CHICAGO -- On the same day Chicago officials banned smoking in many public places, one of the nation's largest cigarette makers opened a private smoke shop featuring a tobacconist, plush leather couches and custom cigarettes for $8 a pack, said the Associated Press.
Winston-Salem, N.C.-based R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., which makes Camel and Winston cigarettes among other brands, opened the Marshall McGearty Tobacco Lounge in Chicago last Wednesday, when it showcased its new "super-premium" Marshall McGearty Tobacco Artisans brand.
The lounge is exempt from the new law approved by the Chicago City Council because it is defined as a retail tobacco store.
"We're pleased that we're not going to have to change our business model," said Brian Stebbins, a marketing manager at RJR. Plans for the lounge were made before the smoking-ban issue started gaining steam, he said.
As reported in CSP Daily News, the smoking ban does not go into effect until July 1, 2008. After that date, smoking would be permitted if a restaurant or bar installs air-filtration systems.
The Marshall McGearty lounge already has a powerful air-ventilation system, said Fred McConnell, a Reynolds spokesman.
That's one indication of RJR's claim that the Marshall McGearty lounge is no ordinary smoke shop. Besides a tobacconist whose role is to explain the different blends of tobacco, it also has small cigarette-making devices so customers can custom-order packs of cigarettes.
The Marshall McGearty cigarettes will be available only in the Chicago store. "It wouldn't work if it were something on a rack in a gas station," Stebbins said.
Places where smokers can feel comfortable are becoming rare and the lounge is a place that welcomes smokers and where they can enjoy themselves, Stebbins said. "We're calling it a smokers' paradise," he said.
The lounge also offers light food, baked goods and a selection of coffee beverages, including lattes and espressos. There are plans to sell alcoholic beverages. The lounge also has cafe tables, leather couches and a fireplace.
Both the brand and lounge get their names from Jerry Marshall and Larry McGearty, the two men who came up with the idea. Marshall is a senior staff blends specialist in Reynolds' research and development department. McGearty is the creative director for advertising agency Gyro Worldwide.
Reynolds, a subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc., plans to test the idea and see how the brand does before potentially expanding the concept. "If the brand does well, it could be an important contributor to Reynolds American's bottom line," he said.
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