Fratello Cigars has named Shannon Strang its first Director of Operations. Strang is a Pittsburgh native who will have primary responsibilities including streamlining Fratello Cigars’ logistics, strengthening relationships with both customers and suppliers, financial management and business development. “I am beyond excited that Shannon accepted this position. Together, we plan to bring our customer […]
Luis Miguel Torres has been named head of Casa de Montecristo, the premium cigar retail arm of Tabacalera USA and its parent company Imperial Brands. He replaces Steve Lochan, who departed Casa de Montecristo back in April. Torres comes to Casa de Montecristo with twenty years experience in the cigar and retail industries. The past three […]
Eric Hanson, best known to the cigar industry as the founder of Hammer + Sickle Cigars, passed away suddenly on Friday, June 8th. He was 45 years old. Hanson, who spent a decade in the beer distribution business, founded Klin Groupe LLC in 2008. He launched the Hammer + Sickle lifestyle brand. This began with […]
Cano Aret Ozgener, the man best known to the cigar industry as the founder of CAO Cigars, but also a man who was an engineer, businessman, artist, and philanthropist, has passed away. He died peacefully on June 9 at home surrounded by his family after a long battle with cancer. Ozgener was an Armenian-Turk born in […]
Altria Group, the parent company of Nat Sherman, has announced a corporate restructuring. As a part of the new organizational structure, Nat Sherman will be a part of the new Core Tobacco Division and have a new Managing Director and General Manager in Dominik Meier. As a part of the new structure, Altria is establishing […]
Quesada Cigars has announced a major restructuring of its executive team. Highlighting the changes are new hires to spearhead the sales and operations of Quesada Cigars and a restructuring of the roles for many of the members of the Quesada family. The big news is that Hostos Fernandez Quesada, who has been involved for many […]
Ventura Cigar Company has expanded its marketing group, adding Brian Massey to the team. Massey’s responsibilities will be to drive sales and marketing efforts around Ventura’s premium cigar brands including Archetype, PSyko Seven, and Case Study. In this role, Massey will report to Michael Giannini who has recently been named General Manager of Ventura Cigar […]
General Cigar Company has named Chris Tarr its new Vice President of Marketing. Tarr replaces José de Castro, who was appointed to that position last July. The company has also done some restructuring to its sales team. Tarr has been with General Cigar since 2008, most recently serving as the company’s west regional sales manager. Prior […]
The International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) has announced that it has hired Scott C. Pearce to be its new Executive Director. Concurrently, it has announced it has promoted longtime employee Dawn Conger to Vice President of Operations. These executive hires fill the void left by the departure of IPCPR CEO Mark Pursell this past September. […]
Royal Agio Cigars USA has announced that cigar industry veteran Zev Kaminetsky has joined the company is its new National Sales Director. Kaminetsky has over a decade of sales management experience in the premium cigar industry. He recently served as Drew Estate’s Director of Specialty Retail. Prior to that role, Kaminetsky represented Camacho (Davidoff of […]
