Cigar Weekly

Recession doesn't dissuade customers of venerable Loop smoke shop

by Meaghan M. Norman
Dec 03, 2008

The sour economy has made it difficult for many privately-owned businesses to survive, but Chicago smoke shop Iwan Ries & Co., a fixture in the Loop, is doing just fine because it caters to a dedicated customer base with habits hard to break.

Through five generations of tobacconists, family-owned Iwan Ries has been selling both luxury and mass brands of tobacco products for 152 years and it intends to continue its legacy through the recession.

"They've been in business since like 1856, since the oldies," said a customer, 35-year-old Darren Smith of Chicago. "Five generations of business in Chicago. I like dealing with people who have been in business for a long time. They know what they are doing and they are pretty courteous, too."

The store, appropriately, is in a two-story building that's one of the oldest standing designs of famous Chicago architects Adler and Sullivan. According to Chuck Levi, the fourth generation owner, the company has never been more than five blocks from its current location at 19 S. Wabash St., between Madison and Monroe, and it has only 10 employees, three of whom are family members. 

"We've always been in the Loop through all the depressions, wars and problems," Levi said.  "We've managed to survive."

Asked how hard the business has been hit by the recession, Levi said with a smile, "We're doing alright."

The shop sells out more than half its inventory of cigars and most tobaccos during the course of a year. Due to the  loyalty of regular customers, most of whom Levi knows by name and spending habits, the business is able to survive through almost any adversity.

"I hate to say it, but the truth is when the economy is not doing so good, people tend to drink and smoke more," Levi explained. "People are uptight for a thousand different reasons and cigars and pipes tend to be obviously relaxing. And at the end of a very bad day or a hectic day, they relax with a cocktail and cigar, or a cigar without the cocktail."

While the store also sells an assortment of cigarettes, it has a larger variety of cigars and pipes. Levi said there are 900 boxes of cigars and 12,000 pipes in inventory -- with 2,000 pipes on display at a time. "We have more pipes on one wall than many stores carry. We probably have 70 drawers of pipes and every drawer holds 24 to 30 pipes."

The pipes, Levi said, have the slowest turnover rate in the store. If properly stored, cigars can last indefinitely, but in the shop, as cigars are sold, the inventory is refreshed every couple of months. Tobacco is usually turned over every 60 days, but some has a shelf life of only about two weeks. Levi said that's partly because more smokers are rolling their own cigarettes. The pipes, on the other hand, have a far slower turnover rate. On average they turn every nine months.

"Most [stores] aren't going to invest in the inventory and in the slow turnover that we do, but we're used to it," Levi said. "Even our accountant thinks we're crazy, but the fast turnover in cigars and tobacco allows us to afford the slow turnover in pipes."

The pipes range from simple corncobs priced at $3.50 up to $1500. Cigars range widely, too, from $1 to $35.

Levi said the shop tries to cater to every customer's needs.

"We're a full-service store. We want to have whatever it is [the customer] wants to smoke," he said. "We don't want to tell them, 'you can't smoke that because we don't think that's good quality.' If you think it's good quality, it's good quality."

Iwan Ries has customers all over the world. During the interview with Levi, a man from Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates called to place an order, as did two gentlemen from Italy. The store's merchandise is international, too. Much of the inventory comes from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras, all purchased wholesale from importers.

The clientele may seem elite, but the shop also has a solid local base that keeps coming back.

On the popular venue-rating Web site Yelp.com, Iwan Ries is a favorite among many Chicagoans, including Andy M.

"This place is wonderful. It is located in a wonderful old building on Wabash," he wrote. "It is a luxurious décor that makes you feel like you have walked back in time. I actually expected to see Winston Churchill hanging out in one of the humidors. But, this is not a place to go if you are working on a budget. The prices are quite high, but if you enjoy lighting up a good cigar, this is a smokers' playground."

 

 

Found through:

Recession doesn't dissuade customers of venerable Loop smoke shop

by Meaghan M. Norman
Dec 03, 2008

The sour economy has made it difficult for many privately-owned businesses to survive, but Chicago smoke shop Iwan Ries & Co., a fixture in the Loop, is doing just fine because it caters to a dedicated customer base with habits hard to break.

Through five generations of tobacconists, family-owned Iwan Ries has been selling both luxury and mass brands of tobacco products for 152 years and it intends to continue its legacy through the recession.

"They've been in business since like 1856, since the oldies," said a customer, 35-year-old Darren Smith of Chicago. "Five generations of business in Chicago. I like dealing with people who have been in business for a long time. They know what they are doing and they are pretty courteous, too."

The store, appropriately, is in a two-story building that's one of the oldest standing designs of famous Chicago architects Adler and Sullivan. According to Chuck Levi, the fourth generation owner, the company has never been more than five blocks from its current location at 19 S. Wabash St., between Madison and Monroe, and it has only 10 employees, three of whom are family members. 

"We've always been in the Loop through all the depressions, wars and problems," Levi said.  "We've managed to survive."

Asked how hard the business has been hit by the recession, Levi said with a smile, "We're doing alright."

The shop sells out more than half its inventory of cigars and most tobaccos during the course of a year. Due to the  loyalty of regular customers, most of whom Levi knows by name and spending habits, the business is able to survive through almost any adversity.

"I hate to say it, but the truth is when the economy is not doing so good, people tend to drink and smoke more," Levi explained. "People are uptight for a thousand different reasons and cigars and pipes tend to be obviously relaxing. And at the end of a very bad day or a hectic day, they relax with a cocktail and cigar, or a cigar without the cocktail."

While the store also sells an assortment of cigarettes, it has a larger variety of cigars and pipes. Levi said there are 900 boxes of cigars and 12,000 pipes in inventory -- with 2,000 pipes on display at a time. "We have more pipes on one wall than many stores carry. We probably have 70 drawers of pipes and every drawer holds 24 to 30 pipes."

The pipes, Levi said, have the slowest turnover rate in the store. If properly stored, cigars can last indefinitely, but in the shop, as cigars are sold, the inventory is refreshed every couple of months. Tobacco is usually turned over every 60 days, but some has a shelf life of only about two weeks. Levi said that's partly because more smokers are rolling their own cigarettes. The pipes, on the other hand, have a far slower turnover rate. On average they turn every nine months.

"Most [stores] aren't going to invest in the inventory and in the slow turnover that we do, but we're used to it," Levi said. "Even our accountant thinks we're crazy, but the fast turnover in cigars and tobacco allows us to afford the slow turnover in pipes."

The pipes range from simple corncobs priced at $3.50 up to $1500. Cigars range widely, too, from $1 to $35.

Levi said the shop tries to cater to every customer's needs.

"We're a full-service store. We want to have whatever it is [the customer] wants to smoke," he said. "We don't want to tell them, 'you can't smoke that because we don't think that's good quality.' If you think it's good quality, it's good quality."

Iwan Ries has customers all over the world. During the interview with Levi, a man from Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates called to place an order, as did two gentlemen from Italy. The store's merchandise is international, too. Much of the inventory comes from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras, all purchased wholesale from importers.

The clientele may seem elite, but the shop also has a solid local base that keeps coming back.

On the popular venue-rating Web site Yelp.com, Iwan Ries is a favorite among many Chicagoans, including Andy M.

"This place is wonderful. It is located in a wonderful old building on Wabash," he wrote. "It is a luxurious décor that makes you feel like you have walked back in time. I actually expected to see Winston Churchill hanging out in one of the humidors. But, this is not a place to go if you are working on a budget. The prices are quite high, but if you enjoy lighting up a good cigar, this is a smokers' playground."

 

 

Found through:

Recession doesn't dissuade customers of venerable Loop smoke shop

by Meaghan M. Norman
Dec 03, 2008

The sour economy has made it difficult for many privately-owned businesses to survive, but Chicago smoke shop Iwan Ries & Co., a fixture in the Loop, is doing just fine because it caters to a dedicated customer base with habits hard to break.

Through five generations of tobacconists, family-owned Iwan Ries has been selling both luxury and mass brands of tobacco products for 152 years and it intends to continue its legacy through the recession.

"They've been in business since like 1856, since the oldies," said a customer, 35-year-old Darren Smith of Chicago. "Five generations of business in Chicago. I like dealing with people who have been in business for a long time. They know what they are doing and they are pretty courteous, too."

The store, appropriately, is in a two-story building that's one of the oldest standing designs of famous Chicago architects Adler and Sullivan. According to Chuck Levi, the fourth generation owner, the company has never been more than five blocks from its current location at 19 S. Wabash St., between Madison and Monroe, and it has only 10 employees, three of whom are family members. 

"We've always been in the Loop through all the depressions, wars and problems," Levi said.  "We've managed to survive."

Asked how hard the business has been hit by the recession, Levi said with a smile, "We're doing alright."

The shop sells out more than half its inventory of cigars and most tobaccos during the course of a year. Due to the  loyalty of regular customers, most of whom Levi knows by name and spending habits, the business is able to survive through almost any adversity.

"I hate to say it, but the truth is when the economy is not doing so good, people tend to drink and smoke more," Levi explained. "People are uptight for a thousand different reasons and cigars and pipes tend to be obviously relaxing. And at the end of a very bad day or a hectic day, they relax with a cocktail and cigar, or a cigar without the cocktail."

While the store also sells an assortment of cigarettes, it has a larger variety of cigars and pipes. Levi said there are 900 boxes of cigars and 12,000 pipes in inventory -- with 2,000 pipes on display at a time. "We have more pipes on one wall than many stores carry. We probably have 70 drawers of pipes and every drawer holds 24 to 30 pipes."

The pipes, Levi said, have the slowest turnover rate in the store. If properly stored, cigars can last indefinitely, but in the shop, as cigars are sold, the inventory is refreshed every couple of months. Tobacco is usually turned over every 60 days, but some has a shelf life of only about two weeks. Levi said that's partly because more smokers are rolling their own cigarettes. The pipes, on the other hand, have a far slower turnover rate. On average they turn every nine months.

"Most [stores] aren't going to invest in the inventory and in the slow turnover that we do, but we're used to it," Levi said. "Even our accountant thinks we're crazy, but the fast turnover in cigars and tobacco allows us to afford the slow turnover in pipes."

The pipes range from simple corncobs priced at $3.50 up to $1500. Cigars range widely, too, from $1 to $35.

Levi said the shop tries to cater to every customer's needs.

"We're a full-service store. We want to have whatever it is [the customer] wants to smoke," he said. "We don't want to tell them, 'you can't smoke that because we don't think that's good quality.' If you think it's good quality, it's good quality."

Iwan Ries has customers all over the world. During the interview with Levi, a man from Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates called to place an order, as did two gentlemen from Italy. The store's merchandise is international, too. Much of the inventory comes from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras, all purchased wholesale from importers.

The clientele may seem elite, but the shop also has a solid local base that keeps coming back.

On the popular venue-rating Web site Yelp.com, Iwan Ries is a favorite among many Chicagoans, including Andy M.

"This place is wonderful. It is located in a wonderful old building on Wabash," he wrote. "It is a luxurious décor that makes you feel like you have walked back in time. I actually expected to see Winston Churchill hanging out in one of the humidors. But, this is not a place to go if you are working on a budget. The prices are quite high, but if you enjoy lighting up a good cigar, this is a smokers' playground."

 

 

Found through: