2019 PCA Magazine

PREMIUMCIGARS.ORG CIGAR.ORG JULY-AUGUST 2019 | PCA The Magazine 25 B Y G R E G G I R A R D N E D IN 1936 , three years after the founding of the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America (RTDA), then-president W.A. Hollingsworth delivered a report at the RTDA’s fourth annual convention. He noted the purpose of the RTDAwas “tomarshal all the retail tobacco dealers andmany other elements in the tobacco industry behind a common goal—the correction of the destructivemerchandising practices and piratical price-cutting ....” He went on to say: “This Association was born of torment and was dedicated to the proposition that the tobacco industry could only be so prosperous as the retailers’ cash registers allowed, and, that the retailers were entitled to be paid for the manifold services they performed. Within the past three years, 380,000 retailers were marshalled to uphold and support this proposition.” (You read that correctly … 380,000 retailers!) Hollingsworth outlined the RTDA’s activities to address unfair trade practices: lobbying Congress to amend laws on fair trade; working with regulatory agencies to protect retailers and consumers; petitioning state legislatures and governors to consider fair trade laws; and assisting members with best practices. Sound familiar? Granted, the issues facing the industry have changed over the years, but the goals of the organization remain consistent. That is not to say, however, there hasn’t been a need for the organization to adapt. Much of the impetus for changing the name of the organization in 2007 to the International PremiumCigar and Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) was to clearly differentiate handmade, premium tobacco products from the machine-made products. And now in 2019, the leadership of IPCPR sees the need to adapt once again, officially changing the organization to the Premium Cigar Association (PCA). So what’s in a name? Why change the name of the organization again just 12 years after rebranding it IPCPR? How will this better help the organization defend premium tobacco in the future? I sat down with Scott Pearce, executive director of the PCA, to find out.