Ask Aemon Baeyat what the last year has meant for businesses along Fort Street and heB次元官网网址檒l point to the retail space for lease across the street. The chefB次元官网网址檚 academy that had been there for 11 years was forced to shut down as a result of the pandemic, he explained.
BaeyatB次元官网网址檚 establishment, Cuban Cigar Shop, avoided the same fate. B次元官网网址淲e were very lucky because we have many loyal customers, (and) we had them during the pandemic,B次元官网网址� he said.
Luigi Stilletta, the owner of Goodfellas Cigar Shop on the corner of Wharf and Pandora streets, added B次元官网网址渋tB次元官网网址檚 been a pretty good year. We were definitely up (in sales) over 2019.B次元官网网址�
The collision of typical industry practices and worldwide pandemic measures resulted in a unique demand on Victoria cigar shops. But local shopsB次元官网网址� success wasnB次元官网网址檛 a pandemic-induced climb in smoking rates. Rather, both Stilletta and Baeyat said travel restrictions forced cigar buffs and others to keep their shopping local.
Stilletta said a large portion of his clientele has the means to travel, and when they do, by purchasing the maximum duty-free amount of 50 cigars while in the U.S., South America, the Caribbean or certain parts of Europe, they can avoid Canadian tobacco taxes of up to 75 per cent. VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 travelling cigar enthusiasts would never have to make a domestic purchase, he added.
B次元官网网址淲e always say in the Canadian premium tobacco industry that our biggest competition isnB次元官网网址檛 the store down the street, but US online retailers,B次元官网网址� said Goodfellas Cigar Shop manager Phil Turcotte.
That foreign competition on cigar purchases was almost completely eliminated when travel restrictions were implemented earlier in the pandemic, Turcotte said.
The result was an increase in demand for local cigar shops.
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However, tobacconists were hampered by the shortage of global buying opportunities just as much of their clientele.
Baeyat explained the pandemic strangled the Cuban cigar industry. If one manufacturer becomes ill, the entire factory is shut down for two to three weeks. B次元官网网址淚f youB次元官网网址檙e working for an insurance company or a bank, the work can be done from home. When you roll the cigar, it has to be done in the factory,B次元官网网址� he noted.
Much of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 imported Caribbean cigars arrive on passenger flights, as well. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a pretty small, lightweight product,B次元官网网址� Stilletta said. B次元官网网址淪o if thereB次元官网网址檚 a flight coming in from Cuba, theyB次元官网网址檒l typically put a couple of pallets fulls of cigars in the hold and bring them up that way.B次元官网网址�
As a result of closures, rarer Cubans such as Montecristos or Cohibas have become almost impossible to get, Stilletta said. The workaround for Goodfellas Cigar Shop was expanding offerings of Dominion cigars and cigars manufactured in Nicaragua and Honduras.
Fort StreetB次元官网网址檚 Cuban Cigar Shop remains reliably stocked with vintages from the Dominican Arturo Fuente to CubaB次元官网网址檚 Hoyo de Monterrey. However, Baeyat said heB次元官网网址檚 heard of other shops closing because of product scarcity.
A solution, he said, exists in changing CanadaB次元官网网址檚 plain packaging laws. One introduced in March 2020 requires decorative cigar box branding to be removed by manufacturers before being exported to Canada, which can limit the number of cigars allowed to enter Canada.
B次元官网网址淭his is hurting a lot of tobacconists,B次元官网网址� Baeyat said. B次元官网网址淗opefully, if we can get back to normal, we should see a lot more supply.B次元官网网址�
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