Supporting Local Tobacconists (List of Stores Still Selling)

[americaman]

I have been wanting to post this for a while, even before this shutdown situation. I believe that it is essential to support our local B&Ms if at all possible. This doesn’t mean we should never buy online, but we should be spending at least some of our money at local tobacconists, especially now.

I figured we could start a thread outlining our local B&Ms and pouring out some support for them during this hard time. Maybe the mods can make a sticky that they add to. I’ll start with some Southern California recommendations:

Tobacco Barn OC: Still taking orders and available for storefront pickup. Unsure of delivery. C&D, Pease, Escudo and other commonly available blends.

Old Town Havana: Still taking orders and available for storefront pickup. Owned by Tobacco Barn OC.

Racine and Laramie (San Diego): Taking orders and shipping. Esoterica sometimes available.

The Cigar Box (Idyllwild): Available for storefront pickup.

Tobacco Trader LA: Still taking orders and available for storefront pickup. Esoterica and Samuel Gawith sometimes available.

 

[cigrmaster]

My local shop is Benningtons in Sarasota FL. I used to frequent it all the time up until somewhere around 2009. Florida put an 85% wholesale tax on pipe tobacco and I refused to pay it. Luckily for them, they had a very good cigar business as Florida put a zero percent tax on cigars. They are still there maybe 12 miles from my house but I don't visit anymore. I quit cigars, have all the lighters I need and he doesn't sell the kind of pipes I buy.
They have a great location on St Armands Circle and own their building so they can still do very well. The brothers who run it were real tobacconists who knew their shit.
The only tins they sell now are to tourists from Europe and other places used to high prices. Last time I was there they were charging 23.99 for tins of Samuel Gawith Best Brown Flake. I bought around 30 tins for 9 and change from JRCigars back when they had a good inventory(2012).
I believe they don't have to charge the tax for out of state orders and I am not sure if they do ship to other states. It might be worth a call as they always had Esoterica products back in the day.