An Interview With Robert Levin

Owner, Holt's Cigar Store, Inc., and the Ashton Brand

Marvin R. Shanken
From the Print Edition:
Danny DeVito, Winter 96

(continued from page 21)

CA: Do you happen to know what percentage of your sales are single cigars?

Levin: No, because it's changed a lot since we opened the new store.

CA: To a higher percentage of loose cigars?

Levin: Yes. We have more loose cigars. As cigars have become more expensive, people, especially the younger smokers, will come in and buy two or three of one cigar brand, and they'll taste four or five brands.

CA: They want to experiment.

Levin: Exactly. They want to experiment.

CA: Do you have a lot of standing orders with your customers, where they say, "When you get in the order, please hold a box or two of this for me, a box of that"?

Levin: Yes. We have thousands. It's become a monster and we are always talking about what do we do with this because, when we get a shipment of Fuentes in, all you do is fill back orders. It's a big problem.

CA: What new brands do you think will do well three or four years down the road?

Levin: Padron, Saint Luis Rey, Montecristo, El Rey del Mundo and La Flor Dominicana are all very good quality cigars that will stick.

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