Eye on Small Businesses: Connecticut Cigar Co., Stamford
“When the music business started to become unpredictable owing to the shift to digital online music nearly 20 years ago, music marketing man, talent scout and cigar aficionado Nick Casinelli decided to quit the industry and open his own business. In November 2007, he launched the Connecticut Cigar Co. (CCC) in downtown Stamford. ‘From a marketing point of view,’ said Casinelli, a soft-spoken Stamford native, whose flowing gray locks perfectly evince his music-industry background, ‘I approach the cigar business like the entertainment business. Cigars are a big form of entertainment.’”
Thus began a story in WAG magazine – a former publication of Westfair Communications Inc., parent company of the Westfair Business Journal – two and a half years ago, as this highly individual “niche” small business fought to reestablish itself after the ravages of Covid.
Time has marched on, and we were excited recently to catch up with Casinelli – locks still flowing – and hear the latest on the business.
Since no one likes change for its own sake, it was comforting to learn that Max Compres – the company’s Dominican Republic-born chief cigar roller, who has been with CCC from the first day – still works at his high table in the window of the Stamford store, where he rolls the company’s own-label cigars. Tobacco comes from Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Cameroon, but it’s a fun fact that broadleaf tobacco, used mostly as a wrapper, is from the Nutmeg/Constitution State.
While the store’s inventory seemed large and varied when we first met, Casinelli pointed out that he could only carry a fraction of what he would like to. He told WAG how he had to compete with online retailers, a universal struggle faced by many small, independent, brick-and-mortar storekeepers across the board. That struggle is still tremendous, Casinelli confirmed, but he combats it with great customer service, a knowledgeable staff and competitive pricing, creating an engaging experience for anyone who takes the trouble to visit the store in person.
Sales statistics show that the market is holding steady, with no dramatic increases or decreases, Casinelli said. And while tobacco tastes haven’t changed in the last few years, he pointed out how through the normal course of business many new cigars are hitting the market, including the CCC’s own variety of different blends.
The most significant development we learned was that the business obtained a liquor license in January 2024 and now operates as a cigar shop and lounge with a full complement of liquor, wine, beer and cordials. No easy task that, as you might imagine: Casinelli personally spearheaded a campaign with various Connecticut legislators and hired a lobbyist to ensure the message about his business was properly relayed. The result was that the Connecticut Cigar Co. was the first cigar lounge in the state to receive the new license. (Cigar rights groups are now promoting the bill to other states in the U.S. as a guideline for approval.)
With its new license, the lounge continues to host live jazz performances and burlesque, along with classic rock and stand-up comedy nights. The advantage is being able to order drinks, just as at a regular bar. While members could drink on the premises before the new license, they had to store their own bottles in private lockers. (You could drink liquor but, in a legal anomaly, not buy it.)
Off the premises, too, CCC continues to have a presence in, around and beyond Fairfield County – rolling cigars at Mohegan Sun’s Tequila Festival Saturday, July 27, and at a golf club just after being two examples.
If the fly in the cigar lover’s ointment is resistance to the industry from the anti-smoking lobby, Casinelli’s response is crisp but polite.
“Adults should be entitled to make decisions of what they prefer to consume,” he said with a smile.
For more, visit ctcigarco.com