Many of Denver’s cigar bars have had to weather the tides of public opinion around smoking, along with state-mandated closures during the coronavirus pandemic. They’ve come to rely on t…
Stanley Pappas, a 30-year cigar industry veteran, has watched customers from all walks of life settle in for a smoke at his two stores:Retirees arrive in the mornings to socialize, puffing on cigars with their cups of coffee. Millionaires chat with recent college graduates, while Democrats and Republicans smoke side-by-side. Industry professionals meet and do business over stogies.
“There are always newcomers,” Pappas said. “There’s a nostalgia that their grandfathers smoked cigars.” Historically, the U.S. cigar industry has embraced its highs and survived its lows. A sales spike in the 1920s led to a dip into the late 1950s,the Cigar Association of America Inc. The 1960s and early 1970s saw another jump, followed by a slump into the early 1990s. In 1996, the industry welcomed another positive shift, with cigar sales soaring into 2012. After several more downturns and upswings, the latter half of 2020 showed signs of a “strong comeback,” according to the trade association.
While the pandemic left him questioning whether his stores would shutter permanently, customers returned, and business is stabilizing. Looking forward, Pappas described his outlook as “optimistically cautious.”
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