If anyone has any idea or comments from Russ, please share them. I am sure he used to be in this forum a while back, so I do hope he comes once again and gives us any insight on the future of his brands/blends.
Just in from STG/MacBaren/Sutliff
- Thread starter pappymac
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Maybe not. Which is why he is here.
I already retracted my statemant a couple posts later when it was pointed out Jeremy != STG.
I would like to buy tins from 2023. Any tins MB tins that I have purchased recently are at the earliest begining 2024. Purchased all from Estervals. C&D the same.
Yeah I hate to say it but I feel like we're nearing that point in the battle where "every man for himself" is given. Sure there will still be "solutions" and other options, but a shrinking market is a shrinking market.
If someone has a problem with me spending what i want to secure what I like when i know i can.. idk, again, you do you.
You make a reasonable point, but I prefer not to reward STG for slashing and burning nearly the entire Mac Baren/Sutliff portfolio, ESPECIALLY with their lack of effective communication. I understand the desire and business need for consolidation, but to this extent, and without any attempt to preserve the future of the market through brands like SPC and Hearth & Home?
Nope. Consolidate, sure. Delete redundancies, fine. But I am not in favor of whatever this is, and yeah, sure, I will hold a grudge because I don’t feel my interests have been respected as a consumer. I know many others that feel the same way.
I think my view is reasonable too.
If it's any consolation I thought it was a funny pun lol. Maybe if people don't want to deal with not nice things once in awhile they should go into HR rather than customer service.
And as far as White Knights... well, there (used to be) a blend for that
Fair enough. My apologies. I had not seen it and it got my ire up.
That really was the intent, as well as to throw some shade on the CEO of STG. I blew the attribution in the process. Humor is hard!If it's any consolation I thought it was a funny pun lol. Maybe if people don't want to deal with not nice things once in awhile they should go into HR rather than customer service.
And as far as White Knights... well, there (used to be) a blend for that
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No worries at all. I misattributed the target of the post. All on me.
I thought it was a joke post as well.If it's any consolation I thought it was a funny pun lol. Maybe if people don't want to deal with not nice things once in awhile they should go into HR rather than customer service.
And as far as White Knights... well, there (used to be) a blend for that
Yes, it is reasonable. I too am very upset because it directly impacts my own blends - which constitute a majority of my own cellar. But reasonable is not always the most productive. I prefer to survive - and then when in calmer waters, thrive. Reason and logic are two different things. At my age, I've seen too many friends succumb to reason and find themselves incapacitated in their ability to thrive later on after whatever event upset them or angered them. My approach has always been to take a good stiff drink and before I go to bed, rewrite my options moving forward so that in the morning I am back where I was before Hell walked into my life.
I look at it this way, STG took two brands from 980 blends down to about 14 in one fell swoop because they “weren’t profitable”. It wouldn’t shock me if they find pipe tobacco in general not profitable and shut it down completely in five years, so it’s better to move on from them now. If you want to label that a boycott be my guest.
And to piggyback onto your statement - "weren't profitable" enough.
I feel for those workers who are losing their bread over this. But this isn't surprising.
This is capitalism 101. Contracting markets + major suppliers being publicly held = efforts to capture increasingly small markets to eliminate competition and promote profit growth to keep shareholders happy. Pipe tobacco is a niche market within a niche market. Even if STG were some sort of paragon of business virtue and held fidelity to the "pipe smoking community," they would still have to deal with the fact that the vast majority of their products were underperforming, and then act accordingly.
That's how it works. People, especially in America, have utterly religious attachments to free market capitalism regardless of what evidence is presented or how the results of such a system impacts them directly. A lot of people genuinely believe that if they are a loyal customer, that they must be pandered to. Nope. In a similar vein, people genuinely believe that free market capitalism promotes competition, which in turn means better and cheaper products for the consumer. Also, nope. In the short-term that is sometimes true, but to echo George Orwell, the problem with treating the economy as one giant competition is that eventually someone wins. Competition can't be made perpetual save through external and artificial means. Winners of these competitions create monopolies or oligopolies that serve the interests of the winners, and not the consumers or anyone else. That's what we are seeing here.
Look, I'm not trying to dogpile on capitalism. Capitalism has many virtues and can produce some pretty amazing results, especially when coupled with a robust social safety net and reasonable and fair independent regulatory bodies. But fellas, c'mon. This is how the game is played, baby. Best get hip to it. If STG's gutting of the pipe tobacco industry is bothering you, just wait until you see what is going on in the American healthcare industry or in defense contracting.
Stock up on what you love, but also, know it's just tobacco. A wee vice and enjoyable diversion. The sun will rise tomorrow, even if you don't have a pipeful of Matchblend 782-flake smash 11A66, with which to greet it.
This is capitalism 101. Contracting markets + major suppliers being publicly held = efforts to capture increasingly small markets to eliminate competition and promote profit growth to keep shareholders happy. Pipe tobacco is a niche market within a niche market. Even if STG were some sort of paragon of business virtue and held fidelity to the "pipe smoking community," they would still have to deal with the fact that the vast majority of their products were underperforming, and then act accordingly.
That's how it works. People, especially in America, have utterly religious attachments to free market capitalism regardless of what evidence is presented or how the results of such a system impacts them directly. A lot of people genuinely believe that if they are a loyal customer, that they must be pandered to. Nope. In a similar vein, people genuinely believe that free market capitalism promotes competition, which in turn means better and cheaper products for the consumer. Also, nope. In the short-term that is sometimes true, but to echo George Orwell, the problem with treating the economy as one giant competition is that eventually someone wins. Competition can't be made perpetual save through external and artificial means. Winners of these competitions create monopolies or oligopolies that serve the interests of the winners, and not the consumers or anyone else. That's what we are seeing here.
Look, I'm not trying to dogpile on capitalism. Capitalism has many virtues and can produce some pretty amazing results, especially when coupled with a robust social safety net and reasonable and fair independent regulatory bodies. But fellas, c'mon. This is how the game is played, baby. Best get hip to it. If STG's gutting of the pipe tobacco industry is bothering you, just wait until you see what is going on in the American healthcare industry or in defense contracting.
Stock up on what you love, but also, know it's just tobacco. A wee vice and enjoyable diversion. The sun will rise tomorrow, even if you don't have a pipeful of Matchblend 782-flake smash 11A66, with which to greet it.
Ugh. Well… at least I don’t have to look forlornly at HH brands and try to reconcile the 71% tax 
His blends are gone. I suspect that we won’t hear much from Russ because STG are his bosses still. STG shows little interest in producing anything small batch. Maybe he’ll bring them back with entirely STG components with STG’s blessing, but I don’t blame the man for not coming out and biting the hand that feeds him.
Well… isn’t that unfortunate. I actually thought Bengal slices was one of the better blends available out of his portfolio, sales wise. Seems like it isn’t. A surprise similar to Mac baren’s HH series.
Only 71% ! Here in Washington state we get 100% excise taxes on pipe tobacco. What I wouldn’t give for 71%Ugh. Well… at least I don’t have to look forlornly at HH brands and try to reconcile the 71% tax
I concur, but with all production moving to Assens, and no interest in small batch (and ultimately, any new blends it seems) what future do you see for him with his employer?
I’d be surprised if he hasn’t already been shown the hallway to the door.