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[RETAILER PROFILE]
New Yorker follows
dream to North Carolina
By Kathleen Cantwell
What would possess someone to get into the tobacco business now in the face of escalating bans and taxes and looming federal regulation? “This is something I’ve wanted to do for many years,” says Frank Bullara, a cigar smoker and owner of Bugsy’s Cigars in Leland, N.C., on the outskirts of Wilmington, N.C. “So many times, I’d go away, go on cruises (or other trips), ... see something like this and think, ‘That’s what I want.’”
Before moving to North Carolina, Bullara lived in New York and worked for a major airline in airplane maintenance at LaGuardia Airport. He and his wife, Addy, lived in an apartment above his parents’ apartment so they could be on hand when needed. In 2005, his parents died and, in June of that year, he and Addy decided to visit North Carolina, where her parents are buried.
“We stayed in Magnolia Greens,” he says. It’s a community in Leland near his shop’s location. “We fell in love with it,” he says. “It’s really nice living down here.” He and Addy gave it some thought, compared the idea of living there with their old lives in New York and decided to make a change. “We made a decision on vacation to move,” Bullara says. “While on vacation, we bought a townhome in the same community we stayed in.”
They then went back to New York, resigned from jobs—in his case, one he’d had for 14 years—and moved to North Carolina. On Jan. 5, 2008, he opened Bugsy’s and, so far, he’s really enjoying it.
He sells all major and premium cigars, an array of accessories including lighters, ashtrays and humidors, as well as pipes, pipe tobacco, beer and some unusual items like walking canes. “I have some specialty cigarettes like Natural American Spirit and Nat Sherman’s,” he says, though the only “regular” brand he sells is Marlboro, for someone who works nearby.
There is a walk-in humidor, a 15-square-foot lounge with a 57-inch TV, bistro tables and lockers where regulars can store their cigars. Bugsy’s also offers wireless Internet. “I’m astounded by the amount of business that’s done here,” Bullara says. “I encourage this because it’s a way to keep people here.”
So far, business has been good. “Things are picking up,” he says. “Every month, I see an increase in business. In the club, I have over 100 members already. Half visit regularly, a quarter almost daily. They start coming in about noon.”
Bugsy’s is located in a small mall called Cross Creek Commons along with other businesses including a restaurant, a crafts store and an art gallery. “It’s such a growing area,” Bullara says. “I see good things in the future for this area.”
There are several tobacco shops in the larger community, but none close by.
“I’ve wanted this for years,” he says. “It’s in my blood, I guess. I’m trying to make my store different than other stores.
“I want to have a fun place to come to,” Bullara says. Members play Wii interactive video games and every Wednesday is movie night. “We try to make it like it’s your home,” he says. “Most people appreciate the fact that they can come here and not be pressured to buy anything.
“My store, I feel, is different than other stores because I’m actually selling myself,” Bullara says. “I push me more than my cigars. I try to greet everyone at the door with a handshake. And I’m not the only one that greets them, so do my customers. It’s like ‘Cheers.’ I try to make it homey.
“Everybody gets the same treatment,” he says. “I go into the humidor with them, help them choose ... I don’t just say, ‘What do you want?’”
He also hosts two events a month, one in-store and one outdoors or, at least out of the store. His in-store events are generally manufacturer tastings and usually draw anywhere from 50 to 100 people.
His outdoor events vary. This summer, Bugsy’s held its first “annual” golf tournament and raised more than $4,000 for the Leland Police Association. Earlier this year, at the end of February, 450 cigars were donated at Bugsy’s Cigars for the Troops event and sent to the troops in Iraq. A fundraising event for injured veterans was planned for August and in September, another cigar event was to be held in a local bar.
“I support my local retailers,” Bullara says. “It’s just on the peak of growing, so I try to frequent these businesses and ... I try to give back to the community, especially the police. They put their lives on the line. They come here, watch the store ... It’s just a way of giving back a little bit.
“I advertise heavily on the local radio stations and it seems to be working,” Bullara says. “Everything’s falling into place just great.”
Addy also puts herself into Bugsy’s. She works a fulltime job as a bookkeeper from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and arrives to start work at the shop by 6 p.m. “God bless her,” Bullara says. “I couldn’t do anything without her. She’s the brains. She takes care of all the books, all the finances.” She likes being social too, he says, and will pop her head out every so often for a chat with Bugsy’s regulars.
“I get here at 8 in the morning, but a lot of the day I’m entertaining people,” he says. “I don’t know how she does it.”
Why is the shop called Bugsy’s? Turns out it’s Bullara’s nickname. He was such a Bugs Bunny fan that his mother started calling him Bugsy when he was around 4 or 5 and continued until he got married. He often gets questions about the shop name. “People ask me, ‘Like the gangster?’” he says. “I say, ‘No, like the bunny.’”
For more information, visit www.bugsyscigars.com. TR
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