Today we’d like to introduce you to Jimmy Zaid.
Jimmy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in an entrepreneurial family; my dad has been self-employed since he has been in this country. My path to the premium cigar industry started when I was 14; this is when my father opened his first tobacco store in 1998. I would work the store in the summer to help out from time to time and this is where, although at an early age, my fascination with cigars started. As I grew older and learned more about the industry of premium cigars and continued to keep my eye on the progression of the popularity of cigars. In 2008, going into my last year of college, is when I opened my first premium cigar retail lounge. My brother and I scouted the southern suburbs of Houston around where we lived and decided that the west side of Pearland was an ideal spot to open our first location; it was an up and coming area and we got in on the ground floor of development.
I worked the store for 5 years and every year the business grew; I knew that this was a great business to grow into multiple locations. In 2014, we opened our second location in Friendswood; this location is larger, with more selection and a larger lounge. We also moved our distribution company to this location as well.
Other than being in the retail aspect of the industry, we also wholesale and distribute premium cigars to other businesses. Furthermore, we also have our own brand of cigars named Inception®. Our wholesale company, JSR Cigar Distributors, sells premium cigars and accessories to other cigar lounges, tobacco stores, liquor stores, restaurants, gas stations, hotels, bars and clubs. We are one of only 3 major wholesalers in the city of Houston but we pride ourselves on being the only wholesaler to provide boutique brands such as Tatuaje, Illusione, Warped, Viaje, Crowned Heads and Caldwell to our clients. We are also proud to say that we are the best-priced wholesaler in the entire State of Texas on all products we wholesale and distribute. JSR Cigar Distributors, LLC proudly serves large national accounts like Omni Hotels and Hilton Hotels; no account is too small or too large.
Our own brand, Inception®, started as just a concept that me and my brother would joke about; owning our own brand and getting it rated, etc. It quickly became a reality when we had an Alec Bradley event at one of our locations and we sat down and discussed the business with their VP of Sales, George Sosa. Mr. Sosa encouraged us to trust Alec Bradley to work with us on developing our own brand from Inception to reality; hence why we chose the name Inception for our brand. We launched our brand after almost 2 years of development in May of 2012. We quickly grew our brand to 93 accounts across 24 states; the growth was organic but was assisted with social media bloggers and reviewers. Our brand, Inception®, has been reviewed by all the top review sites and bloggers including but not limited to: StogieReview.com, CigarObsession.com, CigarDojo.com, and CigarInspector.com.
Today, R & J Cigars is the 3rd largest cigar lounge company in Houston. We carry all the major brands like Arturo Fuente, Ashton, Cohiba, H. Upmann, Hoyo de Monterrey, La Gloria Cubana, Macanudo, Montecristo, Partagas, Padron and Punch. We also carry all the hot boutique brands on the market such as AJ Fernandez, Alec Bradley, Balmoral, Caldwell, Camacho, Curivari, Crowned Heads, Davidoff, Drew Estate, Foundry (El Gueguense and Tabernacle), Gurkha, Illusione, Kristoff, L’Atelier, La Palina, La Aroma de Cuba, Leaf by Oscar, Liga Privada, La Flor Dominicana, My Father Cigars (Don Pepin), Nat Sherman, Nub, Oliva, Perdomo, Quesada, Rocky Patel, Tatuaje, Warped, and many more!
R & J Cigars has the BEST box prices on premium cigars in the City of Houston and we match or beat all online pricing. More often than not, our box prices are already cheaper than online pricing!
Has it been a smooth road?
The biggest challenge was starting a business while still being in college. Imagine, two college kids aged 23 and 21, starting a business from the ground up. It was a huge risk on our end but we were willing to take that risk. There is never wrong with taking a risk as long as it’s a calculated risk. While we were at school, my father would run the business. When we were done with our classes, my brother and I would go relieve my father and work the rest of the day. We did this for an entire year until we graduated.
That first year and a half wasn’t easy; we made a ton of sacrifices. Being self-employed isn’t a game and to further complicate things, we had to balance school as well. Your social life goes out the window when you’re self-employed. You miss birthdays, parties, and other events that you wished you could go to. However, if you work hard enough and make it a success, you reap the rewards later in life.
Opening a brand new concept (premium cigar lounge) in a brand new part of town (west side of Pearland) created a challenge for us. We had to educate the consumer. We had to get the word out. It was a struggle in the beginning but as people began to find out about us, word spread. The cigar community is a very personal one. You get to know your customers on a first and last name basis; customers become friends. If you run the business well, if you are personable and if you take care of the customer…they’ll always come back. Basic business principles that I learned being around my father at a young age.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with R & J Cigars – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We separate ourselves from everyone one else in Houston by being the only premium cigar lounge that also wholesales on a large scale and that also has its own trademarked brand; no one else in Houston can say that.
We have two locations, one in Pearland and one in Friendswood. Both locations are BYOB. The Friendswood location has locker rentals available for $300 a year; the best price in Houston for locker rentals. The thing about the cigar business is that a majority of the lounges all carry the same product. Most of the major premium cigar lounges in Houston all buy direct from the manufacturer, so we all carry the same brands. The difference from one lounge to the next is the size of the actual space and how they run their business.
R & J Cigars prides itself on having a very family-oriented feeling when entering our lounges; most lounges you walk into these days can be very intimidating. You don’t get a friendly greeting, if you’re not dressed nice you may be ignored, if you don’t spend a lot you won’t be respected, etc. At my lounges, everyone is treated equally, fairly and with respect. With repeat visits, you eventually become family and a friend.
R & J Cigars is known for being one of just a handful of stores in the State of Texas, no less Houston, to carry on a regular basis all the rare and hard to find cigars in the industry. We are also known for being a source for vintage and “unicorn” status cigars. Opus X and Liga Privada are the two biggest “rare” or “hard to find” lines in the industry and we get them regularly. On top of those two lines, we also get the rare products from brands like Tatuaje, Viaje, Alec Bradley, and Crowned Heads. Our vintage products put us on the map nationally on Instagram and Facebook. We have been known to sell Padron Milleniums, Partagas Benji Master, Tatuaje Dracs, original Opus X Angel Share, sealed boxes of Opus X 13, and other rarities.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love how Houston has so much diversity and culture. The people that live here is what makes this city so great. To correlate with the vast diversity of people and cultures; there is an abundance of restaurants here! I am a low-key foodie so I love trying new restaurants. The green spaces and parks here in Houston are amazing as well; I am all for preserving nature as much as possible.
The isn’t much to not like about Houston…other than the traffic and the never-ending construction!
Pricing:
- Cigar Prices Ranging from $2 – $35
- Cigar Humidors Ranging from $10 – $2400
- Cigar Lighters Ranging from $10 – $300
- Cigar Cutters Ranging from $2 – $150
- Locker Rentals – Friendswood – $300 Annually
Contact Info:
- Address: R & J Cigars #1
2803 Business Center Drive, STE 137
Pearland, Texas 77584R & J Cigars #2
2407 W. Parkwood Avenue, STE 108
Friendswood, Texas 77546 - Phone: Pearland 713-340-1488 and Friendswood 281-993-4654
- Email: randjcigars@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jsrcigardistributors_inception/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RJLoungeFriendswood/
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
