So, How Did We Get Here Today?

Meet the new guys, Dave Uhlman and Stan Hirschman. We've been business associates, business partners and great friends for the last 18 years and cigar enthusiasts even longer than that. We met in 1989, at a chain of stores called Software Etc where both of us had executive positions until mid-1996. We went our separate ways for a year or two and then re-joined efforts as CPointe Associates, a management consulting group. That business continues to grow and over the years we've looked at plenty of business opportunities while consulting for others and solving some pretty heady problems. But we digress…back to Key West and the cigars.

 
Dave and "the Lovely" (as in Dave's wife Deb) have long been annual visitors to the island paradise of Key West and, for years, Stan and his wife Elissa have heard the annual retelling of the stories of Ernest Hemingway, Harry Truman and Jimmy Buffet's (although great fans of the later) prowess in Key West. But, as good as the stories sounded, the cigars Dave shipped to Stan each year were even better. Of course they came from The Original Key West Cigar Factory and soon Stan was a fan and telling others about these "great sticks at a great price". 

All was well in paradise until late in 2006 when an email announced the closing and closeout sale of the Cigar Factory's inventory. Time and circumstances had caught up to the cigar factory and the business was no longer carrying itself in spite of loyal customers. It looked like the time had come to say goodbye to our friend and long time manager of the operation Paul Cavanaugh. Not so, enter Dave's great idea…"let's get into the cigar business!"

 
And indeed we have! After several months of discussion and negotiations with Eleanor Walsh's family, we entered into a purchase agreement to acquire the assets of the cigar factory. Our belief is that something this good deserves to be perpetuated and we wanted to be the guys to make sure that the supply of these terrific cigars wasn't turned off. The Walsh family, particularly her daughter Dianne Zolotow, liked our ideas of resurrecting the cigar factory and preserving the history that is so closely tied to her mother's accomplishments. We saw this as a way of thanking Eleanora Walsh for her contributions and making sure the historical significance of The Original Key West Cigar Factory didn't pass quietly. On a side note, the City of Key West is opening a new museum that, among other notable collections, will include displays of the golden age of cigar making in Key West and we've already agreed to donate some of the historic cigar benches, presses and other factory paraphernalia to the museum.

 
And it wasn't just the Walsh's family who like our idea. We've also re-engaged Paul Cavanaugh and the two key cigar makers who provided the great smokes for most of the last 40+ years. That's right – we've got the guys who made the cigars and the blends that made them so tasty. In other words … The Original Key West Cigar Factory is back! 

Our plans are two-fold, first to re-launch to the many loyal customers and then introduce ourselves to the rest of the cigar smoking public. We're launching this website (with new and appropriate controls to prevent those under 21 years of age from buying tobacco products) and hope to re-open a location in Key West sometime in 2008. 

Please let us know how we're doing – your support is appreciated and we'll keep the smokes coming as long as we have your confidence. 

Welcome to The (new) Original Key West Cigar Factory! 

Dave & Stan