THE B&M VRS THE ONLINE RETAILER ?

A few months ago on almost all the cigar enthusiast podcast there was much debate about the two.most of this talk was centered on the business end of both.Today I will discuss this view from the little heard point of view;the consumer. here we go.....

It should be said that a good B&M that has a friendly atmosphere a,good selection of choices,a good location and a place to gather with other enthusiasts is a must have.A friendly and learned atmosphere is the mark of a good tobacconist.The customer who comes there and is "talked down too" will likely go somewhere else.To an extant it is a teachers role in educating his costumers that will benefit the B&M the most.The old adage that an educated customer is your best customer.Its true.The more you learn the more you broaden your horizon and are willing to try new things you learn about.Nurturing this is self preservation for the B&M owner. A friendly and relaxed atmosphere with comfortable furnishings where the enthusiast can sit,smoke and discuss a variety of subjects is a must.I once saw a book club meeting at J.R.'s in north Carolina who were discussing transcendental writers of all things.Some B&M's offer a Private room where the "club members" can BYOB have access to large screen t.v.'s and variety of amenities such as private lockers,sports games etc. However I have seen for what several B&M's have charged vrs perceived value that  have not matched up for me.My view on this aspect is that if the area that the B&M is located can support this.(say in New York city as an example) then this is almost a necessary feature. However far to many B&M's should do away this feature as strip malls are not the place for these.
A good choice of selections is a must. My own B&M stocks the 'tried and trues " of the cigar world but as an example it took them  9 months to get 3 boxes of sizes of Nestor Miranda's art deco. I can find what I need there,the padrons',CAO,Perdomo,anything general cigar puts out.But say I want a Cro magnon or a 262? good luck. And there in lies where the online retailer comes in.
There is an important place that the online retailer fills for me. that of being able to get what I would like to try when I can not get it locally. this is where the line between the online retailer and the B&M lines begin to blur. Many B&M also have an online retail outlet. A good example of this is two guys cigar shops in new Hampshire. If I need a couple of sticks I'll trot off to my local B&M and pick them up.I also attend many of the promotions that the B&M holds.I can usually get very good deals on brands of cigars during these times. The online retailer for me provides some in house brands I like very much at a good price but that I will not find locally. It is a reality that in today's world the cigar enthusiast has much more access to information than when I started smoking cigars about 23 years ago. It is also a reality of the market,all markets for that matter,that the inter net has provided an outlet for cigar enthusiasts that compete with the B&M. But in that same sense there quite a few B&M's who are out there on line.like many of the mom and pop stores that where done away with in the eighties due to box stores the market for the B&M in my opinion is shrinking.You can bemoan this or not but it is a reality. The location and amenities of your local B&M will be crucial going into the future. But for me there isn't a VRS involved but simply emerging markets via the Internet and many B&MS' are in fact" saddling two horses". all the best-SMOKIN JOE