Nine years ago, my wife and I made the decision to open the first premium cigar lounge in the Treasure Valley of Idaho (Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell, Star, Kuna, Eagle) with a collective population of 822,000 residents. Boise was already home to one historic cigar shop called Sturman’s where I bought my cigars from the old man, Mark Sturman, while I was in college almost 30 years ago. However, Sturman’s only had four chairs to smoke in, and they were always full. This was the limit imposed by a smoking ban passed in Boise years ago. The Treasure Valley needed something more!
The first call I made when deciding to open a large cigar lounge experience was to Mark’s son, Ryan Sturman, who had taken over for his father, now enjoying retirement. I consider Ryan a good friend and someone I admire. Ryan expressed a real concern that I would kill a healthy portion of his business and hurt his bottom line. I told Ryan that I was not interested in stealing his customers and that my sole objective was to grow the cigar community in Idaho, thus elevating our collective interests. History suggests that my commitment to this vision was correct. In the past eight years:
- Sturman’s opened two more cigar lounges, in Garden City and Eagle, Idaho
- V-Cut Lounge (full premium cigar lounge experience) opened in Nampa, Idaho
- The Refuge Cigar Lounge (full premium cigar lounge experience) opened in Moscow, Idaho
- The Range Cigar Lounge (full premium cigar lounge experience) opened in Grangeville, Idaho
On a side note, that premium cigar experience we opened in 2017 resulted in a second location in 2022 and has seen double-digit growth every year we have been open. The biggest compliment we get from manufacturers, reps and brokers who visit our part of the country is the unmatched community that exists among all these disparate cigar lounge owners. We love to compete, but we recognize that we build a stronger community when we lift one another up. A rising tide lifts all boats … or at least it should.
Why am I sharing our story? To ask you a difficult question. Are you growing your market or killing it? In my journey through this beautiful industry, I hear the stories of territorialism, bad-mouthing competitors and killing brands in your humidors because of some regional slight. I have written this column addressing every relationship that exists (customers, employees, vendors, etc.) without addressing the relationship we share with our local competitors. Six of the Idaho lounges mentioned above are within 15 minutes of my lounge. It would be so easy to manipulate, scheme and position myself for success at the expense of those other competitors. I believe, however, that our regional consumer (and our collective bottom line) have all improved through collaboration and lifting one another up. I know this sounds Pollyannish. Maybe the world Eleanor H. Porter was writing to in 1913 doesn’t exist today. Maybe we can only succeed through destroying others. We certainly live in a media environment that celebrates winners at the expense of losers. I just choose to cultivate a culture that serves others first in my market. Here are three things that I am intentional about and would offer to you because I think they work to my benefit:
Have regular calls with the owners of your nearest competitors. Take the time to chat about the market. Share success stories. Confess failures. Ask about their families and make it a point to elevate the conversation beyond tobacco. It is amazing how many of these calls have resulted in something positive for my lounge. They may provide a piece of competitive intelligence, insight into the market at large, or a timely warning of something amiss.
Take time to visit your competitors, buy a cigar, and share a moment in their shop. Don’t ask for an “industry” discount. Be a customer for a day. Learn what they are doing better than you and make some changes. Discover, first-hand, what you might be doing better than them and reinforce those to your staff. Break down the walls and show your collective customers what real community looks like.
Encourage one another to participate in your state associations and the Premium Cigar Association at large. Our biggest competition is not one another. It is the shifting sands of legislation we are all beholden to. Make it a point to hold one another accountable to this before the legislative hammers falls in your market. Don’t wait to defend yourself and make friends in fox holes. Get ahead of the narrative and build real relationships that can stand shoulder to shoulder in times of conflict.
Two years ago, I took on the audacious effort to host a golf tournament for the benefit of our local Fraternal Order of Police. I called it the Idaho Cigar Open. That first year, I hosted it by myself. It was a huge success, but something was missing—the entire Treasure Valley cigar community. This past fall, during our 2nd year, I invited the other local lounges to participate and co-host the event with me. That act of inclusion and lifting others made a remarkable positive impact on the event, and we are poised for a 3rd-year event that will break all our fundraising goals.
In closing, I am not asking you to throw events with your local competitors, but I am asking you to consider how your market would respond to true community.
– Article contributed by Josh Evarts, tobacconist at Vault Cigar Lounge, Meridian, Idaho.
This story first appeared in PCA The Magazine, Volume 4, 2025. To receive a copy of this magazine, you must be a current PCA member. Join or renew today at premiumcigars.org/membership.