Bryan Bird Joins Drew Estate

Bryan Bird, a longtime Thompson Cigar Co. employee, is now the director of sales, national accounts for Drew Estate.

As part of his new role, Bird will work with the company’s larger accounts. For 19 years, he worked for one of those stores: Thompson Cigar Co. Bird most recently served as Thompson’s director of merchandising.

“Bryan adds tremendous value to the Drew Estate organization, especially in the national account channel, where he cut his teeth,” said Jonathan Drew, the company’s co-founder and president, in a press release. “I remember the first time I met him almost 20 years ago, when we first became friends. He’s a good lad with a great heart, who has talent, class and a strategic conceptual lens.”

Bird will report directly to Ike Karipides, director of national account channel for Drew Estate.

Last year, Thompson Cigar Co. was sold to Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG), the parent company of General Cigar Co. and Cigars International. As part of the sale, Thompson has moved its operations from Tampa, Fla. to Pennsylvania.