Nat Sherman Shutting Down

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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I'm glad to have a little back story on this that was mentioned in an earlier thread, in which my moans and lamentations were expressed. Often the selling of a business out of the family and into some larger corporate entity is a death knell. The family business lent a distinctive retro aura to 42nd Street, and now it is gone. Perhaps the Sherman family raked in a nice sale price on the business and the corporate entity sucked up the loss, which may be a sort of happy ending.
 

Jan 27, 2020
4,002
8,120
I'm glad to have a little back story on this that was mentioned in an earlier thread, in which my moans and lamentations were expressed. Often the selling of a business out of the family and into some larger corporate entity is a death knell. The family business lent a distinctive retro aura to 42nd Street, and now it is gone. Perhaps the Sherman family raked in a nice sale price on the business and the corporate entity sucked up the loss, which may be a sort of happy ending.

While I know nothing of their wholesale business I can say pretty confidently that their Townhouse, based on location alone, is very much dependent on both the office slags who work nearby and visiting tourists with deep pockets; neither of which will be around in numbers for at least another year.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,675
29,392
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
While I know nothing of their wholesale business I can say pretty confidently that their Townhouse, based on location alone, is very much dependent on both the office slags who work nearby and visiting tourists with deep pockets; neither of which will be around in numbers for at least another year.
yeah they might survive if they were not married to that location.
 
Jan 27, 2020
4,002
8,120
yeah they might survive if they were not married to that location.

Not sure about that. Where are the going to move? Dubai?

Anyway, the company that bought them , as indicated by one of the articles, didn’t have an interest in running a high end cigar business. Not sure why they would acquire the brand in the first place. Anyway, so much for history, it gets flushed down the toilet like a chewed up butt of a cigar these days...
 
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warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,699
16,206
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
"Not sure why they would acquire the brand in the first place."

Money is the very obvious answer. It's been stated before, numerous times in fact, money. The marque was acquired for the basest of reasons, money. The company's luxury cigarettes generate profits or, moneys. So, moneys are to be made. Every company seeks to make ... money. MCD = money. Nothing arcane about the situation. Money is usually always the answer.

High end tobacco products + NYC storefront = very expensive (no moneys) due to severe taxes and limited foot traffic interested in cigars, cigarettes, pipe blends, etc, high rent. Read all of that again and then try to find ... profits (moneys).
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
warren, I agree. The machinery of business is the profit motive only. People get attached to businesses, retail and restaurants and everything, and imbue them with emotional memories, but the people in the corporate board rooms look at the revenue stream, and if it isn't producing, they cut their losses as fast as they can. Only the ones who reconnoitered the site during the purchase had ever been there, in all likelihood, and all of them were looking at the financial data only. I'd be interested to know if the decision was made before Covid; that is a possibility. But the rest of us do, and should, see life in a broader prospective. Even Capitalism insists it is different from dialectical materialism, so traditionally Capitalists want it to be more than just economic machinery, though that is what it is.
 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,699
16,206
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
Altria Group owes allegiance only to those who risked their money to purchase stock. They have a serious legal obligation to their shareholders. Their stock seems to be doing well under current circumstances. They are also secure enough to join the "woke" movement, spending millions toward "racial equality" causes. Also, lots of moneys going into supporting employees during the virus.

There is some information that they are only going to keep a couple of Nat Sherman labels active. It'll take a while to see what shakes out.
 
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Jan 27, 2020
4,002
8,120
"Not sure why they would acquire the brand in the first place."

Money is the very obvious answer. It's been stated before, numerous times in fact, money. The marque was acquired for the basest of reasons, money. The company's luxury cigarettes generate profits or, moneys. So, moneys are to be made. Every company seeks to make ... money. MCD = money. Nothing arcane about the situation. Money is usually always the answer.

High end tobacco products + NYC storefront = very expensive (no moneys) due to severe taxes and limited foot traffic interested in cigars, cigarettes, pipe blends, etc, high rent. Read all of that again and then try to find ... profits (moneys).

Yes, but they stated that they didn’t want to operate a luxury cigar brand after purchasing it, which is what the company was built on. I can understand closing the Townhouse but eliminating the wholesale business seems strange, guess they cigars aren’t selling well in a crowded market. I assume they will continue to manufacture the “premium” cigarettes?
 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,699
16,206
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
Obviously cigars would not provide sufficient, if any, profit for the parent organization. MCDs are among the widest selling of the luxury cigarette brands. The new owners of the name appear to be trimming some of the cigarette types also. They only wanted the meat of the company they purchased, not the losers or "also-rans." Unfiortunately for them and fortunately for the sellers they had to purchase all the brands, winners and losers.

Altria obviously thought the deal was worth risking their moneys on. They had to purchase all the brands, hoping that by shedding the losers sufficient successful product would survive. I'm not a student of the cigar market but, Altria sees no profit in vending Sherman branded cigars. Stay tuned. Risky business it is and they could come up short.
 
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