Advertising Cigars, Pipes, And Smokers Articles

( Originally Published 1902 )

There are thousands of cigar stores throughout the country that can increase business very materially by the proper application of the great modern trade developer—advertising.

The margin of profit on these goods is not so very large nowadays, and the average dealer considers money spent in advertising as so much clipped from the already small profits.

Very few tobacconists can afford a local newspaper campaign of advertising. The local newspaper covers the whole town or city and its environments, while the cigar store draws trade from its immediate locality. If the cigar dealer does any considerable trade he should, however, give some consideration to an output of briefly and brightly worded advertisements in his local paper.

As a general proposition he is obliged to confine his advertising efforts to his store and immediate vicinity. One of the best ways to build up a popular retail cigar and tobacco business is to cut prices on well known brands of cigars and tobaccos, and announce this by inside displays and window signs. Yesterday several hundred men bought the "Hoffman House Bouquet" cigars at a low cut price in a well-known Park Row cigar store. " Lillian Russell," "George W. Childs, "" Creme," and other popular brands, of cigars were advertised by striking window signs at cut prices in the same store.

Another advertising method, much in vogue in New York at present, is to give a coupon with every purchase. These coupons, when they reach certain amounts, are good for certain articles that almost any smoker will appreciate.

Still another method is to circularize stores, office buildings and houses within a given radius of the cigar store with bright and clever bargain sheets. The mail and messenger boys are brought into requisition in this.

The average tobacconist gives great attention to his window, case and shelf displays. Here is where he is certainly right. The appearance of the cigar store has much to do with winning or turning away a man's trade. The personalities of the proprietor and his clerks are also important factors.

Only a smoker can write interestingly of smoker's articles. The body, strength and flavor of a cigar are matters that appeal to every smoker when they are properly treated. Some cigars are as tasteless as straw. Some cigars have a mild and elegant flavor. Some cigars have a slightly stronger body. Some cigars are strong and black and heavy—the kind many heavy business men like. The smoker who is a writer delights in expatiating upon the various flavors. Kipling is both a smoker and a writer and here are some of his thoughts in "The Betrothed":