Damn Shame, Nat Sherman

[El Presidente]

I loved walking in that store. I can't remember the first time but it would have been mid 90's.  I loved watching the salesmen run to the phones and dial their celebrity contacts to sell the new allocation of Padron/OpusX.

 

https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/nat-sherman-international-closing

[CountingStogies]

That is a shame, iconic NYC staple. I am hoping they may find a buyer in the next few months, restructure, and keep the name and location going. Fingers crossed but with COVID-19, I fear the worst. 

[StogieSteve23]

Wow.  This is a blow to the cigar industry and community as a whole.  A piece of cigar history will soon be gone forever. 

[teamrandr]

Damnit!  I was just thinking yesterday about how much I want to visit there someday.  I wonder what will happen with the super rare pre embargo stuff they have?  Bond Robert's bound?

[Duxnutz]

Loved visiting there on my trips to NY. Hopefully some of the wealthy regulars can figure something out to buy it. 

[SCgarman]

NYC is going down the toilet in more ways than one. Love going to Manhattan for a small vacation, but with the situation there absolutely no way in Hell.

[StogieSteve23]

4 minutes ago, teamrandr said:

Damnit!  I was just thinking yesterday about how much I want to visit there someday.  

I agree with you on this... Growing up in a neighboring state and having been in NYC countless times, I never made it a point to visit there.. Very upset with myself about that in hopes of one day being able to go there.  Ohh well.  He who hesitates is lost. 

[5thStarChicago]

Completely sucks.  I have a lot of friends that work at the store and for the company and Altria really screwed them.  Hopefully a buyer will emerge to rescue it.  Hoping to get to NYC within the next month before it closes for good.

[westg]

Always sad hearing this about cigar folk. I wish them well.

[BrightonCorgi]

Many NYC icons are fading or closing shop.

[NickV]

Well at least the Davidoff lounge is still around. Sad though I wanted to visit 

[Joeyjojo]

Does this foreshadow an overall change in the market in terms of large monolithic companies with huge overheads, Vs small boutique shops/cigar brands?

[DBNInc]

I remember my first introduction to the brand, a Host Hamilton with my friend and his dad.  That was my smoke of choice for a while after.  I went to the shop on 42nd once in a while and always enjoyed it; great place to chill or have a conversation.  Man, that would be a sick location for a private club, but the building price alone would be silly.  Maybe current events might bring the value down a little?

[madandana]

Shoot. Was always planning on stopping in next trip to NYC. 

[Hoepssa]

 

It is easy to smoke a good cigar, it is not easy to have that legacy my gosh...

[Yellot00tr]

It sucks.  I'm down the block from them. Manhattan real estate is destroyed.  Opportunities abound.  See you at the Grand Havana

[MrBirdman]

10 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Many NYC icons are fading or closing shop.

So true - amazing how quickly too.

[fokker4me]

This really saddens me. I had been there just last year and smoked upstairs before heading to a Glenmorangie event in the city and can remember smoking downstairs with the NYC Ashton rep. What an iconic place to smoke a cigar as well as buy pipe tobacco. Growing up in NYC and watching many of the old places disappear, let alone the cigar smoking culture alone. 

 

The great cigar store in Soho, while not prestigious also an old favorite now gone, and don't forget De La Concha, becoming just another Davidoff store from what was a unique place. He'll can anyone remember when you could smoke in the Dunhill store in the city?

[SigmundChurchill]

One of my favorite places in the city.  I always enjoyed smoking cigars there.  Great atmosphere.  I liked the original store better, but this one has a lot of charm too.  When they moved less than a half a block away, to a smaller facility, I figured there may be money issues, but I was there recently, and it was packed.  So this is a little surprising to me.  The place and name are iconic to NYC.  Very sad news.

[Nino]

Sad to hear this - used to go there on my JFK flights and relax in that great place.

Bought my first Xikar cutter too, engraved with Nat Sherman. Always a very plaesant place and much more relaxed atmosphere than JR's and larger and "posher" than De La Concha, on a par with the Davidoff lounge.

Only place I hope is still open is the JR Wall Street store but I doubt it...

[tigger]

☹️ What a shame.

A frequent stop for me on the way to or from GCT when I used to spend time in the city...

[NickV]

5 hours ago, Yellot00tr said:

It sucks.  I'm down the block from them. Manhattan real estate is destroyed.  Opportunities abound.  See you at the Grand Havana

Meet you there just let me get the invitation to let me in. 

[Rhinoww]

So sad. Always a great spot to visit and have a cigar in the city. I was last there a year ago w a buddy who was also in the city for work.  I guess that’ll be my last visit. My monthly work trips to NY ended in January. 

[Kitchen]

Certainly sad news, but I am not surprised.  I think NYC is quickly falling into the abyss and wont recover for at least 10 years.  

[fokker4me]

This is the statement that Michael Herklots Posted on his personal Facebook page. Pretty sad to hear.

 

"I joined Nat Sherman in 2011 after nine years with Davidoff of Geneva, to help the Sherman family restore their family brand’s legacy of a first-class retail store experience and a meaningful premium cigar business.  I recall those early days filled with excitement and energy fondly.  That excitement and energy was joined by overwhelming pride as we began successfully executing our plan year after year.  Our products received accolades and recognition regularly.  We grew our teams, establishing our first in-house premium cigar sales force in the history of our company, and enhanced our Townhouse staff.  And we grew our network of incredible retailers who believed in our company, our products, our people, our vision, and our unwavering commitment to excellence in everything we did.   Today, the company flagship recognized around the world as The Nat Sherman Townhouse, as well as our premium cigars, pipe tobacco and accessories products are enjoyed by consumers around the globe, thanks to the incredible support we received from the retail and wholesale community, who believed in us.  We achieved what we set out to do.

In 2017, the Sherman family sold the company to Altria.  Many thought that would be the end of our beloved cigar business, but it was not.  In fact, we continued to grow the business, and invest in the business.  We grew our teams.  We executed an incredible and comprehensive rebrand of our portfolio to ensure a better, healthier long-term strategy for our business.  We released new offerings, brands, and limited editions to the market.  Sure, there were skeptics, but certainly not amongst our team who spent countless nights away from their families to grow our business, and certainly not amongst our loyal customers.  But sometimes, things happen that are beyond one’s control.  And in our case, the result of those circumstances made the future of Nat Sherman International under Altria ownership no longer feasible.  In October, they could have simply shut us down.  But they did not.  They propped us up and supported us, allowing time and dedicating resources to explore the opportunity to sell the business to a new buyer where our work could live on.  They did not have to do that.  But they did.  I am eternally grateful for that time and opportunity.  

But as we all are so tragically aware, the world was overcome by a pandemic.  Not surprisingly, this created a tremendous amount of complexity and uncertainty for everyone, particularly for those once considering an acquisition.  But we pressed on for months, getting creative and thinking differently to try and achieve a successful, mutually beneficial transaction.   And fortunately for us, throughout all the uncertainly a pending acquisition and a global pandemic creates; and despite having to work from home, or being forced to close our store, all our employees were kept whole throughout this entire time.  

Unfortunately, we had to make the painful decision to close the business, which will be complete by the end of September.  The decision to close in no way reflects on the value of the work we’ve done, the excellence of our people, the quality of our products thanks to our long-term treasured manufacturing partners, or the equity of our brand and our legacy.  The efforts put forth by countless individuals to find a new home for Nat Sherman International were herculean.  But unfortunately, circumstances far beyond our control made that option impossible to execute.  Some will say they saw this coming.  That is an opinion, which everyone is entitled to.  But that opinion is not rooted in fact.

Working side by side with our field sales force, our Townhouse team, our office personnel, our contract manufacturers and our network of retail and wholesale partners to collectively restore and grow the legacy of Nat Sherman International has been the proudest nine years of my career.  I can rest easy knowing that our people are safe, healthy and provided for, and though the final chapter of Nat Sherman International’s story is almost finished, the legacy that will endure will be as we hoped it would, as an iconic American luxury brand.

The Nat Sherman International story may be ending, but surely there is much more of my story to be written.  Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my journey so far, and I am looking forward to writing my next chapter soon.  But in the meantime, there remains much work left to do.  And we will continue doing it in the same manner we have done our work since 1930… with dignity, honor and respect."