A new concept plans on bringing online sales to the world of wholesale cigars, aptly called Cigar Marketplace.

Starky Arias, a former designer for Cigar Rings and director of marketing for A.J. Fernández, is formally launching the concept at the 2019 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show in late June. Cigar Marketplace allows for manufacturers to offer their products to retailers via an online marketplace. The idea is to serve as an outlet for companies in places where sales representatives might not visit stores.

“Cigar Marketplace is not meant to replace sales representatives, its purpose is simply to facilitate the ordering process resulting in more efficient transactions for both retailers and manufacturers alike,” said Arias in a press release. “(It) will offer manufacturers wider distribution channels; improve customer satisfaction, and overall exposure. The retailer will experience more choices, and potentially at better prices, as Cigar Marketplace may help reduce the cost associated with more traditional channels of sales and distribution.”

Arias says that it will offer both cigars and accessories. He said that he has already signed up some cigar brands but declined to name who they were until closer to the website’s launch.

Its website is cigarmarketplace.co.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.