(upbeat lively music) - There's a story inside every smoke shop, with every cigar and with every person. Come be a part of the cigar lifestyle at Boveda. This is Box Press. - Let's be honest. When we met last night at the Bar LUCA in the hotel where we're all staying for the PCA where this is this your first experience at PCA? - No, I was here a long time ago. We came last year just to network. This is our first year exhibiting.
- Okay. So go around and tell us who you are and then we're gonna get into the story of what you told me last night about this upstart cigar company outta Green Bay, Wisconsin. - Sure, start us off? - Yeah, my name's Keith Archiquette. What, I mean, what would you like to know? - So we don't have to get super deep. So what do you, what, what's your role with Lovely, or how did you get involved with this group? - We are all three owners.
The operation as it stands right now is a three- ownership operation and one salesperson. We got involved just because we had an idea and we all have individual skill sets in our professional lives coming into Lovely. And what I do for Lovely as the same thing I do professionally is I'm a media and content creator and I- - That's why you're so attracted to Matt [Adams] and his technology. - The setup here is very, yeah, it's very good.
I do local, local commercials in the Green Bay, Wisconsin, area. I also graphic design in the Green Bay, Wisconsin, area, do websites, voiceover work, just the whole gamut of media. So yes, that is what I bring to the table for Lovely as well as a salesperson. - That's awesome, Dylan [Masse], what's your story? - So, I've got a background in private aviation. I own a company that I don't know if you know
what a FBO is? A fixed-base operator. Essentially we handle private jets, that type of thing. So I've got experience running a business, managing people, that type of stuff, making sure things get done, A to B, you know, keep these two in line, you know, that type of stuff. - His nine-to-five definitely spills over into his secondary. So a little bit more behind the scenes. The three of us, we're all friends, well beforehand, we all love cigars.
You know, we'd smoke cigars a few times a year together. And, you know, it was just one of those things where it kind of made sense. You know, our business meetings don't feel like work. We just, it's just getting together with a couple friends. I look forward to them, honestly, you know, a little break from the wife and kid, you know, but- - That sounds fun. So we've got the creative side, the technical side. We've got the operations side. And Mike [Gehm], tell us about what you do.
- Bring it home. - Bring it home, all right. So I used to, I had opened a cigar shop up in Green Bay, 16, 17 years ago. And that's kind of where I really found the passion and the drive to be part of the industry. I got out of the cigar shop, just was going in a different direction than I didn't want to be in, but always had the idea of bringing a brand to life. You know, love the history of our area, love all of the different things that, you know, this industry brings.
So to me it's just, it's a fascinating industry. And, you know, a few years after leaving the cigar shop, it was like, all right, we had this idea and wanted to explore it. And we were talking, you know, all three of us were really talking about this and found this old brand and was like, you know, what could we do to- - So that's the Lovely brand. And it dates back to- - Late 1800s. 18, we have a box in our booth that's like 1886, I think.
It's a little hard to read, because the, I mean, it's 125 years old or so. - So you launched your, this is your first release and this was last year? - In August, September of last year is when we started selling. - So '23, '22. - Yes. - Okay, how's it going? - It's going great, we're in what, 30 some odd shops- - As of last night, 14 states and 33 shops. - That's awesome. - In nine-ish months of having product. - Yeah, that's awesome, good.
So we, I'm just lighting up for the first time this Lovely cigar. Tell me about this particular cigar. What's it made of and the story behind this release. - So it's a Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, San Andrés Mexican binder, all Nicaraguan fillers from Jalapa Condega, Estelí, and Ometepe. So we originally, you know, we weren't like overly concerned with like, we need to have this tobacco, or we need to have this tobacco. It was more like, we want to have a really good experience for the end user.
So, you know, we said to Carlos [Sanchez] at Tacasa, we're like, Hey, this is what we're looking for. We want to have a complex, nuanced cigar, something that's going to keep people, you know, interested, but we don't want something that's gonna burn out your palate. So that was really what we started with. We said, we like Nicaraguan tobacco, so start there. And you, we were gonna go out there pre-COVID. We had flights booked, COVID hit, and like, we're like, oh, we can still go.
And then that was like two days before they canceled the flights. So no, we didn't go. - Almost got stuck in Nicaragua. - We almost got stuck in Nicaragua, which would've been just awful. But, you know, so we went back and forth with the samples and, you know, we had to go through that entire process until we finally landed on the cigar. And it was like the next day we're like, I just want to smoke another one of those cigars.
So it wasn't necessarily like, we need to have X amount of Ligero, so on and so forth. You know, it was more like, what's the full experience that we want to give to people. - I remember when we, so the idea of the, of a cigar, I mean, making a cigar line, I think in the industry it sounds like everyone does that, but like in Green Bay, Wisconsin, if you say, I wanna start a business, and that's kind of what it was. It was sitting at a picnic table, having a cigar.
We were six feet apart at the time even. and I proposed, I'm like, this year I wanna start another business, another just another revenue stream for my family. Mike goes, you know, I've been thinking about getting back in the cigar industry. And then he goes, we should get a cigar line. And that just sounds like, as I say it out loud, and maybe this is from just where I'm from, but when you say, yeah, let's start a cigar company. Like that just sounds like a ridiculous- - Pipe dream?
- Pipe it's a dreamer's dream. - No pun intended. - It's a dreamer's dream. And so, and we were doing this in COVID, right? So when you say we just wanna, we wanna land on an experience. It's very true. Me, Mike and Dylan smoke, we prefer different cigars, vastly different cigars. And so I remember writing down, I remember Mike said, let's write down what we want in a cigar. and where I was at in my cigar journey at that time, I was like, well, I want one that the draw is perfect.
Like I work really hard, like my nine-to-five, I work really hard. - This is a great draw. - And I don't wanna work when I have a cigar. I want it to be a smoke factory, which you can see as I say that- - Yeah, big mouth full of smoke. - Smoke's coming up. And I want pepper in the head. And so I wrote those and as a couple years later now, and we have product and it's selling. I tell people that because I made the cigar I wanted, right? And Mike had different stipulations.
Dylan had different ones. And so we were working in COVID back and forth with factories down in Nicaragua, a couple different factories sending us samples. Try this, I think I landed it here and me, and we would just be sitting there on with the dossier and be like, no, you did not land it with like, there was some where we were just like, ah, no, I can't do that. . - Yeah I mean, it's a fine art to land on something. - And it's not because of a lack of skill.
Our craftsmanship on the factory's hands, it's just, we were looking for something that checked the box for all of us. And if one of us was like, I don't know, ugh. So when we had this, when we finally landed months and months after sending samples in, saying, we like this on this one, we like that on that one. Can we, after doing that, and we got this one, the Elegante, it was only labeled X2. Right? So that's why we called the Elegante X2, the Ain't They Lovely, we landed on it.
I remember smoking it, and we were just sitting back and it was silent. And it was the first time it was silent when we were trying recipes. We looked over and I'm like, "There's nothing wrong with this one, is there?" No, and like Mike said, the next day, I remember the text message being like, I want another X2. Like, that's the one and we knew- - That was all I wanted was- - We knew that because we landed on that, we were onto something.
And I say onto something because again, vastly different likes in cigars, vastly different. My go-to is vastly different than the other ones. But somehow we stumbled upon one that checked the box for everyone. And I think that that is a lot more difficult as everyone has their preferences. A lot more difficult than you just said, yeah, we got a blend we liked and it was good. We move forward. - Yeah, this is really accessible.
I'm, I was talking last night to Mark [Williams], a gentleman that the proprietor of Stogies on Grand in St. Paul, and I mentioned that I had run into you in the lobby of the hotel and we got talking. - I saw him right before you or right after you. - But his comment to me was, he goes, I'm getting hit up by cigar reps, distributors on a daily basis that come in and spend time in his store and manage an assortment.
And you have one cigar, and this quest to stand up a company and to sustain through the development of the company to a point where you have a product, you've fabricated a cigar that is really accessible and people are, I'm presuming you're getting great feedback on the cigar. It is a "Lovely" cigar. It's the Ele- - Elegante X2. - Elegante X2. It's their first release from August of 2022. What's next? Will there be another cigar? - So we're actually releasing our second line here at the show.
I know, crazy. - Tune in tomorrow. (group laughs) - It's very similar. I shouldn't say very similar, but it's, it has the same similar profile. So we still have an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, we have a Sumatran binder. It's still all Nicaraguan fillers, but they're changed up a little bit. So you're gonna get a lot of the same experience, but there's gonna be a distinct different flavor. And that's gonna be more of our core line.
- We don't wanna depart too far and have somebody try both of our cigars and get confused about what we're doing. - Same size? - No, so this is a 6x52. We have a Churchill coming out, 6.5x48, A Robusto 5x50, and then a Corona 5 5/8x46. - So at the end of the day, you'll have four cigars- - Four facings. - Four facings. - So we have four facings, but cigar three and four are already completed and becoming ready for deployment. So this time next year we'll have a lot more.
- So you've overcome the one-hit wonder? - Yes. - Well, I mean, the idea was really like, all right, so like we talked about, you know, how do we do this? How do we start getting in the industry? And I had some contacts from, you know, being, you know, owner of a shop. And that's kinda how we started. And it was like, so what do we do? So we thought, let's start small. Let's just see if we can get some legs under this thing. - Let's see if we can just do it. - Yeah, can we do it?
How hard is it gonna be? And if it's successful, then we're going to go and, you know, our plan was like, where we're at today, we thought we would be in two years, and it's only been nine months or so. - Well, and it's obvious that you're having fun. - Absolutely. And it's obvious that your bond between these friends, this history that you have together, the expertise that you each bring to the table.
I mean, it's fun, I was talking to you last night about why we get so excited about new cigar labels, new cigar brands. It's because we were new once. Our owners 26 years ago, they weren't in the show, whatever it was called at the time, whatever acronym it was called at the time, they weren't inside. They were standing outside with their backpacks with these samples that they had made of this new technology 2-way precise humidity control.
And they were asking people that were walking in the door, are you a buyer or are you a seller? And that's where the relationships began. And the Fuentes took them seriously on the first conversation and developed a relationship. And they were, they have consistently packed a number of their lines with the what's now called a Boveda pack. It was called the Humidipak at the time. So we love the upstart story. We love the trying to get involved and be helpful in the beginning.
So I'm sure there's a group of salespeople on the other side of this wall that are gonna want to talk to you about the container that we have in Nicaragua and the packs that are available to put in your boxes. And give you a chance to try those and test those and see if it appeals to you.
We'd love to keep these babies fresh because when they get to Las Vegas or wherever they end up going, they're subject to a lot of stress with the fluctuations in the humidity and the temperature and the jostling about. So we want to deliver the best quality product we can to the end consumer. I know you guys want to too, so, that's my sales pitch. - And it's a good one.
And like I told you, prior to us pressing record, I cannot even think of this, of the cigar industry without you guys, you know, you are a staple within this large room, but with, I mean, it's impossible for me to see this cigar industry now without you. - Well, thank you. - It's a incredible honor and a privilege to have a minute to speak with you.
- Yeah, and it's a privilege for us to get you on our socials and we'll give you some snippets that you can use on your social, hopefully help you promote your brand. - And I think like, if we're gonna do like we're segment by segment, I think it really is important that people understand that our brand is a, we aren't just a cigar company. Like, and that's weird to say, like, well, what else are you selling? We're selling history.
Our company, and people don't realize this about Green Bay, Wisconsin, almost everyone, you say Green Bay, you say Green Bay Packers got it. And that's it. - Yeah. - He brings up the Green Bay Packers, he's dealing with a Minnesota-based company. - It's, well, hey, it is what it is. You know, it's cheese, right. You know, Wisconsin's all about cheese. - Oh, yeah. - You know that we're a big manufacturer of paper. - How many championships, yeah.
- But here, people don't realize that before all of those things, before the Green Bay Packers, from 1921, before the cheese was prevalent in the Dairy State, before paper, we were making paper companies and biggest paper distributor in the world, Green Bay was actually built on the backs of tobacco. And no one realizes it. - I never knew that. - No one knows that, right? So I love my city, I love the 920, I love the dirt I'm on. My cigar's an ode, it's a love letter to my city.
Now, how are we such tobacconists back then, right? We have a river called the Fox River, and that connects to Lake Michigan, which all the lakes connect and they'll get you all the way out to the Atlantic Ocean. So sailors would come to Green Bay, they would dock momentarily, they'd refill on a handful of things, some toiletries, some liquor and cigars/tobacco. Before Wisconsin was known as a Cranberry State. People don't realize that, that we are the largest cranberry state.
There were tobacco fields. Now this, could you say this, this was made the 1800s. Right, the Ain't They Lovely? Well, there were so many brands in the 1800s, 1900s, just rolling and selling to the sailors that came in just for a minute to load up and send up. Now, when the Depression hit, Cuban embargo hit, when shipping became a little less prominent to get your products to-and-fro, the tobacco industry in Green Bay kind of just dwindled away and disappeared, poof.
But our museum, the Neville Museum in Green Bay has so much history on the rollers, The brands in Green Bay. And we were doing this, you know, we all just were like, people gotta know that, that's American history. That's not history for our city that we love, but that's American history. So our second line that's coming out, well, the Ain't They Lovely was sold in the 1800s, 1900s. We have a box from the original ones back then, our next line's called the Number 162.
Now, other people don't also know that there was Union workers. - Union number- - Union number 162, which became one of the biggest unions in the country, started in downtown Green Bay. And they started as cigar rollers. So we, as an ode to that union that made Green Bay, built Green Bay, our everyday line's gonna be called the 162. And as we, as I keep saying every, we have a third one and a fourth, ready to deploy.
They're all based on old brands that were rolled in the 1800s, old brands that were rolled in the 1900s. Cigars that were sold for a nickel. You know, and as a person from Green Bay, I love Green Bay, like you love, - I am thoroughly convinced that you love Green Bay. - Right. But, I we should take a little bit of pride in where we're from. - Yeah, it's a great community. So it's a new line that has deep roots in the history of the tobacco industry in Wisconsin.
It's Keith, it's Mike, and it's Dylan from Lovely Cigars. - And one of the biggest things that I would like to just say it, you know, it sounds like we're wrapping up a little, is, you know, we really want to have a good experience for people. So we talk about, you know, we want you to enjoy where you are, enjoy who you're with and enjoy every moment. And that's really what it's about, right? Being present in the moment with the people you're with. And cigars kind of level that playing field.
So really that's what we want to convey to people. That's what we want people to experience when they have our cigars. - What a lovely idea. - I mean, there you go. - The company was was built on a pipe dream on a picnic table, right, with friends. - Yeah it's awesome. - So we want that experience of dream. - Well, we're, I'm glad we're able to capture this for history's sake. We're getting connected to you before the business explodes for you. It's Lovely Cigars outta Green Bay, Wisconsin.
It's Keith, Mike, and Dylan. And I gotta tell you, for a stick that I had not had, I had, you gave me one last night, which I gave to Kate [Holste] and she loved it. I'm happy to light this up, it's very accessible. It's a really delicious start. I wish you guys the very best. And if we can be helpful to you, we're gonna try to keep them fresh and deliver like your passion. We're all about helping people enjoy their passions.
So keeping them fresh is a big deal, especially when we're in Vegas where it's 11% relative humidity today and stuff. I want to thank you all for joining us. We're gonna look forward to watching your story unfold. (romantic music)