According to local York (PA) Daily Record, Royal Square shop takes cigars to younger crowd with boutique, art-infused setting
Jacob Hammill and Jonathan Kindig want to see more millennials lighting up cigars.
The building at 120 E. King St. they chose for Casta Cigars' first brick-and-mortar location is smack in the middle of York's Royal Square, a neighborhood whose art galleries, pop-up restaurants and brew pub draw large numbers of twenty- and thirty-somethings.
"This really is an attempt to break the mold here," said Hammill, Casta's Birkenstock sandal-wearing, guitar-playing president whose previous gig was operating a Philadelphia recording studio.If you grew up in York County, you might have seen Hammill perform with his band, Killer Bangs. York County has a storied history as a hub for tobacco making and no shortage of places to buy stogies today.
But Hammill, 27, and Kindig, 53, cousins who grew up in Hellam Township, call their space a "bouitque cigar shop." With its hardwood floors, mahogany cabinets and art on the walls, the shop aims for a hip vibe.But they're hoping older cigar smokers will feel at home, too.
Opening today, the shop will carry six Casta varieties, ranging in price from the $6 Minuteman — a homage to a cigar smoked during the Civil War era — to the $35 Puro made of 75-year-old, pre-embargo Cuban tobacco.
"I think people will find their comfort zone ," Hammill said.
Humidors in the shop's front room keep the cigars at a constant humidity of between 69% and 71%. The back room will hold a smoking lounge where smokers can light up.
Casta and Kindig have been selling their Casta line of cigars online for the past few months.The cigars are made by hand in the Dominican Republic or in York County by a veteran cigar roller.
If the Royal Square location is a success, a second shop in California could be on the horizon, Hammill said.
For more information about Casta Cigars and their blends, check out their website www.castacigars.com.