By Andy Furman
NKyTribune reporter
It’s been just about 1,005 days – or some two-years and nine months if you’re counting.
That’s when the smoking lounge at Straus Tobacconist – 8146 Mall Road, Florence – closed for the pandemic.
April 2020 to be exact.
It was a haven for cigar and pipe smokers – as well as story tellers.
Now for the good news.
That lounge is open for business — and has been since around the first of the year.
“It took some time,” said General Manager Matt Gallagher, “but we’re up and running and business is good.”
Make that surprisingly good, according to Gallagher who has been with Straus in Florence since their 2000 opening – and has served as the head honcho for the past 20 years.
“We made some real changes,” he said. “We’re more spacious, we’ve remodeled with a new color scheme.”
And, of course how can you forget the stock of cigars, pipes, tobaccos as well as accessories.
“We probably have the best stock in the area,” he said, “and our loyal customers know that.”
What Gallagher did was visit cigar lounges in the region and took the best ideas home with him to Florence.
“We called and visited many,” said the native of Ashland. “One of those items we discovered was pedestal magnetic ashtrays.”
Those ashtrays line the Florence lounge.
Cigar smokers never take a day-off, so Straus in Florence operates seven-days-a-week.
“We go 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday,” he said, “And noon to 6 p.m., Sundays.”
As for the lounge, Gallagher says there is a five-dollar daily cutting fee to enter; or one may purchase $20 in tobacco products to gain admission on a daily basis.
“There is no outside food or drink – or even non-Straus-purchased cigars – permitted in the lounge,” the 50-year-old cigar veteran said.
As for the response since the doors have opened – with the “cover cost” – Gallagher says. “It’s been extremely favorable.”
Prior to the closing, Straus lounge admittance was free.
“We weren’t sure at first how the public – as well as our regulars — would handle or adjust to the new rules,” he said. “We’re shifting our model here. And some patrons even told us we should be charging more.”
Ah, the cost of relaxation.
“We just wanted to reserve this special place,” he said, “For what we think are special people.”
The lounge can comfortably seat some 20-30 people – yes, men and women.
And another shocker was when Gallagher and his staff discovered pipe sales – more than cigar sales – spiked tremendously during the pandemic.
Why?
“One reason, we think,” he said, “Many were working from home where they could smoke – something they couldn’t do at the office.”
And this January, Straus/Florence enjoyed their best sales month in five years, according to Gallagher.
Again – why is that?
“I have no idea,” he joked.
People are getting out in public – and perhaps tired of being trapped in their homes.
Straus Tobacconist is no stranger – locally and nationally – to the cigar business. The business traces its roots to 1880 when Henry Straus began a cigar wholesale company in Cincinnati. By 1905, Straus had built one of the top-selling cigar operations in the country.
Around 1905, the Straus brothers – Nathan and Samuel — moved their business to the same 410 Walnut Street location that Straus Tobacconist occupies today.
It is the third-oldest tobacconist in the United States.
Straus opened their Florence location in 2000.
The lounge soon followed.
And the Straus brothers certainly would be proud.