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 🙂

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

Hello everyone I hope you are well. We have had a busy week here in Norfolk, Monday was a lot of order picking which never seemed to end! But when it did me and Sharon decided to organise the display pipes a bit more making sure it was easier for customers to see and for our pickers to find the boxes for each pipe, this has been successful and our pickers are more than happy! Tuesday was Sharons last day for the rest of the week, so she made sure she finished her displays as they are her pride and joy now. I concentrated on taking pictures for my new article and finally finished writing it which you can read here, it’s about the differences between Artisan pipes and factory made pipes. I hope you enjoy it!

Wednesday I was surprised to see our Brands manager Paul bringing in boxes from his car into the shop. They contained new gift bags for any purchase of Foragers and I must say they are lovely, you should buy a bottle to see for yourself! Paul was also here to have a meeting with Davidoff and the marketing team, I was not involved in this meeting however one of the highlights is already on the website available to purchase, the release of the Davidoff Signature no.1 which is the first limited edition of 2023! And if they’re as good as the Signature no.2 I would suggest getting yours now! The meeting seemed to go well as there were smiling faces afterwards.

Paul came back to us on Thursday, this time meeting another supplier of ours Tor Imports. This would be my first time meeting Scott who is the Managing Director of Tor and I can say he is a lovely gentleman and taught me a lot about New World cigars which is what they mainly provide us. Also on Thursday I had another nice gentleman come in and spend a hefty amount with us, he spent the second biggest amount I’ve ever seen here! I didn’t see what website he was on but he had two top 10 lists he was looking at and wanted to purchase 5 of each! Unfortunately we didn’t have all he was looking for but he certainly left with many bags full of cigars! We definitely hit many targets.

Friday I was busy picking orders again and then Cuban stock take, I was able to enlist the help of Shanel, one our apprentices, to help me out. She’s trying to learn the different shapes and sizes of cigars to help with her studies, she seems to be picking it up fast. At the end of the day one our Directors Laura announced to me that we finally have a cigar library on the Turmeaus website! So from now on I will be writing articles on there to help you all with your cigar knowledge! 

I hope you are enjoying my blog, I am off next week so you guys won’t hear from me until the week after.

So long for now!

Oliver 🙂

Hi all, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. The Norfolk shop has been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to write to you all. 

The first bank holiday of a new year is always strange as we all come in to count all the stock in the building! As you know me and Sharon do a weekly stock take of the Cuban humidor however this time we had to split up and count the Cuban, New world and machine made cigars! It took the whole day but we got there in the end, so much so that I helped count some of the pipes in our pipe room. 

Tuesday began in a strange way. Instead of the usual pickings we actually couldn’t pick as we had an auditor in to ensure our stock-take was correct so as we waited eagerly, me and Sharon decided to have a move around of the displays in the shop, moving our fantastic Snowdonia Distillery range to a more prominent position and sorting out the display cabinet to show off our accessories. At around 10.30 our pickings finally came and there was a lot! A lot of people were certainly taking advantage of our January sale! With many pickings lasting the day, I couldn’t believe how long it took but alas we all got there in the end. 

When you come in next you will find there has been quite a few changes, Sharon has been busy creating some lovely displays, we are also updating all of our pricing in store which is a very long and arduous process but we will get there. I served a lovely man on holiday from London, he recently started his cigar journey and wanted to try a variety. He began his cigar journey by smoking Ashton cigars in Las Vegas so wanted to try something new, I suggested a Regius Serie Limitada Wide Churchill as they are too good not to try. He also tried the Casa Turrent 1880 Maduro Lancero, if you know me by now I prefer Maduro cigars over anything so will always suggest them, his last cigar was the Brick House Double Connecticut Corona Larga, again another favourite of mine. He was a lovely man and really appreciated my help, I do enjoy serving everyone who comes into our store and it feels even better when they appreciate your help.

So long for now

Oliver 🙂

Hi all, It has been a crazy couple of weeks in store and online so much so that I didn’t have a chance to write my blog last week! Safe to say last week we had many customers purchasing last minute gifts and some after smokes to enjoy over the Christmas period.

Monday was incredibly busy in store and online, due to postal strikes we have been sending a lot of parcels with a courier service instead and this option has proved extremely popular for those wanting last minute gifts. In store we had a lot of people buying themselves cigars and tobacco as gifts to themselves, including one of my regulars who bought the most amount of pipe tobacco I have seen and said “I refuse to be disturbed, if anyone asks me to do something i’ll say no and keep smoking” A great attitude to have this Christmas if you ask me. We also pulled a name from a hat for our pipe competition and I must say congratulations to the winner who was so excited he came in the store about 10 minutes later to collect it.

Tuesday was again filled with lots of online order pickings with the majority of customers choosing the courier service to get their cigars in time for Christmas. Sharon was needed again to book on orders which means I get to serve all the customers (which is one of my favourite things to do). I spent an hour with one of my regulars and his brother just looking at cigars and helping them decide on their New Year smoke. They decided on the new Regius Serie Limitada Wide Churchill and what an amazing cigar they are, a must have if you ask me.

Wednesday was much quieter with the online orders. However, in store we have been very busy, a lot of customers had mentioned due to the Royal Mail strikes they wanted to come in so they could guarantee their gifts would make it on time. By the end of the day our shelves were looking bare so a quick stock up and we’re good to go again. During my down time a wrote an article on the new Regius Serie Limitada cigars as they are too good not to share, you can read that here.

Thursday was a festive day in the office as it was our secret Santa present giving! I had our whisky stock expert Imogen. As she had recently moved into a house of her own I decided to get her a lovely cookbook and penguin mug as she loves penguins. Jeanette the packing team leader in Norfolk, she got me some books for my daughter as she knows all I ever want is toys and books for my daughter.

You won’t see me until the 28th of December as I’m off to enjoy Christmas with my family but I look forward seeing you all from the 28th.

See you all next week

Oliver 🙂

Happy Monday to you all and what a busy one we had! The online orders went through the roof! It was a long and arduous day but we got there in the end. We have also decided to send all priority orders with DPD due to the Royal Mail strikes. At the weekend Sharon and Billy spent the whole day stocking up the shop and making it look amazing which they did very well. Has some lovely customers including a regular who always buys his Mitchellero Novellini box, he said they’re great quality cigars and the price is very affordable. On request of the packing team we had the Japan vs Croatia game on the radio. 

Tuesday began with a lot of orders yet again, Christmas season is certainly taking over but we are keeping up very well. I served a lovely gentleman who was after our Gawith Hoggarth Seasonal Reserve. He had contacted Gawith Hoggarth in August to make sure they were doing it again! That is commitment! He also treated himself to some Golden Blends no.3 as he claims it’s a lovely taste and very smooth. In between serving customers I have been finalising the cigar subscriptions, we have unfortunately decided to take the Cuban cigar out of the subscription due to the rising costs of Cubans so it is now the New World cigar subscription so you will get 5 high quality premium cigars and every now and then I may put in a little gift 😉

Thursday began with Sharon booking parcels all day to help us keep on top of orders, so I spent the day picking orders and keeping on top of the shop’s stock as we have been selling a lot of Colibri accessories recently. During the day I was a part of another marketing meeting to plan out January and see how good sales were over black friday. We also discussed more new samplers so make sure you keep an eye out on our social media or sign up to our newsletters to see what we have in store. The afternoon I carried on making the leaflet for the subscription as well as more pickings!

Friday was filled with lots of pickings as well as many customers. We have had many people enter our in store pipe contest but there’s still time to enter as the winner will be contacted on the 19th of December! Me and Sharon completed our weekly Cuban stock take in record time and despite the issues in Cuba we still have quite the range available to you.

Saturday felt a bit different this time as our Customer Service Manager Hayley was working from home with Covid so it was just myself, Sarah and Ben. Ben has only been with us a few weeks, but he has nailed the booking on parcels as well as picking and packing orders. We had a lot of orders to pick in the morning which took us up to midday but we got there in the end and then we started stocking the shelves. The Christmas period is always busy and so stocking up becomes more of a regular occurrence and one week you could fill up the pipe room and in a day or two it can look empty.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this insert and I look forward to see what the following week brings us

So long for now

Oliver 🙂

Hi everyone, I hope you’ve all had a good week. I treated myself to a Monday off but I can see Sharon has looked after the shop well and then Tuesday I took over as she is helping the Royal Mail team book parcels on, we are starting to feel the Christmas rush now with lots more orders for cigars and accessories coming in, I have also seen some orders with items I suggested in my Christmas gifts article which is great!

Also on Tuesday me and the Humidor Supervisor Billy started the stock count on New World cigars, this will took us until the end of Wednesday as there are many fantastic cigars in there. Whilst this was going on I also served many customers including a couple who wanted a new humidor for their son so I spent time with them browsing and explaining why Adorini is much better quality than most, you can also read about Adorini humidors here to find out for yourself. I also had a young man looking for Roku Gin, I advised that even though Roku is good but our Foragers range is better and is recommended by TV chef James Martin, by the end he bought the Foragers Yellow Label and used a gift voucher which we sell in store too!

Wednesday consisted of non stop New World stock taking for myself and Billy, this monumental task will be done once a month so we can keep our stock levels up for you all to enjoy. While I was doing this Sharon set up a new display with our Orchant Seleccion candles and I must say I’m very impressed with it and the scents available! Next time you come in I’m sure you’ll smell them.

Thursday began with a lot of pickings for online, however our apprentice Sarah was on hand to help as well as serve customers in the shop. She impressed me a lot on Saturday and only wants to improve more. I spent a lot of time with Billy again to try to organise the New World humidor so it’s not so cluttered and we have introduced a very nice table to showcase more cigars on. 

Friday started off with lots of pickings again and many of the new samplers we have online ready for Christmas! Had a lovely customer come in to buy for her husband but had no idea what cigars he liked so I mentioned many names and we finally settled on Montecristo, one of the best Cubans if you ask me. She chose the Linea 1935 Maltes which is a supreme smoke! As well as the cigar she chose a very nice Colibri Ashtray and Rolling stones Zippo, some lovely Christmas presents if you ask me. 

I hope you enjoyed this weeks blog and if you have any questions of what happens day to day behind the scenes i’m always available for a chat in the Norfolk store or email me at [email protected] 

So long for now

Oliver 🙂

Hi everyone, it seems like it’s been a long time since I’ve posted but please forgive me as I have been away on holiday. We are all prepared for Christmas here including my new shop partner Sharon who has now joined us in the shop ready to help you out with all your tobacco needs. 

Monday was extremely busy in store and online as we had many customers within the first hour of opening as well as having a lot of online pickings, many people ordering ready for Christmas. These pickings took me up until 1pm to finish, of which it was time for a lovely cup of coffee and relaxation. In the afternoon there was a certain sporting event that many members of staff were excited about… Myself included, I even put the radio on instead of the music in the shop so everyone working could listen in. 

Tuesday began with a lovely gentleman coming in and giving me an insight to his cigar journey and spending more than he wanted but he was still happy with his choices. This was followed by another gentleman who loved his Trinidad cigars, so much that he bought a box of 24 Reyes as well as some Vigias. A brilliant day in the shop indeed. I have been spending time still rearranging the New World humidor but we are almost there I would say, I can’t wait to show you all around. We had a late customer however he is one of my favourites who I rarely get to see, he usually has Cuban cigars but he has started to try New worlds so I suggested the delicious Alec Bradley Orchant Seleccion Shorty… next day I see he’s purchased a box! And he said they are a magnificent cigar (which I already knew). Customers who enjoy cigars I recommend really give me a great feeling.

Thursday was a store maintenance day if you will. I was joined by Sarah who helped de-plume the humidor and clean out the humidifiers. She is trying her best to learn about the cigars and their flavour profiles and I think in a few months she will be very confident. While Sarah was doing that, myself and Sharon started labelling up the New World humidor to make it easier for our customers to see exactly what stock we have. 

Have you seen my new article in the C.Gars cigar library? Christmas Gifts for Cigar Lovers. I decided to write this to help out everyone who is struggling to think of a gift that isn’t just cigars as I know I prefer to receive accessories from loved ones over cigars.

Fridays mean one thing… Cuban stock take, I think I know the Cuban humidor more than I know my own house by now. I have also been organising the January subscription box with some great cigars including a Limited edition cigar but to find out which one you’ll need to buy the box ;). Meanwhile the December subscriptions are packed up and ready to go out, I have put in a couple of treats too as it is the season of giving.

I do love working Saturdays and today I have Sarah with me who will start serving some of you when she can. She has been learning all about cigars, taste notes and burn times, I believe you will all love being served by her. One of my favourite customers came in and was served by Sarah and he is the perfect person to be your first customer, he treated himself to his usual Plasencia Reserva 1898 Toro and then we discussed whisky. He has tried many different ones but not a Japanese whisky so I let him try a bit of an open bottle of Nikka Days and he loved it, so much so that he bought a bottle!

In store currently we are doing a raffle where you purchase 25g of Gawith Hoggarth Summer Reserve and you are entered into a draw to win a Rattrays Bulls and Dogs 40 Sandblast 9mm Pipe which is worth £129.99! This has proved to be very popular and we have many entrants so come in store to enter, you have to be in it to win it 😉

So long for now

Oliver 🙂

Hi all, I have a bit of a shorter blog this week due to me going on holiday from Thursday, but don’t you all worry the Norfolk shop will be covered by Sharon who you may have seen in the shop on Saturdays, It won’t be long until she’s in the shop full time! Ready to share her knowledge with you all. 

Monday is filled with online orders to be picked. It is always a busy day on a Monday but we still keep our high standards in the shop. By the time I finished my pickings it was the afternoon so I wrote an article for next week as I’m off all week! (don’t miss me too much) So the Cigar Library will still be updated while i’m gone, I also had time to take the pictures too and hopefully you’ll see them on our social media if they are deemed good enough by our Marketing team who have extremely high standards! As only the best make it to our social media.

Tuesday I was booking parcels for our Royal Mail team as they were down a member. They are also having changes due to Sharon shifting into the shop so they are having new people to train, one of those people is Shanel who is an apprentice, she’s usually in the packing room but is now learning the other side of it all. She was also given the task of writing an article by our manager (which she smashed), so I showed her how to add it onto our Cigar Library. We were both happy with the outcome.

We also have started doing a Davidoff raffle with samplers, you purchase a sampler and you are automatically put into a draw to win a beautiful Davidoff accessory, click here to view the samplers.

Wednesday started with the traditional pickings and showing our new staff member Courtney around and doing a few pickings herself. She is currently learning the Booking on system but is doing a bit of picking in between. In the afternoon I was a part of the marketing meeting, seeing where we can improve our offers for all of you and what new offers or samplers we can provide for you. We have some very exciting deals and even a raffle coming soon so keep an eye out for that!

See you all in a week!

Oliver 🙂