Archive: February 2023

Avatar photo A Day in the Life of a Retail Assistant #14

Hi everyone, I hope you’ve all had a great week, I know I have and we even had a visit from one of my fans.

Monday was a day filled with many pickings again, which took up most of my day! But once I finished them and after a lovely cup of coffee, I started to stock up all the humidors as Monday tends to take most of our stock. Tuesday once I finished picking I wrote my weekly article for the cigar library which is about different types of whisky, you can read that here. I’m still in the process of adding content onto the Turmeaus cigar library which is taking me longer than I wanted but we are so busy in the shop and the customer will always come first, but once it’s online you guys will love it!

I was off on Wednesday but Sharon was a busy bee and redesigned the displays from Valentines day to St Patrick’s Day and they look great, including the Alec Bradley Filthy Hooligan cigars and Teeling whiskey as well as Peterson for the pipe display. Make sure you come and have a look.

Thursday was a lovely day for me as one of my favourite customers came in, he’s new to the cigar world but is enjoying his journey and tries anything! He had ordered a click and collect the night before and we were talking about when it would be ready and when he could collect, I quickly looked up his order and noticed I had it in with my pickings so I swiftly picked them for him and he was over the moon! So much so that he left me and Sharon a lovely review on trustpilot! Later in the day another regular popped in who used to be a Cuban smoker only however he is trying out New World cigars and is vastly impressed by them! I think so far one of his favourites is the La Invicta Nicaraguan Robusto. He also said he will come to one of our cigar sampling events but wants to bring his backgammon board and challenged Sharon to a game, that would be worth the entry ticket alone! 

On friday I concentrated on updating the alcohol articles on the C.Gars cigar library to make the mobile friendly as previously on mobile the edge of pictures would cut off and look strange so it is a work in process situation but will be finished soon! One of our regulars came in and treated himself to 3 boxes of Regius Orchant Seleccion Hermosos, one of our favourite cigars in the shop and turns out one of his too.

Saturday is one of my favourite days to work as I get to do the jobs I can’t otherwise do as we have hourly pickings and deliveries constantly needing to be put away but on Saturday there is none of that. This Saturday I organised the New World humidor again and put a system in place so we know when boxes are open or not which will certainly help at stock take! I also served a lovely gentleman who is new to cigars and had £100 to spend so we went around and I was picking out my preferred cigars and he took them all to try (best way to get started if you ask me). My last customer was someone who just travelled to Great Yarmouth on holiday and his wife found us on Google! He was amazed with the amount of cigars we have and I think he spent more than he was expecting but he was happy which was the main thing!

Hope you have enjoyed reading this week’s goings on and i’ll see you all again soon and hopefully i’ll see you in our Norfolk shop very soon!

So long for now 

Oliver 🙂

Avatar photo A Day in the Life of a Retail Assistant #13

Hello everyone, another busy week has gone by! Where does the time go! Monday was again another busy day with picking orders and in the store we had our regulars come in for their usual cigars. I love working in a shop with regular customers as I get to learn about their lives and what they enjoy/don’t enjoy. One gentleman loves King Edwards Imperials and only smokes them when he’s golfing. He told me one lasts 3 holes… not bad. In the afternoon I was finalising the leaflets for the March subscription. I often forget what month we are in as I try to get ahead of the game so I could be working on April’s subscriptions in February and then start using the wrong date for everything.

Tuesday was more relaxed for pickings so I finished those quickly so I could stock up the humidors. Our humidor manager is having a great time with Davidoff in the Dominican Republic right now so me and Sharon are taking care of the humidors for him and I would say we are doing a great job of it. 

On Wednesday after our pickings Sharon was updating the pricing as they change constantly, however this time it made me happy to say that the Davidoff, Plasencia, Camacho, PSyKo 7 and Avo range has gone down in price! So get them while they are at this great price! Both me and Sharon also helped out in the packing room as they were understaffed due to illnesses. We also try to ensure all orders ordered during the day are sent the same day as we believe you deserve your cigars as soon as possible.

Thursday I was without Sharon so had all of the cigar picking so it took me longer than what I wanted but they take priority over anything else I do (other than serving my lovely customers in store ofcourse). Once I finished them I wrote an article for the C.Gars cigar library all about Padron Cigars which you can read here. I also made a start on the Turmeaus cigar library, we are not making it available yet until I have enough content for you all to enjoy so hopefully soon!

Friday I was without Sharon again so I had a lot of picking. Friday is Cuban stocktake day but as im on my own it does make it more difficult to do and I do have to do it in bits in between my pickings and customers but if I don’t complete it today it’s not an issue as Sharon is working on Saturday so she will finish it for me

Hope you’re enjoying my blogs and so long for now

Oliver