I would say in the wake of the bad news about Mac Baren / Sutliff; I'd be willing to bet that a lot of B&M's have had an up-tick in business the last two weeks. Possibly even from individuals that don't normally shop at a B&M, and if the tobacconists are good they'll take note, and converse with the new customers to find what blends they enjoy, and try to find them something that isn't affected by the sale of Mac Baren / Sutliff to STG, and offer up something that will have them potentially coming back to the shop.
Now that seems like business 101, but I can tell you that I've been to B&M shops where the "so-called" tobacconist couldn't care less if I even bought something from them or willing to answer questions. There was one particular individual, you can't call him a tobacconist, because he would barely even acknowledge me, and when I tried to engage in conversation he would give a short two to three word non-answer. As I was trying to ask him questions he would walk in the back, and just avoid me. Clearly no one taught him the importance of customer service. While in the shop browsing pipes and cigars, he treated several other individuals that had come in the same way. Just terrible customer service. I was at the B&M shops alternate location about a week later, and happened to be talking with the manager, who was very nice and knowledgeable and the complete opposite of the other guy. I told the manager that the guy at the other store was hurting his business because he didn't want to help his customers, and gave him examples of what had occurred. The manager was not pleased, but he did acknowledge that he's had other complaints about this individual. The manager told me what days he works at that other location, and I made sure to avoid going to the shop on those days. A few months later I found out that he was eventually fired by the manager. Thank goodness.
Now that seems like business 101, but I can tell you that I've been to B&M shops where the "so-called" tobacconist couldn't care less if I even bought something from them or willing to answer questions. There was one particular individual, you can't call him a tobacconist, because he would barely even acknowledge me, and when I tried to engage in conversation he would give a short two to three word non-answer. As I was trying to ask him questions he would walk in the back, and just avoid me. Clearly no one taught him the importance of customer service. While in the shop browsing pipes and cigars, he treated several other individuals that had come in the same way. Just terrible customer service. I was at the B&M shops alternate location about a week later, and happened to be talking with the manager, who was very nice and knowledgeable and the complete opposite of the other guy. I told the manager that the guy at the other store was hurting his business because he didn't want to help his customers, and gave him examples of what had occurred. The manager was not pleased, but he did acknowledge that he's had other complaints about this individual. The manager told me what days he works at that other location, and I made sure to avoid going to the shop on those days. A few months later I found out that he was eventually fired by the manager. Thank goodness.
