US: Shreveport Tobacco Business Reinvents Itself in Wake of Federal Law

Source from:  Shreveport Times  01/17/2013

When Aaron Tatum got an email saying his business was now considered a cigarette manufacturer, he decided to shut down Smoke 4 Less rather than pay additional fees and taxes.

Now Tatum has downsized and reorganized his business to operate within the bounds of the new law and is trying to recoup the revenue lost while closed.

Prior to the legislation, Tatum's two locations — one each in Shreveport and Bossier City — based a large portion of their income on renting in-house roll-your-own cigarette machines to customers. "With the new legislation, any retail outlet that offered the rolling machines was considered a manufacturer."

Tatum chose to permanently close his Bossier City store. "We just couldn't afford the overhead," he said, noting that his total work force fell from more than 10 employees to two in a matter of months.

And with the help of a national nonprofit, Tatum temporarily closed then reorganized his Shreveport location. It is growing again, though slowly, he said. "Being closed down for three months, there was a tremendous drop-off. But we're starting to pick back up."

A nonprofit took over Tatum's roll-your-own machines. Absent those, the Shreveport store no longer needed as much space. So he moved it into a smaller space next door to his former location at Mansfield Road at Jewella Avenue.

And Florida-based entrepreneur Randy Marcin opened the nonprofit smoking club Rollers 20 in the space Tatum vacated.

Tatum says his business's growth is due, in part, to Marcin's help. "Randy and a couple other people developed a different idea. Because we can't offer the machines in a retail environment, we start a nonprofit smokers association. It's a federal association not unlike the United Way, but you've got local chapters."

Rollers 20 offers roll-your-own cigarette machines that can be used for free by any member of the club. The organization does require annual membership dues but does not charge for any additional service.

"It's about getting together a community. It goes back to the cigar clubs, which were prevalent a few years ago," said Marcin who has opened more than 30 nonprofit smoking clubs in the United States.

"There's no real place to exchange ideas and discuss blends," said Marcin, who opened Rollers 20 and similar clubs to provide tobacco enthusiasts a place to socialize with one another and share ideas about tobacco blends and styles. The added benefit is helping locations like Smoke 4 Less continue to operate within the bounds of the law, he said.

"Honestly, it [the law] has been devastating to the community," said Marcin, who works closely with many tobacco-oriented stores. "In the network of people I do business with, these stores lost a lot of clients."

Despite their proximity and a shared enthusiasm for tobacco products, Marcin's nonprofit and Tatum's business are unaffiliated. "They came in and started the association and moved in next door. We occupied the empty space here," Tatum said. "We're Smoke 4 Less; we sell tobacco in tubes. They are Rollers 20; they aren't affiliated with us, we aren't affiliated with them. We're just two locations that feed off each other."

Smokes 4 Less continues to grow, but the business still is significantly smaller than it was at this time last year. "Right now, we're holding our own. We're trying to get over the hump and recoup some of the losses from being closed for three months," said Tatum, who credits his customers' loyalty for the survival of his business. "A lot of the customers from Bossier come over here, and we're actively looking for a place in Bossier." Enditem