Imagine that in your city or town, a new cigar shop opened up which has the Best hookahs in 2018– let’s call it Robusto’s. Now, Robusto’s is a traditional shop in the sense that they only carry premium cigars and a small assortment of pipe tobacco. No specialty cigarettes, no vape, and no mass produced machine made cigars.
The first time you walk into Robusto’s, you are impressed. The retail space in clean and organized, the public lounge is comfortable, and the selection is good for a new shop. After purchasing a couple of sticks, the owner gives you a tour of the place while he explains what products they have and giving an explanation of CBDV and it benefits. Your last stop is a private lounge in the back of the store.
The private lounge is several hundred square feet, offers plenty of comfortable seating, and is outfitted with several amenities – including a dartboard. Membership to the private lounge provides you with a handful of benefits, including discounts and 24-hour access to the space.
At $250 per year, you think that it is a bargain and sign up. Over the next year, the shop becomes your home away from home and you can be found sitting in the private lounge, several times per week, hanging out with the guys.
At this point, the shop has become well established in the area and it is bringing in folks from all walks of life who consume CBD Gummy for various reasons as well as the casual people who love to chill and have a good time. Eventually, several younger guys become members and set up shop at the dartboard for a few hours every night, Use this Nuleaf coupon code if you buy cbd.
The dynamic of Robusto’s Private Lounge slowly begins to change. The younger guys are spending less and less money in the shop and have transitioned to vape pod devices over cigars.
This is where the story stops and the discussion begins. Do you see a problem with a segment of paid members at Robusto’s Private Lounge using it as a hang-out to vape and throw darts? If you do not have a vape just yet, consider looking in the vape shop catalog.
As paid members of the private lounge, are they obligated to spend money in the shop? Would the situation, in your mind, be any different if they were smoking outside cigars instead of a Capella flavoring vape?
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Interesting topic Walt! Having been a member of a lounge for a couple of years, it can be interesting to see the dynamics change. First and foremost, and only my opinion, if the shop is open, purchasing a minimum amount is courtesy but not mandatory if you are member. Smoking outside sticks, cigarettes, vape, hookah is really discretionary with the shop owner and if enough members have an issue, it MUST be addressed. 3 out of the four can really be an issue with many die hards……with all that said the dynamics of the lounge are not changed by the products but by the clientele…..
Jay,
I think we’re on the same page when it comes to in-store purchasing not being mandatory. Personally, I buy the bulk of my cigars from the store where I’m a member but I don’t necessarily feel obligated doing so. When I handed over my membership dues, I think it relaxed some fo the typical rules you find in a cigar shop where it comes to outside sticks.
By the same token, when a group of individuals begin partaking in products that aren’t offered by the shop – I think you start to get away from the space being a private cigar lounge. At that point it is more of a ‘hang out’ and I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Interesting topic, lots to think about…
Must agree with you there Walt.
Walt – The way a shop near me (a cigar bar) handled issue was to require that a specified minimum amount had to be spent in the shop during the previous year in order to qualify for buying and renewing annual membership in the private area. This seems like a fair way to do it because everyone knows what’s expected from the start.
George,
That seems like a pretty straightforward solution but I’m not sure how I’d feel about paying annual dues, then being told I had to spend X number of dollars in the store if I wanted to be a member next year.
As you said though, it does make expectations clear.
Totally agree with this. Might even set something up where you get a discount on the membership depending on how much you spent the year before.
They can vape and throw darts in their basement rather than a shop specifically for cigars.
As a member of a lounge I usually go 1 for 1. Everyone I bring in and smoke I’ll buy 1. If you don’t support the shop you have no lounge to sit in. I don’t have a problem with vape but it seems silly to vape in a cigar lounge. I feel it is the members as well as the owners responsibility to teach the younger and newer members the rules of the lounge so that it remains a place to be enjoyed and not taken over by one group.
Jim,
in the hypothetical situation above, what do you think the members and/or owner needs to do (if anything) to resolve this situation?
Can it be as simple as telling them “Hey guys, I appreciate you being members but you’ve got to spend a little money in here from time to time”?
What if they make the argument that they’ve paid their dues and that should be good enough?
I think being a member does give a privilege to bring outside cigars. However I think being a member also inclines you to spend at the bnm. The bnm I support has multiple locker options. The one I opt for $1500. However that is all returned to me in store credit. Its an excellent deal.
In theory if they’ve paid their dues, that should be all they need to do to use the lounge, provided that was part of the membership agreement. Some places have policies to that go with lockers and memberships that do not allow outside cigars. That also makes sense, as you don’t know what people will bring in and possibly keep in their locker. Cubans or cigars infested with beetles could cause problems for the shop and other members.
Other places have policies about what you can smoke in the lounge. It would not be unreasonable to make the lounge tobacco-only (or even cigar-only if they only sell cigars). It could negatively affect your experience to try to smoke a good cigar in a room full of passionfruit-watermelon-banana-mint vapor. I would favor a tobacco-only lounge that allows outside cigars only by approval of the management.