For Tuscaloosa aficionados and laymen alike, Reagan Starner has brought something that area cigar smokers have been waiting for – a local lounge. Owned by both Starner and his father, R&R Cigars is a family affair.
“Smoking cigars has always been a special thing for me and my dad,” Starner said.
Starner had his first cigar, a cuban, in Aruba at the age of 18. He asked his dad about smoking a cigar and said he was pleasantly surprised. “I didn’t even know my dad smoked,” Starner said. “But after that, it’s really something that we do.”
Starner, 25, graduated law school last May but decided he didn’t want to be a lawyer, after all. So, after kicking around the idea of starting a cigar shop with his father for a couple years, they got serious in October. After just three months, they opened their doors in January.
“Our success curve has been ahead of most cigar shops,” Starner said. “We’re really happy because we’ve already started to see a rapid rate of growth.”
He attributes that success partly to there being a lack of local cigar lounges in the area before they opened.
“There just hasn’t been a place for people to go,” Starner said. “They were hungry.”
Pat Donovan, a patron of the shop, said that before R&R opened, one would have to drive 60 miles to find a place with a cigar lounge. “This has been a long time coming,” Donovan added.
With more than 10,000 cigars in the humidor, Starner is confident that all visitors can find a cigar they will like. He said that over the months leading up to opening the store, he was constantly looking for the right cigars to stock.
“It took a lot of two things: hard work and patience, but I think it has paid off,” Starner said.
Along with their large humidor, R&R features a movie room with a 60-inch TV with a Blu-ray player and theater seating, a sports room with three big-screen LCD TVs, a living room and a conference room. Those rooms are open to the public. Starner said they’ve held poker nights, movie nights and business meetings in the shop before.
“Usually we don’t charge any sort of fee – just buy a cigar,” Starner said.
Starner is happy to have anyone of age to come in and smoke and lauds his staff as some of the most knowledgeable in the business. “If there’s two things that these guys have, it’s knowledge and hospitality,” patron Heath Hill said.
Starner is content with the shop and hopes to grow the clientele in the future by educating younger smokers.
“We’re really happy to be here and want to stay for a while.”
R&R is located at 2720 University Blvd. They are open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. until 8 p.m. Those looking to contact R&R can find them online at RandRcigars.com, on Facebook and via phone at 205-722-2741.
