalty points!

So long for now

Oliver

Hi everyone! It’s been another brilliant week in sunny Turmeaus Norfolk. We have seen lots of familiar faces coming in for their warm weather smokes. 

On Monday, I was in the shop with Josh, we work really well together and got our pickings done quickly and efficiently. Afterwards I helped pack orders while Josh served our customers. I served a gentleman whose son is a regular, he gave him £40 to get two small Cubans. He let me choose, so I suggested the H. Upmann Majestic and the Montecristo No. 5, which came just over budget but he didn’t mind. Whilst I was putting his cigars through the till, he noticed our packs of Kristoff on display and thought it was a bargain so he got two! 

On Tuesday, I spent the day picking orders and unpacking deliveries. Since our stock count, we had noticed areas where we can purchase more stock, and so we did to keep our stock levels high! I also made a trip out to purchase Easter decorations for our shop to make it all colourful for Easter. I gave them to Sharon who we consider the display queen and her imagination went wild! 

On Wednesday, I was in the shop and working on my marketing content. Firstly I created a news article for the C.Gars News Page which you can read here. I then spent some time updating an ST Dupont article to make the pictures more modern and then placed it at the front of the C.Gars cigar library. If you remember from my previous blog, we are currently offering in store free whisky to anyone who purchases a Jura Hipflask for £12.99. I created a lovely sign to help promote this incredible offer and it is working with three more purchases already! Afterwards I spent some time creating the leaflet that goes inside the May New World cigar subscription. The cigars are always a great selection and Mays will include a subscription exclusive, which you can’t purchase anywhere on our website! Afterwards, I spent some time in the New World Humidor, stocking cigars and ordering some stock. 

On Thursday, I was back to picking orders, whilst Josh took care of the shop. I organised a plan for our shop displays and decorations. I also found a nice looking display which will help get more cigar packs out in the shop. This along with some bottle pourers will certainly make our lives easier and enhance your shopping experience. I was then asked to take a picture of an ST Dupont Limited Edition Le Grand Lighter – Montecristo Cling Crepuscule for a newsletter. It was incredibly difficult to get a nice picture due to the shine but I’d like to think I got one, what do you think?

On Friday, I was picking online orders again, with the sun shining, we are getting busier! Everyone loves an outdoor cigar! Imagine what we would be like without the indoor smoking ban. I helped out with the deliveries too, for all the pipe smokers out there – keep your eyes peeled as we will be having some new Rattrays pipes coming very soon! In the afternoon, I carried on my task of making the product pictures on the Cuban cigars uniform by making them all have a white background.

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s goings on and I hope to see you all in Norfolk very soon!

So long for now.

Oliver.

Hi everyone! Another week has gone by in Norfolk and we’ve seen a lot of sunshine! We have also had plenty of familiar faces too!

On Monday, I was in the shop with Josh. We picked lots of orders that kept us incredibly busy for most of the day! In the meantime, I was serving a gentleman who likes to purchase Cuban cigars. This time he wanted to take advantage of our bundle deals, which we have on lots of different cigars. He wanted two boxes of LCDH Punch Punch 48 and two boxes of LCDH Hoyo de Monterrey Elegantes. Unfortunately, we didn’t have them in stock but I knew I could get them in from another store, so I took his details and told him I would contact him as soon as they came in. He still treated himself to a Montecristo Open Regata, a Montecristo Especial and a Juan Lopez Seleccion No. 2. He left very excited for when the other boxes come in.

Tuesday was my marketing day. I started by finishing off all of the shop newsletters and then sent them off to be checked. Afterwards, I started to research my next article for the C.Gars Cigar Library. I had decided on Chewing tobacco, as I was curious as to why people chew tobacco. After plenty of research I felt confident to start writing. I then spent some time taking the pictures and I even opened a pack to see what they look like with flavouring. The smell of menthol really took over, I can certainly see why you can enjoy chewing tobacco. You can read the article by clicking here. Towards the end of the day, I had a few corrections to do to my newsletters, so I spent the last hours completing them and scheduling them, ready to be sent out on the 1st of April. I also received the cigars for our customer from Monday, so I emailed him immediately and he replied to say he would be in on Thursday.

Thursday was our full building stock count. Everyone who works in Norfolk stops their work to count every item we have! I was counting New World cigars with Sarah, we started slow, and I needed a coffee almost immediately! But we got there in the end! Meanwhile during our stock count, the shop was incredibly busy. Firstly, I had my customer who wanted the boxes of Cuban cigars, and then Josh served a regular gentleman who enjoys his pipe tobacco, he purchased a Falcon pipe and bowl as he liked the idea of building his own pipe! Sarah then served another regular who purchased a box of Inka Secret Blend Red Bombaso Maduro. While we were putting his cigars through the till he noticed the Jura hip flask, I told him about our deal where you purchase the hip flask and we will fill it up! He chose Woodfords Reserve as he had never tried a Bourbon before. I can’t wait to see him to see what he thought. Towards the end of the day, when we had all finished our stock counts, we started to pick orders. We picked all of the priority orders first and then the regular postage orders. This is why it is important to get priority shipping as we will pick your order first.

On Friday, I had the morning off, so when I came in, I went to see everyone to see where I was needed. Luckily the team had everything under control! Josh had created a small Easter display for the centre of the shop, and was getting ready to complete the Cuban stock count. The packing department had everything under control, so it was quite nice to come in and find a slot to help out. Porscha served a customer who wanted the Drew Estate Deadwood SJ and Drew Estate Tabak Especial Oscuro, she suggested for the customer to try the Drew Estate Quick Puff sampler, which includes those two cigars and four more from the Drew Estate coronet range. She was so happy when the customer purchased her suggestion! Afterwards, Josh and I completed the Cuban stock count.

On Saturday, It was Josh, Porscha and I, we had loads of price changes to get through! Unfortunately tobacco is always affected by tax as well as the constant cost of living going up around the world. However it’s not all doom and gloom as we are getting even more ranges from well established brands like CLE, Plasencia and Meerapfel.

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks goings on in Norfolk and I hope to see you all in store very soon!

So long for now

Oliver

Hi everyone, It’s been another busy week here in Norfolk, with lots of familiar faces coming to visit.

On Monday, I was in the shop and picking an incredible amount of orders. For a change I had Lisa with me, she is usually a packing maestro, however she wants to be more involved in the order picking/cigar side of things and so what better way to do it than by picking on a busy Monday!  Meanwhile my usual sidekick on a Monday, Josh, was still helping me retail wise but was picking pipe tobacco and accessory orders. Lisa and I worked together brilliantly to get all of the orders picked, if there was any she was unsure on, I was always on hand to help her out! Teamwork makes the dream work! I also served a gentleman I get to see from time to time. He used to buy plenty of boxes of cigars, however he has retired since and so buys a few here and there. This time he treated himself to two Charatan Churchills as well as the Joya de Nicaragua Black Robusto, he also wanted a Rocky Patel, so I suggested the incredibly popular Seed to Smoke, as I knew he hadn’t tried one yet.

Tuesday was my marketing day, and I was busy all day! Firstly I was asked to create an article on the C.Gars cigar library, it was about a new brand that has recently come into the UK called The Only One Cigars. You can read the article by clicking here, I also spent plenty of time taking the pictures and due to the shiny band, it was incredibly hard to get a clear picture but after many retakes I got there in the end, what do you think? Afterwards I started to create all of the shop newsletters. They have some great deals going on and it is always nice to talk to them about their stores. 

On Wednesday, I was in the shop and I was changing some displays around. We are having an emphasis on showing what accessories and humidors we can offer. So we are coming up with some great deals that you can find in store. I came up with an idea that I’m sure will please everyone! If you purchase a Jura Hip flask in store, we will fill it up with a random whisky for free! As the day went on I got more humidors on display and put more spirit glasses out too. I also served a lovely gentleman who likes his Maduro cigars, he had previously had the Inka Red Bombaso Maduro and wanted something else. So after listening to his likes and dislikes, I suggested The Gurkha Celler Reserve 15 year old Double Robusto Maduro. He has had a few Gurkhas previously but didn’t know they had a Maduro. I’m sure he will let me know if he enjoys it.

On Thursday, I was picking orders, as a team we got them completed very quickly and then I helped out with the New World stock count. For a change I didn’t have to do it this week, Lisa decided to give it a go with humidor manager Billy. The New World stock count is a very daunting task for someone who is completely new to it and so I helped out where I could to ensure it could all be completed. Meanwhile in the shop, Sharon was updating our displays even more. She created a lovely Adorini display which shows off all of their humidors as well as accessories. We both came up with a great idea of selling the C.Gars super sharp cutter with the C.Gars QR code lighter for a combined price of £7.95 instead of £9.74! You can only find this deal in-store only too! 

On Friday, I was picking orders again. Ben, Ciaran and I worked together to get them all completed in a good time and then I sat in the shop with Josh to help with even more displays. I like to create posters so I created some little display posters that are eye catching to try to sell the offers we have in store. In the afternoon, it was the Cuban stock count with Josh, it’s very simple for us both now and we work very well together to get it completed.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks goings on in store and I hope to see you all in Norfolk very soon.

So long for now.

Oliver

Hi everyone! A slightly reduced week for me as it was my birthday on Wednesday! Despite the shorter week it has still been a good one!

On Monday, I was in the shop with Ciaran. We worked through our mountain of online orders, which took us all day to finish! Meanwhile, I served a lovely group of people who wanted to get one of their colleagues a cigar as a retirement gift. They let me know their budget and so we had a look around the humidor to decide what to get. I mentioned the Romeo y Julieta Churchill as it was Sir Winston Churchill’s favourite cigar and hence why it is named after him. They loved the idea of purchasing an important part of cigar history for an important colleague who will be leaving them. They also wanted to purchase a whisky to compliment, as always I recommended the C.Gars Malt as it is designed to pair with any Cuban cigar. One of the customers then spotted an interesting whisky glass we had on display, the Adorini Cigar Rum & Whisky Glass. It really is a show stopper as it has a space to hold your cigar while you drink. Later on in the day, I served a gentleman who wanted to purchase a bottle of Springbank 10 year old. Whisky enthusiasts will know that Springbank can be hard to come by and so whenever someone hears we have some bottles, they tell their friends and we then have many people ask if we have some. This gentleman heard we had some from his friend and called ahead to make sure we still had a bottle. I tried to upsell the Sherry Wood cask however the big price jump put him off.

Tuesday was my marketing day, I started the day by deciding what to write for the C.Gars Cigar Library. I looked at the shop and saw a nice looking bottle of Arran. So I decided to write about Arran and it turns out they don’t have a massively long history, but it is interesting to read. You can read it here. I then spent some time taking pictures and I’d like to say I have got the knack of Whisky pictures. What do you think? Afterwards I helped the sales team by taking some pictures of Les Fines Lames cigar knives as well as J.Cure accessories, which you will see on our newsletters. Later on in the day, I spent some time helping Ben update product listings with a plain background, I showed him how to remove the background as well as how to take the picture as the new way is slightly more difficult.

I enjoyed two days off and came back on Friday, one year older and even wiser. I spent a lot of time redesigning one of our stock cupboards. You will now see a lot more stock out in the shop, including Backwoods and Drew Estate Acid tins. I think it looks brilliant and frees up another stock room for an exciting development that I can’t tell you all… yet! I had another one of my regulars come in who loves to be served by me. He always goes with my recommendation and his favourite is also my favourite… The Alec Bradley Orchant Seleccion Skinny. This time he wanted the old reliable to enjoy at the end of a busy week.

On Saturday, It was Porscha, Josh and I. We continued our work on the shop, updating price tags and putting more pipe tobacco on display. We finally found space for the Fribourg & Treyer range, they have 8 different tobaccos to try and are a very reasonable price. Josh also re-arranged the Cuban packs in the humidor to make them more customer friendly.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks goings on and I hope to see you all in store very soon.

So long for now.

Oliver

Hi everyone, I have had another exciting week here in Turmeaus Norfolk, lots of exciting things are happening!

Monday was very interesting, I was in the shop with Sharon, however, she was needed to help out booking parcels onto the Royal Mail system. So she quickly helped pick Cuban cigar orders and I tackled the New World cigar orders. Throughout the day, more orders kept coming but I handled it brilliantly and thankfully I completed them all before the end of the day! In between pickings, I served a gentleman who may be becoming my regular. Last time he purchased a Tabak Especial Oscuro Robusto, this time he wanted to try the Medio Robusto and I convinced him to try the Inka Secret Blend Red Robusto. It’s safe to say he trusts my judgement and I look forward to seeing him again.

On Tuesday, I was picking online orders again. I have noticed a lot of people trying the new Kristoffs we have. Kristoff has brought a lot of new ranges to the UK, including a very interesting one called the 685 Woodlawn Perfecto. It uses some of the rarest tobaccos you can find, It may be my next purchase! In between online orders, I created an article for the C.Gars Cigar Library for the latest Alec Bradley Black Market Filthy Hooligan and Shamrock. These incredible cigars are a yearly release, however, they were not available last year, but they are back with a bang! You can read all about them here. Afterwards, I was working with Sharon, updating our shop display to really advertise the Filthy Hooligans as well as other Irish related items ready for St Patrick’s Day.

On Wednesday, I was working in the shop. To begin with I helped with online order picking as there was lots to do! Thankfully Sharon did a really good job stocking up both of our humidors the day before. So I was able to stock up some of the pipe tobacco. Afterwards, I carried on my task of changing the background of the Cuban cigars. It’s a very long process but I was very happy to complete all of the H.Upmann and Guantanamera range. I served a lovely lady who wanted to purchase a cigar for one of my regular customers who always comes in on a Friday. He always has the Regius Orchant Seleccion Hermosos, however he is partial to a Cuban every now and then. She knew she wanted to get him a Cuban, and I remembered the gentleman likes Montecristo. So she looked at the prices and purchased him the Montecristo No. 5, I know he will enjoy the present and she seemed very happy to be purchasing him a cigar. 

On Thursday, I was doing the New World cigar stock count with our humidor manager Billy. We completed it in around 3 and a half hours which is definitely a new record! So much so that other members of staff weren’t expecting to see us so soon! 

Friday was finally upon us! It had been a challenging week due to both Ciaran and Josh being off but the team certainly rallied around and made it look seamless. I took some pictures of some new ashtrays we recently got made. My favourite is the Mitchellero one! Why not celebrate your favourite cigar brand with their ashtray! Afterwards, I served a gentleman from the East Anglia Transport Museum. He was looking for some plastic jars that he could put pictures of tobacco inside for a window display. The window display he had was amazing but it was just the finishing touches. I found some of our old tobacco jars that he could use and I then offered to take some pictures for him and try to create what he is looking for. He was so grateful! So much so that he has offered to give us a behind the scenes tour of the museum! We will certainly take him up on this offer and I can’t wait to show you all the photos! In the afternoon, Porscha and I completed the Cuban cigar stock count.

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s goings on in store and I hope to see you all in store very soon!

So long for now

Oliver

Hi everyone! It has been another exciting week here in Turmeaus Norfolk! 

On Monday, I was in the shop with Ciaran. We had loads of online orders to pick! It took us a long time but we got there in the end. In the middle of my pickings, I received a request to create a news piece for the C.Gars news page about our online cigar auctions! So I politely asked Ciaran if he could pick the rest of my orders and serve the customers in the shop whilst I contacted the auction team to ask which lots they wanted promoting. They sent over some very interesting cigars indeed including two Cohibas and a Trinidad which was never sold commercially and only available for attendees of the Dinner of the Century on Saturday, October 22, 1994. So I quickly created the news piece and carried on helping the team.

Tuesday was my marketing day and boy was I busy! Firstly I created an article for the C.Gars cigar library – It was about Douglas Laing & Co whisky, you can read it here. As always I spent some time taking the pictures and I think they turned out really well! Taking pictures of bottles has always been a weakness of mine so for them to turn out this good was a real morale booster! Afterwards I completed all of my shop newsletters ready to be sent out on the 1st of March. During this I was discussing ideas with the sales team, the result of this process was two amazing deals in March! Firstly on Monday the 3rd of March it is International Irish Whiskey Day! So we will be having a sale of 10% off all Irish Whiskey in store! I imagine this will be very popular so I have ordered some extra bottles to make sure we have enough stock to keep everyone happy! The next deal in-store will be on the 17th of March, which is St Patricks day! We will be offering 20% off any full priced Peterson Pipe! This will make them an unbelievable price! In addition Ben has made a sampler which involves a Peterson St Patricks Day pipe, click here to take a look. 

After I completed all of my newsletters, I was discussing ways we can make the cigar subscription even more appealing and I thought snacks is the way to go. I did some research into some other subscription services and a lot include a snack to pair with what they supply so I thought I would do the same! So my subscribers for April will certainly get an extra bonus with their New World Cigar Subscription! Afterwards I took the pictures for Cuban and New World cigars of the month for the monitors in our humidors. Finally I was asked to help out with the images for online listings, we are now trying to make all of our images more uniform by having them on a plain white background. So my task is to edit out the background of all of the Cuban cigars and rotate them so they are straight. This is a very long task which will take me a long time, however as many of my loyal readers and customers know, I am always happy to help.

On Thursday, I was back in the shop. I started the day by going around and stocking both Cuban and New World humidors. I then served a lovely lady who was picking up some pipe tobacco for her husband. She is a regular customer for her husband and always comes with a list (which I love). His order was a lot bigger than normal, but the more tobacco you buy, the more you save! Afterwards I spent some time filling up the pipe tobacco shelves. It’s always great to show the vast array of tobaccos we have! I also served a couple who are starting to become more regular. I recommended them to try the Peterson Connemara Black, as an old regular loved it as it reminded him of a black forest gateau. Afterwards I continued with my online listing task.

On Friday, I was picking orders with Ciaran, we got through them incredibly quick despite the vast amount we had! I also sent my manager a marketing content report to let her know what I have been up to and what I could improve on. I did receive some news that a picture I took was the most liked picture we uploaded on Instagram in the last two weeks which made me incredibly happy! It’s always nice to see some recognition of your work. Later on in the afternoon, Josh and I worked together to complete the Cuban stock count.

On Saturday, I was back in with Josh and Porscha. Josh and I took care of the online orders, whilst Porscha dealt with the customers in store. We were running 10% off everything online so we decided to help the packing department and packed some orders too.

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s blog and I hope to see you all in store very soon.

So long for now

Oliver 

Hi everyone! It has been another great week here in Turmeaus Norfolk. 

On Monday, Sharon and I were in the shop. It really was a blast from the past as we were both picking orders and serving customers. It’s the first time since Sharon has come back from maternity leave that we have worked together in the shop and it was great. After we picked our online orders, we enjoyed a cuppa and then discussed what we needed to do in the shop. I prefer stocking up the humidors, I love the aroma of the cigars when you open a box! If you have never had that experience, you haven’t lived! So while I stocked up the humidors, Sharon stocked up the alcohol and pipes. I had to show Sharon how we do the price tags now as they are a lot nicer than they used to be. She picked it up very quickly and swiftly got to work.

On Wednesday, I was working in the shop on my own, however, due to the work done on Monday and Tuesday, I didn’t have to worry about the shop stock too much. So I decided to continue on the shop newsletters, I had received all of the shop’s content earlier in the week, so I went to work trying to complete as many as I could. While I was working on my newsletters, I was asked by my manager to take some pictures for the C.Gars Facebook and Instagram. The cigar in question was the La Flor de Cano Selectos No. 3 – this is the latest regional edition from Cuba and it is incredibly smooth and mild. They were very much appreciated it and it made its way onto our social media pages. I also served a gentleman, who wanted to get his son a Cuban cigar as a gift. He didn’t want to spend too much on a Cuban as he didn’t understand the hype behind them. Of course I mentioned the history and the tireless hours that go into crafting a Cuban cigar, he decided to try one and so I recommended the Quai D’Orsay No. 50, a nice light smoke with nice caramel nuttiness to it. 

On Thursday, I was doing the New World stock count with Sarah. She did very well and counted all the cigars very quickly! And so in the afternoon I was able to catch up on general administration tasks. I also started to think about what cigars to put into Aprils New World Cigar Subscription! 

On Friday, I was picking online orders, with the help of Josh and the rest of the team, we quickly picked them ready to be packed. Afterwards I fully created Aprils New World Cigar Subscription, this month it is brilliant! It has some incredible cigars inside and you always get great value for money! In the afternoon, I carried on creating the monthly shop newsletters, ready for my deadline.

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks goings on and I hope to see you all in Norfolk very soon.

So long for now.

Oliver.

Hi everyone! Another brilliant week has passed by here in Turmeaus Norfolk.

On Monday, it was Josh and I in the shop, we had plenty of online orders to pick! As a team we got through them as quickly as we could and then I got to work stocking up our walk-in humidors. I started in our Cuban humidor, despite the price, Cuban cigars are still incredibly popular. The amount of work that goes into making a Cuban cigar really does reflect in the price as the cigar tends to taste impeccable. Afterwards, I started to stock up our New World walk-in humidor. The amount of different brands you find from the New World is incredible and the fact they can pull so many flavours from different types of tobacco leaves really blows my mind. As much as the tradition lies with Cuban cigars, never turn down a New World cigar as a lot of the brands like My Father and Padron actually had their beginnings in Cuba! I ordered plenty of New World cigars to come in, ready to stock our shelves.

Tuesday was my marketing day. I started by deciding on what article to write for the C.Gars cigar library. I chose to write about five unique cigars, everyone loves a top 5 list and so I thought I’d make another one for unique cigars. I spent some time taking a picture of each of the cigars too, so with the banner that is 6 pictures in total. Unfortunately it wasn’t a smooth process and I wasn’t happy with some images so I had to go to retake them but I think they came out well in the end. What do you think? Click here to read the article. 

Whilst I was writing my article, my assistance was needed in the shop. A customer had come in looking for a box of La Flor de Cano Selectos No. 3, the latest UK release. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a box so we started looking around for something else he may have been interested in. He chose a few singles, like the LCDH Punch Punch 48 and then asked if we had any aged cigars. Our Aged and Vintage cigars tend to be kept in our London stores for safe keeping, however we happened to have 4 singles of Cuaba Salomones from 2006. So he gladly took them and left happy. Late afternoon, I made a start on the shop newsletters. I had a lovely email sent from Roy, the manager of our Chester store. He had just come back from Nicaragua! He toured around many different factories whilst he was there and even got to create his own blend of cigars at Joya de Nicaragua! He wanted to put his whole journey in the newsletter but unfortunately there was too much! So I have asked him to give me some more detail so I can put it on the cigar library instead so you can all have a read. It sounded like the trip of a lifetime and I can’t wait to upload what he was written.

On Thursday, I was in the shop. The previous day Josh took care of the Cuban cigars, he checked for damages and de-ploomed them. So I decided to do the same with the Davidoff cigars. I de-ploomed and went one further by taking each cigar off the shelf and hoovering so any tobacco residue was gone and it really made a difference. I also served a lovely gentleman who had only just started smoking cigars. He said originally he just wanted cigar tubes to display in his man cave and so ordered some online, he wasn’t expecting cigars to come in them! Once he tried them he realised he really enjoyed them and wanted to explore more. I asked how much he wanted to spend and he said £10. I like to ask for a customers budget as I wouldn’t want to waste our time talking about £40 cigars if you only have £10 to spend, we always respect our customers and never try to get them to spend more than they really want to, however, after talking about the different cigars, many customers do spend more than their original budget, but we are always upfront and honest. Back to my customer, once he had said £10, I knew instantly that he needed to try the Mitchellero Robusto. A great smoke for anyone to try and it only costs £9.99! I did explain to the gentleman, the difference between the Mitchellero and the Mitchellero Peru, he then decided to try both to see if he could taste a difference. He left incredibly happy and said he would definitely be back. That always feels great as a Retail Assistant to know that you’ve made a customer happy and they will be back for more.

I was also asked by my manager to create an article promoting our new Ultra-Exclusive Cigar Club in Monaco, you can read it here.

On Friday, I spent the day picking orders, ready to be packed. In between our hourly order pickings, I spent time adding accessories onto the till system. We are trying to add each accessory that has a barcode onto the system so there is no time wasted trying to find prices. It also helps us research what is selling well and what isn’t. In the afternoon, Ciaran and I completed the Cuban cigar stock count.

On Saturday, it was the Tantalising Trio of Ciaran, Josh and myself. We went to work picking online orders, and then making up cigar samplers so they will be ready to be picked. 

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks goings on and I hope to see you all in store very soon

So long for now

Oliver

Hi everyone! Another busy day here in Norfolk! I have been a jack of all trades this week.

Monday was another busy day with online orders. Josh and I worked through them together and then went to work re-stocking the shelves that were diminished from all of the online orders. I walked through packing and saw there were lots of orders that needed packing, so I decided to help out and pack some orders to help keep the team going! I also emailed my monthly marketing content to my manager, and I nervously awaited a response.

Tuesday was my marketing day, I firstly decided what to write about for the C.Gars cigar library. I thought to myself, “I haven’t written about pipes or tobacco for a while” so I decided to write an article comparing Ready Rubbed pipe tobacco and Flake Cut pipe tobacco. You can read it here. I also spent some time taking the pictures, and I am really proud of them. I then received my feedback and it was great! I was given a few tips and recommendations to work on but overall my manager was impressed with what I have been up to. After reading the delightful email, I helped out with parcel booking on. Some parcels are more complex than others so I left the experts to do the difficult ones and I concentrated on the more standard ones, together we got through a big bulk of parcels. In between booking on, I helped Ciaran with a Missouri Meerschaum corn cob pipe delivery. As these come straight from the USA, we tend to order in bulk and it can be quite overwhelming for one person to go check over.

On Wednesday, I was in my comfort zone – the shop. Firstly, I added our new cigars onto the till system – The Kristoff Tres Compadres range, as well as the Kristoff JT and GC Signature series. I look forward to reading all about them! I then did some alcohol pricing to ensure we had the latest pricing and noticed a lot of items had gone down in price! We also have some great special offers in store! You could get a bottle of Glendronach Traditionally Peated for £45.99 instead of £54.99! That is almost £10 off! We also have a bottle of Ron Abuelo 12 Year Old Rum that has been reduced from £48.99 to £39.99 and as the cherry on top, you will receive a 5cl miniature with your purchase! I also spent some time adding some new accessories in the Cuban humidor that certainly relates! There is a Cuban Flag Cutter, Lighter, Cigar case and Hip Flask! So if you know someone who loves a Cuban cigar, you can get an accessory to go along with it. I also served one of our regulars who has recently transitioned from New World Cigars to Cuban cigars. He decided to treat himself to a tin of Partagas Capitols as he had one in a sampler he purchased before Christmas and really enjoyed it! (and he also likes the tin too). He got his usual Liga Privada T52 Coronets and left very happy. 

On Thursday, I was doing New World stock count with our humidor manager Billy! It had been a while since we have completed it together but we soon got it done and we finished by lunch! So afterwards, I checked in on the rest of the team and helped stock up the shelves again. We are also promoting our range of Les Fines Lames pocket cigar knives. We are running a 10% off offer and their knives are really cool! You need to check them out by clicking here. I recycled an old Zippo display cabinet and with the help of some of the team we made it look lovely!

On Friday, I was back to picking orders. With the team we picked them all incredibly fast and then helped to pack them. In the afternoon, Josh and I completed the Cuban cigar stock count.

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks goings on and I hope to see you all in Norfolk very soon

So long for now

Oliver