The Big Move!

July 26, 2008

On Saturday, Milan Tobacconists closed its "old" shop at 2:00 pm, at which time The Big Move began in earnest to the "new" shop.

Owners David and Renée Meyer had decided weeks before to conduct the move themselves in order to closely coordinate the ebb and flow of merchandise between the old and new stores. For example, the cigar humidor at the new store had not yet reached the peak level of humidification on moving day to house all of our premium and ultra-premium cigars properly, so we had to wait until Sunday to move the cigars. It's fair to say a moving company would not have been so patient!

We have always said that Milan Tobacconists' has the greatest customers in the world, and Saturday's move proved that time and again as they started showing up unsolicited to lend a hand, volunteering for everything from packing up products, to loading display cases into the rental truck and coordinating delivery of pizzas and sodas for the "crew." The volunteers worked side by side with Milan staff, friends, and family while the Meyers' Labrador Buddy supervised. Of course, there were free cigars for all!

The Meyers had also brought their secret weapons out of retirement to help with unpacking and setting up product displays at the new store - none other than Don and Myriam Roy, previous owners of Milan Tobacconists. The dynamic duo was instrumental to a successful move on too many levels to mention here, and their support was greatly appreciated! (Learn more about Don and Myriam on our About Us page.)

Aside from the new store's cigar humidor being a little slow to pick up steam, the only other hitch we experienced was how to transport our circa 1900 steel safe. The safe weighs in at roughly 700 pounds and sits atop steel wheels. After much deliberation among the brawnier crew members, it was decided that it would be physically impossible to safely (or unsafely) push the safe up the narrow ramp into the rental truck. The 5-person team decided to instead push the safe two blocks up the street to its new location - really! An odd sight on a Saturday afternoon to say the least, but not one single person stopped to ask what in the world they were doing. Have you ever seen a safe pushed up a downtown street? Well, the plan worked and no vehicles were damaged during the journey. We all breathed a sigh of relief when it reached its new home.

Sunday brought another steady stream of customers - this time to take a preview peak at the new store. In addition to giving tours, the staff and family spent Sunday unpacking, cleaning, painting, setting out merchandise, and transporting cigars to the new humidor, which had finally achieved the proper humidification level. The Meyers worked late into the night putting the final touches on the new store before its debut on Monday morning.

It's showtime! Our "regulars" arrived one after another on Monday to check out their new tobacco shop, and we received positive reviews from all. There are still a myriad of details to address over the next few weeks, but we're settling in and happy to be in our new home. Many thanks to everyone who helped make the move possible!

To all of our online customers, please make sure to stop by and see us if you ever visit the Roanoke, Virginia, area. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the pictures.