It’s a great point. Danish Jenny knows when to hold ‘em and knows when to fold ‘em.
Update on the STG Closure Of Sutliff and Mac Baren
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It’s a great point. Danish Jenny knows when to hold ‘em and knows when to fold ‘em.
I would think the hh line would be safe that seems like they're most popular line
Nah, I find it darkly amusing.
i am on the mailing lists for Cup O’ Joes and TobaccoPipes (I believe both are owned by Sutliff/MacBaren) and received identical emails from both today that noted the following:
”In an effort to provide the best service, security, and experience for our overall business and customers, we have taken the hard decision to suspend international shipping for the foreseeable future...”
Since I reside in the USA, this doesn’t affect me, but I wonder what others here think this decision by the new owner means?
”In an effort to provide the best service, security, and experience for our overall business and customers, we have taken the hard decision to suspend international shipping for the foreseeable future...”
Since I reside in the USA, this doesn’t affect me, but I wonder what others here think this decision by the new owner means?
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I got the same silly notice and thanked the fine folks at Tobaccopipes for letting me know that Oregon is not part of the US.
I had no idea.
As for what it portends, who knows.
I had no idea.
As for what it portends, who knows.
It's probably something to do with licensing rights and being unsure of what Big Daddy STG wants to do. Sounds like standard corporate speak for "we don't know what the new boss wants yet, so we're going to play it safe for now".
Buying a business is a complicated affair, buying an international business moreso, what with varying intellectual property laws, varying licensing agreements, etc.
Buying a business is a complicated affair, buying an international business moreso, what with varying intellectual property laws, varying licensing agreements, etc.
I don’t think popularity factors into the decision making. It’s all about the margins.
For real. Capitalists be like
Every. Time. When will people wake up?
That’s what Stalin asked.
I think STG is a small-C conservative company that does not want to take the slightest risk of breaking any international shipping rules, especially in a market so small as pipe tobacco. I noticed the other day Pipes & Cigars required an adult signature on delivery (and charged me $2 for it!). Other independent sites are more willing to ship anywhere. Some are not even collecting state sales tax yet. I won't name them here. But shop around, I say.
I used to be fluent in corporate doublespeak, and my guess is that they put someone new in charge to figure out how to consolidate their online retail presence as they move their entire production out of the United States.
You know, for your best service, security, and experience.
More likely an AI enhanced app than a new hire. The aim is to fire not hire.
All of these businesses are going bye bye in the next few months, so a notice of termination of international shipping, however stupidly done, makes sense as they simplify operations prior to shutting down.
Define “greed”, please.
Did “greed” kill McClellands? D&R?
As someone who ran a small pipe tobacco brand for a few years, I can tell you that there’s just aren’t enough people who buy quality pipe tobacco to support more than a handful of manufacturers. You need to move a lot of product to make a profit, you need to buy a lot of leaf to be able to dictate what farmers grow, and what you will pay for it. Until you can work on that kind of scale, you will be at mercy of others for the quantity, quality and price of leaf (or processed tobacco), and your profit margins will remain slim.
You can call it “greed”, but I call it being able to keep the lights on and doors open.
Of course, we're talking abut STG here, the McDonald's of the pipe tobacco world, not Ma and Pa Kettle. In the non cigarette tobacco scale of things they're a significant player.
Even so, I don't think greed is at play here, so much as dynastic indifference and the collateral damage it causes. The owners of Mac Baren wanted out, and STG bought them out.
A definition of greed is an interesting ask. I would say that it is a sense of covetous entitlement toward and over what assets others have.
I also don't align with Brian Levine's thoughts on what's going to happen. It would be inefficient to buy these two companies just to wipe them off the shelf. Much more efficient to take advantage of their market to fill your coffers. Just go with the most profitable of the products. That's what K (formerly known as K&K) have done for decades.
This is the main reason it occurred to me that Sutliff can still be saved. Unless STG wants to lock Per Georg Jensen in a blending room it Jutland, I cannot see what they really want from Sutliff. They may not care about collateral damage, but they should be able to smell the opportunity to sell Sutliff and recoup some of the costs for the purchase of Mac Baren, which I suspect is the asset they really wanted.
The most valuable asset of Sutliff is the IP. STG already has distribution, and (apparently), an excess of manufacturing capacity.
$5 says they shutter the Sutliff plant, sell the real estate, maybe ship some machinery to DK, keep some product names alive, squash the competition, scarf up the proportion of market share that they can.
Per Jenson no longer works for STG/Mac Baren/ Sutliff.
I'm sure there's enough shelf space for the Mac Baren/Suliff big sellers. But Brian mentioned that STG's minimum batch size is 4,000 lbs. That's 32,000 2 oz tins. They can probably sell that many St. Bruno's but what else? Virginia No. 1? Ugh.