Located in central New York State, the city of Syracuse is home to several cultural touchstones, among them Syracuse University and its renowned Orange athletic teams, the I.M. Pei-designed Everson Museum of Art, the Erie Canal Museum, and perhaps most famously, Rocky’s Cigars!
While that might seem a bit hyperbolic, Rocky’s is in fact an iconic center of activity in downtown Syracuse, and has been since its founding in 1972. More than merely a purveyor of cigars, tobacco, newspapers and periodicals, Rocky’s has long served as a hub for the local population to congregate and unwind before and after a hard day’s work. According to owner Mike Glynn, “Rocky, the original owner, had made it into a real landmark in our town. Most people knew what Rocky’s was, and that’s why we kept the name.”
Rocky’s (and Glynn’s) ties to community hark back to when Syracuse was a bustling manufacturing economy. Here’s how Glynn describes it: “I’m going to tell you something very unique about my store. We open at 6:00 a.m. Our lounge fills up between six and seven every day. This was once a factory town, and we’ve got a lot of these guys that got up at 4:30 every day, went to work at six, and they can’t get that out of their system. We have a meeting of the minds from six till ten every day.” The next shift builds from two to four in the afternoon, with many staying until closing, at 8:00 in the evening. This goes on every day of the week, including Sundays. “It’s a very busy store,” Glynn adds.
As previously mentioned, the business was founded in 1972, by the eponymous Rocky Salino. While it was initially called Rocky’s News, cigars were always an important part of the mix. In fact, Glynn’s father-in-law and former partner, Tony Lanzafame, previously owned a very similar business, and was a regular customer and friend of Salino’s. Legend has it that during a New Year’s Eve visit in 1985, Rocky informed him that he was entertaining an offer to sell the store. Lanzafame proposed that if the offer fell through, he and his son-in-law would be willing to purchase the business. Four months later, when indeed the deal did fall through, Glynn found himself part owner of a store whose business was totally unfamiliar to him. He was determined not to let that stand in the way of achieving success.
After graduating from SUNY Geneseo in 1981, Glynn found a career selling radio air time locally. He left that job for his new partnership with his father-in-law, despite having no retail experience. “I knew nothing,” he confesses. “I grew up in the suburbs and then here I am downtown, in the city, with all the colorful characters and activity.” When asked how he mastered the nuances of the business, he explains he went to the local library and took out the only book on the subject, Zino Davidoff’s The Connoisseur’s Book of the Cigar. By studying that book he acquired all the knowledge he could find on the basics of cutting and lighting a cigar, the various types of tobacco and all the different cigar shapes. “I just made it my business to have all the expertise I could from that book.”
Glynn’s subsequent product knowledge was largely gleaned from contact with manufacturers’ representatives. “Back then,” he recalls, “the salesmen were your resource. I would learn from them.” He would also draw from his father-in-law’s experience, both as a store owner and a longtime customer of Rocky’s. By the late 1980s and into the ’90s, Glynn’s cigar sales were beginning to overtake news as the dominant sector of the business. “I started taking note, there were a lot of icons smoking cigars. I saw David Letterman on the cover of Cigar Aficionado. I said to my father-in-law there’s a whole wave going on here. So we were involved at the earliest stages of the cigar boom.”
Glynn could see the growing popularity of cigar smoking and decided to get ahead of it. Gradually, Rocky’s expanded their premium offerings and increased their displays of cigars, adding wall cases to supplement the walk-in humidor. The next step was to add the words ‘and Cigars’ to the name ‘Rocky’s News.’ His vision was prescient, as cigars now account for around 80 percent of overall sales, with the remaining 20 percent coming from sales of magazines and newspapers. The shift from news to cigars as the main driver of sales dates back to 2005.
Rocky’s staff now numbers 11 employees, six full time and five part time. All of the staff is trained on the basics of working the cash register and selling the news items, but everyone is expected to learn the cigar business as well. Glynn states: “Eventually we want everyone to cross over into cigars, because I’m a big believer in service, and the success of our cigar sales is based on our dedication to service.” That attitude applies to the staff as well. Cigar manager Mark Cowlin, Jr. has been with Rocky’s for about 16 years, smoking anywhere from four to eight cigars a day.
The store measures roughly 3000 square feet, with around 1900 square feet dedicated to the sales floor. News accounts for about 20 percent of the floor area, in proportion with the sales from news items. In addition to pipes, tobacco and accessories, Glynn boasts there are over 600 open boxes of cigars on display, and the store’s lounge offers two seating areas.
In addition to working in the store every day, Glynn has been active in the New York Cigar Association, having served two three-year stints as its president, starting in 2008. The main thrust of his advocacy as president has been in pursuit of a tax cap on cigars, as well as a bar bill which would allow some form of bar seating/liquor sales in tobacco shops. Those efforts are still very much a work in progress, although Glynn has notched some victories. “It’s a tall order to fill,” he says. “New York is a tough nut to crack, and we’ve had our challenges. We have bill sponsors, we’ve had sponsors to sign on to the bill. We were able to enlist the aid of the PCA, the CRA and the CAA. We aren’t there yet, but I tried my best for six years, and now the new guard is carrying that banner forward.”
Motivating Glynn’s efforts to obtain a cap on the cigar tax is New York’s 75 percent excise tax on tobacco products. Asked how he can remain competitive while surrounded by states with either a tax cap or no tax at all, Glynn asserts, “I learned this in the 1990s: It’s all about service. The only way we can survive is to focus on customers that want service, not who are driven by price. We call them by name, we stock their product, we give great recommendations, and we try to create a welcoming atmosphere.”
The formula appears to work. In addition to providing a wide selection of premium and boutique cigar brands, Rocky’s is a Davidoff appointed merchant and a Fuente Opus X merchant. While they cater to all types of customers, offering cigars ranging from budget priced to ultra luxury, Glynn states unapologetically, “We’re not afraid to put a cigar out there for $40.00. We have a curated inventory. Everything here is purchased with an intent.” He adds, “Whether we sell a cigar for $40 or $4, it has to be good. That’s what I mean when I say curated.”
Sales also come from Rocky’s website. Glynn says that online sales contribute between 25 and 30 percent of the store’s overall sales volume. “We’ve been online since ’99. It was the wild west back then, and only the strongest players survived, and while my online business was more robust years ago, we’re still a good middle-tier player on the internet.”
Glynn’s efforts outside of the store emphasize supporting the community. “Each year since 2001 I do a large cigar-oriented event called the Little Big Smoke. We get unbelievable support from our cigar manufacturing partners. We get upwards of 250 people attending, and all the money goes to a local Multiple Sclerosis charity.” Past years have seen the store feed the community by making sandwiches on Christmas and Thanksgiving. Glynn adds, “We’re very well known for our events to bring cigar smokers together. That’s a really big part of our culture. One of my main goals is to support the culture of premium cigars in Upstate New York. All of our outreach events, charity work and education spill out from that.”
Rocky’s consumer education is offered through events at private social clubs throughout the city. At these gatherings, 20 or so attendees receive dinner and drinks, a premium cigar, and a presentation on a cigar’s components, all for a very nominal $20.00 fee. Glynn explains the process: “We take a long-filled premium cigar and an inexpensive chopped-filled cigar, and dissect them. We strip off the wrapper, take off the binder and pull the leaves apart. They quickly learn the difference.” The event includes instruction on how to store, cut and light a cigar.
A further service provided by Rocky’s is live cigar rolling demonstrations for events such as concerts, weddings and golf tournaments. The house-brand cigars are rolled by Glynn’s son-in- law, Carlo Tamila, who developed his expertise over the years since he joined the business in 2015. He rolls cigars in-store, on average, three days a week, and produces around 5,000 cigars per year. In keeping with the store’s emphasis on being involved with customers, Glynn tapped into his customer base for assistance with the rolling events. “We have a few people to help with set-up, and to discuss the product with the event attendees. It’s a whole crew of extras to work with him.”
The cigars rolled by Carlo use a Honduran bunch and are available in five or six different wrappers, depending on availability. According to Glynn, “We seek out interesting wrappers from some of the suppliers that are available. We use different wrappers to vary the blend. Each variety is available in two vitolas, with the Toro selling for just under $10, and the 6×60 for just under $12.” He adds: “The customers have responded unbelievably. We could never have predicted how popular these cigars would be.”
As much of a contributor to the overall sales as the house-made cigars are, there came a time when they almost ceased to exist. Carlo recounts how he came to be Rocky’s master roller:
“I came onboard about 10 years ago, just helping out part time. Prior to this I was a pastry chef at a private dining club. I enjoyed smoking cigars but never anticipated getting this involved. After about three years I left that job to work here full time, as my passion for cigars had grown.
“We had a roller who was from Cuba who didn’t want to roll in the store. But people want to see that. He parted ways with Rocky’s, and a week later my father-in-law told me, ‘We have an event for 100 cigars next week. Can you try to learn?’ So I went home and for a week straight studied YouTube videos, watching as much as I could. I’m a visual learner, and I think being a pastry chef helped with that. I stayed up all night rolling the first hundred cigars, and when I showed them to Mike he told me to try again. By the end of that week I had probably rolled a total of 500 cigars. Only the good ones made it to the event!”
Carlo explains that the first year he did about five or six events, which he thought was pretty good, adding: “Last year, for just May, June, July and August we did about 53 events. This summer we’ll average between three and seven events per week.” These can be anything from VIP parties at a concert venue, to golf tournaments and private dinners. He’ll work the store from 5:30 a.m. until about 2:00, then get ready to travel to his next event.
Glynn says that Carlo has been increasing his equity share of the business since he became full-time, and his responsibilities now cover the gamut of operations necessary to keep the business moving forward, including staffing, ordering and waiting on customers.
Family plays a large part in keeping Rocky’s going. Glynn’s son-in-law is not the only member of the family to contribute to the business. While his father-in-law Tony retired in 2022, his wife Wendy still works in the store, and, as Glynn tells it, “Over the years, many of my brothers and sisters, as well as my mother and father, have worked in the business.” But it is clear that Mike Glynn himself is the engine that propels the business forward. After 40 years, he still works seven days a week (when not on vacation), although he will soon add a weekend manager to allow him “more time with the grandkids.” With a large, competent and dependable staff, coming to work daily isn’t a necessity, it’s an act of love. Glynn sums it up like this:
“I’m here 9:00 to 2:00 or 3:00 every day. I love to come in to work. I don’t have to, but I love to see my morning customers. I love to sit down and have a conversation and find out what’s going on. I just enjoy coming to work.”
With his son-in-law gradually taking the reins, under the watchful tutelage of Glynn’s infectious enthusiasm for his store, his customers and the surrounding community, it looks like Rocky’s Cigars will be creating history for many more decades to come.
– Photography by Rick Policastro. Story by Larry Wagner.
This story first appeared in PCA The Magazine, Volume 2, 2025. To receive a copy of this magazine, you must be a current PCA member. Join or renew today at premiumcigars.org/membership.