Don’t miss the opportunity to make an Iran, North Korea and Russia metaphore, too!Not to be that guy but yeah, that's cause cup'o and tobaccopipes are being chucked on the scrap heap lol. They're probably fire-selling inventory off so that when they combine them both into Pipes & Cigars in the next couple months that they won't even have to pay someone a few extra bucks to drive the spare inventory back to Bethlehem.
Big monopoly logic... it's cheaper to give the $80 million dollar plane to the Taliban instead of filling it with a few grand worth of JP-8 and flying it to Saudi Arabia...
Say Whatcha Want About STG...
- Thread starter jbfrady
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Sutliff ceased to be an independent company decades ago. It has existed as a brand name, under various ownerships, since 1969. Any other allusions to being the oldest, or whatever, is just marketing hype.
Thank you. I wasn't being a source demanding so and so. I figured you knew what you were looking for or rather what I was.
I was deep cellaring Three Nuns, Escudo, Capstan, and Sutliff's VaPer Crumble Kake, but now I'm switching over to only cellaring C&D blends. I'm also only shopping at SmokingPipes. I'm doing the most I can to avoid giving STG any money.
I really wanted one of their bigfoot / yeti meers, hopefully P&C will continue selling thoseNot to be that guy but yeah, that's cause cup'o and tobaccopipes are being chucked on the scrap heap lol. They're probably fire-selling inventory off so that when they combine them both into Pipes & Cigars in the next couple months that they won't even have to pay someone a few extra bucks to drive the spare inventory back to Bethlehem.
Big monopoly logic... it's cheaper to give the $80 million dollar plane to the Taliban instead of filling it with a few grand worth of JP-8 and flying it to Saudi Arabia...
The irony here is that the only difference between Laudisi and STG is that of scale. They're both multilevel corporations and if given the time and continued success, the differences between the two will only continue to vanish. Laudisi didn't start C&D; they acquired them. In that regard, there's hardly a difference.
I'm not saying don't buy C&D. I'm just saying that the new boss is the same as the old boss.
Is Laudisi a publicly traded company or still privately owned by Sykes? That does make a huge difference when you’re not beholden to shareholders. We have .99¢ Arizona Tea because it’s still privately owned. And I believe when talking about who’s the boss vs who’s the bosses that’s an important distinction.
What the fuck are you going on about.
You’re making it sound like a hostile takeover.
Do you know any of the history there?
Not to nitpick but that analogy isn't that simple.. at least it wasn't when I was in food manufacturing. Price points determine which resellers will even carry your product. So sometimes companies will hold prices down in order to keep larger market share. We had a huge sh*storm once we finally had to raise the price of our sherbets beyond what dollar tree would accept we just ended up discontinuing them because it was determined the market share by selling them at other retailers for $1.29 wouldn't make producing it worthwhile.
The big question should be if Arizona is still able to sell for .99 now why was it for so long before? They were probably making enough in the 90's that they're still living on the interest
That’s why some retailers charge more for Arizona tea, and good on them if they sell plenty. But the private structure allows them to do what they want and not have to be beholden to shareholders, which is more my point. And yes, the owner of Arizona Tea has said that he made enough money that he doesn’t feel the need to charge more because he has enough. Not a publicly traded company on earth that thinks that way from what I’ve seen.Not to nitpick but that analogy isn't that simple.. at least it wasn't when I was in food manufacturing. Price points determine which resellers will even carry your product. So sometimes companies will hold prices down in order to keep larger market share. We had a huge sh*storm once we finally had to raise the price of our sherbets beyond what dollar tree would accept we just ended up discontinuing them because it was determined the market share by selling them at other retailers for $1.29 wouldn't make producing it worthwhile.
The big question should be if Arizona is still able to sell for .99 now why was it for so long before? They were probably making enough in the 90's that they're still living on the interest
Lol kudos on the classic straw man fallacy here. You’re asking me to defend a viewpoint I never asserted.
I always stop by the Smoking Pipes table at the Vegas show. They’re great to talk to and are very helpful. They’re people who really care about the community and their customers. Heck they just randomly sent out a Kiribi lighter to customers as a Christmas gift. Laudisi is miles away from what STG is.
You’re too cute by half.
C&D/Laudisi is miles away from the topic at hand.
I may read slowly, but it did seem that you tried some parallels there.
I think he was implying they "could" grow into that more than that's where C&D currently is. I'm willing to accept that as a legitimate argument, but I agree that's miles and miles away from where they are currently.
Correct on all counts, hence my calling it a difference of scale. But if things go well for Laudisi, they’ll purchase other brands too, because why shouldn’t they? Then, as they acquire more and more, the sheer logistics of maintaining such a large operation will make them slowly less accessible.
After that, they’ll have acquisitions down to a science and once they reach a particular arbitrary point of too bigness, people will begin despising them as though they’re evil. It’s just how business works, and that’s okay.
I’m still gonna keep buying C&D and Sutliff and Capstan, and I’ll keep ordering from smokingpipes and cupojoes. I’m not attacking anybody here, but I’m remarking upon the irony of boycotting a behemoth who is trying to give consumers great deals on great products.
If smokingpipes.com had offered 40% of Cobblestone they’d be hailed as messianic, but because it was cupojoes it’s blasphemous.
You know what Laudisi has done for we US smokers, right?
They’ve looked at the have/have nots and given us what we want.
STG/Sutliff/MacBaren whoeverwhatever has paid attention to and responded to what?
I do know. And I should reiterate, nothing of what I have said is attacking smokingpipes.com or anything that it does. At this past Vegas show, I got to sit there and have a long and pleasant conversation with Sykes. I very much appreciate that business.
What I’m arguing here is that there is no reason to oppose STG on any moral grounds. Their purchasing of Mac Baren and Sutliff is going to allow those brands to stay afloat when it would not have happened otherwise. After HH passed away, the ownership of Mac Baren, and all of his subsidiaries was in question. It was likely going to crumble into a pretty shitty brand.
In short, if the question is do I support smokingpipes.com or STG, the answer is a resounding yes.
STG has quality control down to a science. Sure, certain brands aren’t exactly what they used to be prior to the purchase, but they are also still some of the best ones on the market. I have never been disappointed with an STG blend, nor have I ever met one which contained mold or any other issue. Sure, when they acquire companies, they have to drop blends which aren’t as popular, but it raises the question: why were they not dropped already? That could have something to do with why the company question gets acquired.
My wife HATES these daily clearance sales. So there’s that.
That one might be on me though.
That one might be on me though.