Smokeshop

SS December 2015

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50 SMOKESHOP December 2015 50 SMOKESHOP December 2015 right direction? The first step is to make sure it's available. "The best way to do that," said Wortzel, "is to show mass market retailers that traditional pipe tobacco is a consistent and solid profit performer and should be part of their overall port- folio. In a lot of OTP sets, they're seeing market compression in every area except pipe tobacco. Retailers need to know they can still make margins in this area." The second step is to listen to the consumer. If they want variety, manufacturers need to give them variety—and that means coming out with new and interesting products on a more frequent basis. But none of this can happen in a vacuum. "At Pipe Tobacco Council, our goal is to make sure we as an industry are being creative together in terms of what we can do to advance traditional pipe tobacco going forward," said Michols. After so many years of a declining industry, it's exciting to see pipe tobacco move in a positive direction. There's still a long road ahead, but Michols and the Pipe Tobacco Council are committed to reviving this industry. "It takes commitment. Pipe tobacco has been declining for a while, so it's going to take a little bit of time to turn that around," said Michols. "It's the responsibility of the pipe tobacco manu- facturers to be the sources of this turnaround." Craig Williamson is president of the Cigar Association of America, Tel: (202) 223-8204, Web: www.cigarassociation.org. VAPOR NATION 1/2H 400 W. Front Street • PO Box 226 Washington, MO 63090 • 800-888-2109 pipes@corncobpipe.com MISSOURI MEERSCHAUM CO. WASHINGTON, M o U.S.A. Font: Futura Med. Cond An AMERICAN LEGEND HANDCRAFTED in U.S.A. SINCE 1869 HANDCRAFTED in U.S.A. SINCE 1869 LEGEND MISSOURI MEERSCHAUM CORN COB PIPES • Wide selection of popular styles • Quality old world craftsmanship • Sweet smoking and long lasting SS•1/2V•Missouri Meershaum.indd 1 1/22/16 9:41 AM > Top: Counter-culture premium cigar maker Drew Estate jumped into the pipe segment in 2013 with characteristically unique inter- pretations of classic pipe mixtures perfectly suited to a new gen- eration of pipe enthusiasts. Above: Seattle Pipe Club member and master blender Joe Lankford has developed three new craft grade blends, adding to the club's popular original three offerings. The bold-leaning blends are distributed by Pipes & Cigars. CAA INSIGHT >

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