Oldest cigar store in Mississippi to open new Jackson location

JohnS · May 25

Oldest cigar store in Mississippi to open new Jackson location

By Ross Reily, Mississippi Clarion Ledger - May 25, 2026, 4:01 a.m. CT

After $2.3 million in moving and renovation costs, the oldest cigar and pipe store in Mississippi is ready to open its doors to the public and show off its new digs.

Country Squire Tobacconist owner Jon David Cole said the move just down the street to 1925 Lakeland Drive in Jackson has been one of the major challenges of his life to turn a dream into reality.

"I mean how do you take a space where Willie Morris shopped and Jerry Clower shopped and honor that in a move to a new place?" Cole said to the Clarion Ledger. "We hope we have honored them and every one that has shopped in this store with this renovation."

The store, which was founded in 1970 and had multiple locations throughout the Metro Jackson area at one time, is leaving its original location and moving into what was, most recently, an Asian restaurant, in which the owners retired and sold Cole the building. Cole said the Country Squire is also one of the oldest cigar and pipes shops in the Southeast.

He said one of the most challenging aspects of the move was keeping the feel and the vibe of a shop that had been in the same location since 1970 while moving into a new space with nearly triple the area at nearly 6,000 square feet.

"Our North Star in the design process was trying to reimagine what a premium retail experience looked like in 1970," Cole said. "Not bell bottoms and disco balls, but when we opened the Country Squire in 1970, there was nothing like it in Jackson or Mississippi, for that matter. This is where bankers, politicians, attorneys and musicians came to get their $200 Italian pipe with their special tobacco blend. We wanted to try and recapture that, and we think have done a good job. I think we have crushed it."

Country Squire owner Jon David Cole will hold a grand reopening in Jackson on May 26 for his cigar and pipe store, which is the oldest in Mississippi

Country Squire owner Jon David Cole will hold a grand reopening in Jackson on May 26 for his cigar and pipe store, which is the oldest in Mississippi © Country Squire

Cole said that because of the history of the store and the connections that have been made over nearly 60 years, that as much as half of their business is now mail order and a large portion of the new building is dedicated to warehousing product for mail orders.

History of the Country Squire

Cole, 42, has not been with the Country Squire since the beginning. It was founded by Jim and Gwen Reeves in August 1970. Jim Reeves died in 1981, and Gwen ran the business until her death in 2012, leaving the shop to her daughter Kim Owen. Cole began working for Owen more than a decade ago and was able to purchase the business since that time and has been the owner for 10 years.

Capturing the essence of the 1970s style has been a goal for Cole, who didn't come to the business believing he would do that forever. He was originally in the ministry and attended a seminary for a while. But the pull of the Country Squire won the day over the seminary.

At the new location, which has a bar that the former location did not, there is a special drink on the menu dedicated to his former life, named "Seminary Dropout."

"It's just a little humorous nod to how I got to the place," Cole said. "I just stumbled into this. You don't grow up thinking you are going to be a tobacconist."

Exclusive cigar club and F1 enthusiasts

While the Country Squire has a entry with vintage brick, a bar with ample seating, outdoor seating and what Cole proclaims as the largest humidor in Mississippi, all of which is open to the public, there is one place to which not everyone is invited.

There is a member's only lounge that not everyone will be able to see, and to become a member, you must actually apply for a membership. There is an application process and a committee that must vet and approve each member.

"It is vetted, based on interest and knowledge of cigars and other factors," Cole said. "When approved, you get exclusive access to the member's only lounge."

The member's only lounge is open 24 hours a day and Cole said it is actually used all 24 hours. He said there is a contingent of the members who are European soccer and F1 fans who frequent the lounge at all hours of the night and day to watch futbol or racing while having a smoke.

"Some of the privileges of the club include discounts at the bar as well having a personal locker to store their own cigars and other personal items," Cole said. "They also get access to some of our most hard to get cigars and they get discounts on cigars and pipe tobacco. This is something relatively new for Mississippi and we feel certain we offer the most elevated cigar experience in the state. We are confident of that."

He said he has arrived for set up shop at 8 a.m. and found members still in the lounge.

"Man, these cats have been here for four or five hours watching a race and smoking cigars," Cole said. "I think that is awesome."

He also said there is an early morning group that will come and drink coffee and have a cigar before going to work every day as well as a group that works a late shift at Nissan that come by before going home.

Grand opening

While the new location has been open for a few weeks now, Cole and his crew are celebrating the opening all week May 25 through 30.

There will be a ribbon cutting on May 26 at which Mayor John Horhn will be on hand and there will be other activities as well, leading to a blowout celebration on May 30, that will include bands and a festival atmosphere inside and in the parking lot.

"We believe everyone is going to love the new area, and this celebration really is a nod to those who have come before us and those that are going to experience the future with us," Cole said. "We are grateful we have been able to have this new space."

Source: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/business/2026/05/25/country-squire-tobacconist-is-oldest-cigar-store-in-mississippi-has-a-new-location-in-jackson-ms/90212888007/