If you are a retailer reading this column for the first time as a PCA member at our 2025 trade show in New Orleans, don’t judge these musings too harshly. My intent is not to bash our revenue providers. On the contrary, I love people … especially my customers. In 30 years of visiting hundreds of cigar lounges around the world, however, I have identified some common threads in the archetypes of customers that exist in every lounge. My goal is to define some of these customer profiles and provide some gentle suggestions to limit the distraction that they impose on your business.
If you are a retail customer who is reading this article at your local brick-and-mortar, strap in as I may be talking to you. Don’t take it personally. You are not alone.
The Critic: Can it possibly be that everything (and everyone) in the world is wrong and it is one single person’s responsibility to bring it to everyone’s attention with no clear solutions? We have all met this critic. The topic could be politics, religion, cigars, spirits or local burger joints. They have seen it all, done it all, and know it all. We tend to avoid or ignore this person in order evade their penetrating intellect being redirected at us.
Solution: I tend to engage these folks with non-threatening inquiries. If you can soften the tone and create space for them to be thoughtful, you might just find an interesting conversation. Pose a benign question that offers space for them to add value to the conversational fabric being weaved in your lounge.
The Loudmouth: This isn’t just a volume game. This villain is guilty of the “one-upper” as it relates to anything. If you have smoked 10 Cuban cigars … he has smoked 50, in Havana, rolled on the thighs of virgins. The loudmouth uses a multitude of brazen techniques to infiltrate and dominate your lounge. They provide a real threat especially to new customers who may get overwhelmed by their tactics and refuse to return to the noise.
Solution: This one is tricky. I have had to pull these folks aside privately and have a heart to heart about the impact their noise makes on everyone. The truth is, they make this noise to stand out and feel important. You need to embrace their need to feel included and find ways for them to contribute constructively. My experience is that after these private engagements, I have turned their contributions into great value to others or they leave in a huff. Either way, you are better off for having the chat because this villian often has a broader negative effect on the experience of other customers.
The Groper: If you only support misogynists as customers in your lounge, this villain is your guy. However, the groper never met a dirty joke that he didn’t want to share, never saw a woman walk into the lounge that he didn’t undress with his eyes and will absolutely crush the prospects for growing your business beyond the “dirty old men” crowd. I am so proud of the PCA for recognizing the role of women as participants and leaders in our industry. We should enforce that in our brick-and-mortar lounges as well.
Solution: This one is simple. You need to have a zero-tolerance policy for this behavior. Get them out … politely. Invest in conversations that edify all genders, nationalities and creeds. I have met very few successful people who embody the groper creed. You don’t need the riffraff driving away great culture and consumers.
The Indulger: The indulger never met a drink, cigar, story or experience that they couldn’t overconsume. In this state of indulgence, they may take on the character of all the villainous archetypes. They aren’t dominating the room by choice; they just lack the filter and discipline to know how societal norms work. They regularly pierce the veil of appropriate behavior and, by extension, dull the opportunity for others to imbibe in great cigar culture.
Solution: There is a real clinical approach to limiting the impact of this archetype. If you are willing, you must explore the psychological triggers of stress, anxiety and depression that led to these behaviors. You must roll up your sleeves and get about the dirty business of relationships. Just cutting a person off and kicking them out conveys a lack of empathy for their journey. Your other customers will see that and may feel that their own indulgent natures will be similarly off-ramped. Life is hard and we should take every opportunity to walk alongside folks in distress.
The Camper: As you read that title, I know there was a single name that immediately came to mind. We all have that Jamie (sorry buddy) that arrives at opening and leaves at closing. They spend the bare minimum to avoid notice. They feign interest in your collective success while barely contributing to it. They may even make overtures of investment like a box of donuts for the staff, cleaning an ashtray or closing a door left open. However, they are missing the big picture.
Solution: The camper has already made a perceived big investment in your lounge: their time. It is OK to have a conversation with them about the real cost of that time to your bottom line. The reason that they are camped at your lounge is that you let them. Create some boundaries and lovingly invite them to improve your bottom line.
These archetypes will be around if there are cigar bars to smoke in. Do not fear them! Embrace the hard work of relationship building. That kind of work is contagious and will reap rewards for your business.
– Photo: Adobe Stock. Article contributed by Josh Evarts, tobacconist at Vault Cigar Lounge, Meridian, Idaho.
This story first appeared in PCA The Magazine, Volume 1, 2025. To receive a copy of this magazine you must be a current member of PCA. Join or renew today at premiumcigars.org/membership.