My first tobacconist is no more - Old Morris Tobacconist in Victoria, BC, Canada to shut after 133 years

[ChanceSchmerr]

https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/it-opened-in-1892-its-closing-in-october-future-uncertain-for-old-morris-11026995

To be honest, this tobacconist has really fallen in the last 10-15 years. It was where I bought my first ever Cuban cigar (a Sancho Panza Sanchos) back in 2007, and at the time it was reasonably well-managed, with a decently stocked Humidor carrying a solid selection across the Habanos lineup of the date. By the mid 2010s, it had been gutted to only carry the basics of HSA (Cohiba/Monte/RyJ etc), and the storage monitoring had cratered - mold and excess moisture was abundant. I couldn't bring myself to buy any cigars from them as a result - as much as I loved the store and its history, they just didn't seem to care anymore about their own cigars. That said, I continued to visit now and again, you never forget your first after all!

Later in the 2010s, their staff became noticeably pushier with the sale tactics, not listening to anything the customer said, and instead putting on the hard sell towards the priciest of their cigars. I stopped visiting it entirely - last time I was in the store was earlier this year, just to see if it had changed at all....and it hadn't. 

So in some ways, I'm not surprised at all that it is winding down the business - it truly wasn't managed as a tobacconist for many years, but rather as a generic "men's gifts" store. At the same time - its demise does bring on a wave of sadness. That onyx lighter, ever burning for customers to light their cigars (even though provincial regulations had prohibited it from being used as such for many years)...shall burn no more.

I'll always have that first Sanchos back in 2007. That memory will live on forever. 

Farewell Old Morris. You deserved better.

[El Presidente]

Great photo 

[ChanceSchmerr]

8 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Great photo 

It has stood the test of time - one of my oldest friends (Graham) there on the left, "enjoying" his Canadian-made "Tuero" cigar, professing through the night that size didn't matter when it came to cigars. He refused my gentle suggestion that mine had the superior taste as well...LOL

[LordAnubis]

Buuuuuuuuuulllshiiit.  That’s The Don isn’t it!?!? ISNT IT!!!?!?!

[Ford2112]

Look at these Chads!!