PCA Magazine Fall 2019

44 PCA The Magazine | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2019 PREMIUMCIGARS.ORG humidor is too crowded and you’re not displaying it well, then there’s really no point to having more brands and more options for people who can’t really see it clearly. We like to keep our humidors neat and clean. We also added LED lighting, which has made a big difference because it makes the products look as good as they can on the shelf.” Dougherty agrees. “There’s tremendous pressure these days for retailers to carry a bigger and bigger selection, more and more cigars, that are crammed onto shelves. You see humidors where there are just cigars everywhere. They’re ripping lids off, turning them sideways and just cramming in as much as they can. And what gets lost? Presentation. You don’t see the cigars at their best. You don’t see the beautiful labels and boxes. So I think it’s better to carry less but carry the things that really have strength and presence in your humidor.” Retailers should also consider the positioning of their products. Are your bestsellers located where your customers don’t have to search for them? Do you have a table or counter in or close to the humidor that neatly displays new releases or sale items? How often do you rotate products in your humidor? Where do you display your exclusives? “Retailers really need to understand from each of their vendors which brands might be protected from internet discounting, which brands might be brick-and-mortar exclusives, which brands offer the biggest margins and which brands are the quick sell throughs,” says Dougherty. “Understanding your products will help you decide where best to position those products.” Finnie Helmuth of Humidour Cigar Shoppe in Cockeysville, Maryland, has a center island as a main focal point of her store, and it’s where they’ll put special promotions to draw the customer’s eye. And she says, after 22 years in business, they’re never shy to switch things up. “We are always moving product around the store to try new things,” she says. “By moving products around, customers will ask questions about the product, which then allows us to engage them in further conversation.” Saunders is also a proponent of moving products to different locations. He says, “We’re constantly trying different things—a few of themwork and some don’t. One or two times a year we’ll rearrange the humidor. We’ll move brands from one side to the other. It’s interesting to find that we’ll have spots in the humidor where one brand doesn’t do well but you put it in a different spot and it does fine. It’s a constant process.” As Saunders notes, moving product also allows brands to be “We are always moving product around the store to try new things. By moving products around, customers will ask questions about the product, which then allows us to engage them in further conversation.” - Finnie Helmuth The Art of M E R C H A N D I S I N G Photo courtesy of Finnie Helmuth / Humidour Cigar Shoppe