Single stick sales, when broken out by price point, stayed quite similar in each of the past three surveys, with the majority of sales occurring between $4.50 and $6.99 per stick (35% of all single stick sales), followed by the $1 to $4.49 range (25%), then the $7 to $9.99 range (23%). Sticks over $10 each accounted for 14% of all single-stick sales in our 2004 survey, while sticks under $1 continued to inch upward, accounting for 3% of all single stick sales in 2002; 4% in 2003; and 5% in 2004,

In this current survey, we asked retailers for the first time to list their top three best-selling premium cigar brands. Pooling this information together to create a master ranking (above), 69% of retailers named Arturo Fuente as their top brand, followed by Macanudo (42%), and Padron (31%).

Similarly, retailers were asked to name their most successful new additions to their humidor shelves, with Saint Luis Rey being the most frequently named premium brand. Others are listed in descending order of frequency in which they were named.

As a percentage of total store sales, pipes and pipe tobaccos have plotted a small and slow decline over the past five survey years, having peaked at 14.1% in 2000 and reaching 10.7% in 2001, 10.6% in 2002, 10.5% in 2003, and 9.8% in 2004.

Price points of pipes have shown a significant upmarket trend among our survey participants over the past three years. Pipes over $100 accounted for 13% of all pipe sales in 2004, compared to 9% in 2003 and 2% in 2002. Pipes in the $25 - $49 range accounted for 28% of all pipe sales, followed by the $50 - $99 segment (22%) and the $15 - 24 segment (21%). Briars under $15 accounted for 15% of pipe sales in 2004, compared to 9% in 2003.

Smokeless remains a very tiny portion of sales for our surveyed retailers, accounting for only 2% of total store sales, but this percentage has nearly tripled over our past nine survey years.

Humidor sales among our surveyed retailers reached 3.8% of total store sales, continuing a three-year growth trend. Price points of humidors have remained nearly unchanged over this period, with half of all units sold retailing for under $75, and 79% of all units sold priced at $149 and under. Only 5% of all humidors sold were over $250 among our survey respondents. Stores reported an average annual humidor business of $19,500 annually.

Non-tobacco merchandise among the 2004 survey respondents hit a new low at 3.3% of total store sales, down from 5.3% in our 2003 survey and 13% in our 2002 survey. Categories like lottery tickets (1.0%), gifts (.3%), and magazines and newspapers (.6%) continue to be tiny contributors to most stores’ bottom line.

A minority of stores reported offering beverages of some kind (35%), either for purchase (67%) or for free (37%), with some offering both. Soft drinks were the most popular beverage available (68% of those offering beverages offered soft drinks), followed by brewed coffee (46%) and other undisclosed beverages (32%). Espresso or cappuccino was offered by 24% of retailers.

The average total annual store sales among our respondents was $519,753 in 2004 compared to $428,663 in 2003 and $603,741 in 2002, a good sign that on average, total dollar sales appear to be up.

On average, smoke shops purchased merchandise from 26 separate sources in 2004, with 33% of respondents citing 15 or fewer wholesale sources, and 21% relying on 31 or more sources.

The vast majority of the surveyed smoke shops were independent stores (93%), up from 87 in our previous survey; 7% were part of a chain, and none were franchises among this pool of respondents.

Most shops were located in urban settings (67%), followed by suburban sites (26%). Only 7% were located in rural regions.