Walk Right In

Source from:  tobaccoretailer.com By Melissa Niksic  09/18/2007

Walk-in humidors cross over to retail market Walk-in humidors have been traditionally thought of as being luxury items that wealthy cigar connoisseurs erect in their own homes. However, the construction of walk-in humidors is also popular in tobacco retail establishments. Cigars maintain their overall freshness when properly stored in a humidor. Having a walk-in humidor allows retailers to store large amounts of cigar products and effectively showcase them to customers. Installing walk-in humidors is a way to boost profits, increase stocking capabilities and outshine the competition. Wood Projections, Inc., of Miami, provides retailers and contractors with the parts and supplies necessary to build a walk-in humidor, including shelving and hardware. The company also offers design consultation. "We provide our customers with design advice so they don't buy more material than they need and so it all comes together for them," says Fabiola Karolewicz, vice president of Wood Projections, Inc. According to Karolewicz, walk-in humidors are frequently constructed by tobacco retailers who are in the process of designing a new store. However, many retailers have existing spaces in their stores that they may want to convert to a walk-in humidor, which is also a possibility. The first step in building a walk-in humidor is making sure an actual room is available for use. While many retailers have space for a humidor in their stores, the area needs to be converted into an actual room before it can be turned into a humidor. If the room is already in place, the next step is to order construction materials. Racks, shelves, moldings and trims made of Spanish cedar are ideal for walk-in humidors because the wood acts as a natural repellant to mold and bacteria. Spanish cedar also retains moisture well, so it helps hold the humidity. The ideal shelving for walk-in humidors should not be completely solid so that the controlled temperature and humidity can easily circulate around the products. Other necessary items for humidor construction include brackets, standards and any additional hardware. Custom gondolas and rolling ladders are optional. Once the room is in place and all the necessary materials have been ordered, construction of a walk-in humidor can be completed relatively quickly. "It all depends on how organized the customer is and how soon they want to get this done," Karolewicz says. "Once they order materials, it usually takes between two to five business days for everything to arrive. If the room is already made, all that really needs to be done is install the paneling and the shelves. A couple of guys could do the work in about two days." Karolewicz says that a walk-in humidor can be almost any size. However, she strongly advises retailers not to go any smaller than 8 feet by 8 feet. "The humidor has to be large enough for people to walk around in and effectively display the cigar products," Karolewicz explains. "You can't just take a walk-in closet and convert it. It won't be customer-friendly." The cost of installing a walk-in humidor varies and is primarily based on the type of materials used and the overall construction costs. Karolewicz claims that materials for an 8-foot-square room will likely cost between $1,000 and $3,000. "Almost every job we do is custom, so it's really hard to give estimates, but walk-in humidors are pretty inexpensive," she says. "The cost can go up depending on the size of the room and the complexity of the design." Customized design elements, such as intricate molding and trim, can drive up the overall cost of the humidor. However, Karolewicz stresses that retailers should take their design plans very seriously. "Consider the overall customer appeal, and also the nature of your location," Karolewicz says. "I tell my customers that if their store is located in a very high-end location, they need to go a little further on the design plans." Another customization option for walk-in humidors is the addition of a smoking room. Michael Baltrus of Naperville Construction, Naperville, Ill., has built residential humidors with smoke rooms, but he doesn't think such rooms are necessary for retailers. "I have built some humidors that have a built-in smoke room with exhaust, but I do not recommend it because it can temporarily affect the humidity and temperature while the exhaust fans are activated," Baltrus says. "The humidors that I have built with an integrated smoke room were all for private residential customers, where there weren't a lot of people smoking in them, so the temperature and humidity are not really affected too much." Walk-in humidors can also be used as an anti-theft device. Baltrus has installed walk-in humidors equipped with security cameras, which can be especially beneficial for retailers that carry high-end cigar products. Additional features such as security cameras and smoking rooms can drive up the overall cost of construction, which varies depending on the nature of the project. Baltrus says that the humidors his company has built ranged in cost from $25,000 to $100,000. However, he thinks most retailers will be able to complete the project for much less. "Each humidor is unique, so to give a general ballpark figure would be inaccurate," Baltrus says. The act of constructing a walk-in humidor is only part of the process. Retailers also need to be sure that a proper humidifying and cooling system is in place. The ideal humidity level in a walk-in humidor is 70 percent, and unless humidor owners pay attention to the specific details, the entire function of the humidor will cease due to simple negligence. Albert Foundos, president of Cigar Oasis, in East Meadow, N.Y., says that many retailers focus on the aspect of purchasing the proper wood and installing shelving and trim, but they fail to pay attention to the humidification details. "Controlling the humidity and cooling is the most important part of the process," Foundos says. "A lot of times people will use basic room humidifiers, which you can get anywhere, and then their general air conditioning system. For a walk-in humidor to work properly, it's best to have a complete humidifier and cooling system inside the walk-in humidor that functions with one control." Baltrus agrees, and cites the importance of setting up a special vapor barrier that separates the walk-in humidor from the rest of the store to ensure a controlled environment that is unaffected by the store's own heating and cooling system. The barrier is installed using either plastic sheeting or a spray-on application once the humidor has been sealed. "I recommend the sprayed-on application because you can also have an insulated value with it," Baltrus says. "The plastic sheeting can get punctured or will not be as sealed due to installation process, which requires staples." Most walk-in humidors require very little maintenance. "Generally there is not a lot of maintenance for a properly built system, but some factors can affect the humidor hygiene," Baltrus says. "Mold is the No. 1 concern in an environment that is high in humidity. Once mold is born, it spreads really fast and is hard to control, which is why I recommend that the humidification system is visually inspected once a week." Although walk-in humidors are considered to be relatively luxurious items, some retailers may be interested in an even more extreme humidification option: humidifying the entire store. The cost of doing so would be much more than constructing a smaller walk-in humidor, but retailers may go along with it because the entire store would then function as a giant humidor. But Baltrus cautions that whole-store humidification probably isn't a good idea for most retailers. "I've actually done some of these projects in places like the Cayman Islands and Mexico, and I generally wouldn't recommend it," he says. "Every time the door opens, you change the humidity level in the store. It's also not the best situation for the comfort level of your customers and employees. You're talking about having 70-percent humidity all the time, which really isn't good." Maintaining a constant 70-percent humidity level in an entire store would be difficult to accomplish in areas where the climate is prone to cold winters. An increased humidity level may also adversely affect other products that are sold in the store and that shouldn't be stored in areas with high humidity. Some light fixtures are also known to malfunction if the humidity reaches a certain level, creating more obstacles for retailers interested in whole-store humidification. Baltrus says that the only retailers who will benefit from humidifying their entire stores are those whose establishments take up a small amount of square footage and are located in naturally tropical climates where high humidity is already a part of everyday life. Karolewicz thinks that whole-store humidification isn't as attractive to customers as a smaller walk-in humidor. "Think about it: when people go to a walk-in humidor, they are interested in buying cigars, but when people go to a store, they could just be looking," she says. "Plus, all this traffic will affect the humidity control." Larger retailers and companies interested in the whole-store humidification approach may have another option at their disposal: warehouse humidification. "A warehouse would be much different than the store itself, because you're dealing with a large amount of inventory and hopefully not a whole lot of foot traffic," Baltrus says. In general, what do retailers think about the concept of walk-in humidors? Reactions are mixed. Armand Prusis, owner of Angry Moon Cigars in West Palm Beach, Fla., had three walk-in humidors built in existing spaces in his store. Prusis used materials from Wood Projections, Inc., and says the entire construction process was very easy. He recommends that all retailers have walk-in humidors put in their stores. "They're a necessity," Prusis says. "It's the best environment to keep cigars in and control the temperature." However, not all retailers think that walk-in humidors are essential to their business. Rhoda Bogardus of Hubbard State Cigar Shops, Ltd. says her store has no plans to install a walk-in humidor. "People come in and want to see the cigars right away. They pick them up, touch them and squeeze them," she says. "We get by just fine using the smaller humidors that we can control individually." The best advice for retailers looking at humidification options in their stores is to explore the different alternatives available and figure out what works best within the constraints of their store, their budget and their climate. Enditem