Cigar Sales Light Up Tobacco Category

(Convenience Store News) After a 25-percent jump in sales last year, the cigar segment is coming on strong again in c-stores, thanks in part to manufacturer innovation and tax-weary cigarette smokers jumping to large filtered cigars. ... "We have to be careful when we look at sales figures to factor in all of those tax dollars," cautioned Ron Coppel, vice president business development, Eby-Brown Co. , who said some cigar manufacturers are seeing flat or slightly decreased sales. "There are pockets of unit growth in some subcategories, but they have been offset with unit losses in other subcategories." Continued