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| DIAMOND CROWN LOUNGES EVERYWHERE |
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Page 1 of 2  Plus: U.S. Treasury’s OFAC has doubled the number of cigar fines in 2008!Los Angeles, October 2 – J.C. Newman’s Diamond Crown and Diamond Crown Maximus cigar brands aren’t always the easiest to find. But finding a place to smoke them might be getting a little easier. The concept of the Diamond Crown Cigar Lounge – a place to relax and smoke a cigar as well as buy one – has exploded in 2008. The first was opened at Davidus Cigar of Urbana, Maryland on September 29, 2007, but by the end of 2008, there are expected to be 44 such locations spread across 23 states! These aren’t new shops, but rather recognition for existing shops which stock J.C. Newman brands such as Cuesta-Rey, La Unica and, of course, Diamond Crown, which offer both the opportunity to buy cigars and to enjoy them in a friendly atmosphere. With the advance of smoking bans in so many states and cities, the ability to host smokers is an increasingly important part of the retail experience. This makes the Diamond Crown Cigar Lounge concept much different than General Cigar’s Club Macanudo, which are stand-alone lounges now in three U.S. locations in New York, at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland (the home of the Washington Redskins of the NFL) and inside a larger club in Miami. It should be noted that J.C. Newman has its own standalone club inside Tampa’s Tropicana Field, the Cuesta-Rey Cigar Bar, which is located behind the batter’s eye on Centerfield Street and which will be quite busy during today’s American League Division Series opener between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Chicago White Sox. But Diamond Crown lounges are being christened at a ferocious pace. The second shop to be identified as a Diamond Crown lounge was Corona Cigar in Orlando, Florida in April of this year. By the end of June there were nine. But in July, two stores were added and then nine each in August and September. New openings are scheduled for seven shops in October, four more in November and two more are scheduled for December. Click here for the list of openings and click here for the full list of lounge locations. Thus, by the end of 2008, there are slated to be 44 Diamond Crown lounges with at least one each in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. With, no doubt, more to come. Habanos wins again in trademark dispute Although the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba has been rigidly enforced for decades, one are in which the two countries cooperate is on trademarks. Recognizing that the embargo will be lifted someday, the two countries respect – for the most part – trademarks registered in the other. |
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Did you know?
“An underrated contributor to the 1990s Cigar Boom was Paul Garmirian's 1990 classic "The Gourmet Guide to Cigars".
