What is IPCPR 2017?

We are now four days away from the four most important days of the cigar year.

That’s right, it’s IPCPR time again.

Regular readers of this site are familiar with the IPCPR Convention & Trade Show. Recent readers of this site have probably also become familiar with the show as we’ve published over 100 articles in the last few weeks about new products.

But here’s the basics of the 2017 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show.

WHAT IS THE SHOW?

It’s both a convention and trade show. The convention part begins Monday, July 10, with a variety of seminars centered around legislative issues, retail strategy and other interests for retailers and manufacturers. The four-day trade show part begins July 11.

WHAT IS IPCPR?

The International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association hosts the trade show. As the name implies, it’s a trade group for retailers that sell cigars and pipes. In addition to the trade show, the group lobbies on both the local and federal level.

WHERE IS IT?

Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Convention Center to be exact.

AND THAT’S NEW?

Yes. The show has been in Vegas quite a few times, but at the Sands Expo Center, which is part of the Venetian/Palazzo complex. This year, the show moved locations to the Las Vegas Convention Center.

WAS THAT GOOD?

Nope. Just no.

AND IT’S EARLY?

Yes. The show used to take place towards the end of July or early August, this—the first week after the 4th of July—is very early and throwing people off, including us at halfwheel.

WHY DO PEOPLE GO?

For a variety of reasons:

• Manufacturers — Because it’s a selling trade show. Over 850 retail stores attended the last trade show in Las Vegas (2016), a number that was actually a 15 percent increase over the year before.
• Retailers — It’s a chance to see new products, sample new products and take advantage of special discounts.
• Media — There’s lots of new products, plus most of the cigar industry is under one roof for four days.
• Consumers — Because manufacturers give out free samples. #freecigars

I THOUGHT FDA BANNED NEW CIGARS & FREE CIGARS?

Yes and no.

Free cigars are pretty simple. FDA allows free samples in a business to business use. As noted below, the show is not open to the public.

As for new cigars, it’s a bit more complicated. Many manufacturers rushed to introduced thousands of new cigars before FDA’s Aug. 8, 2016 deadline last year. These products were oftentimes sold to just a few retailers and in very limited fashion. Now, many manufacturers are rolling out these products on a national level.

CAN I COME?

If you are reading this, it’s probably too late.

The trade show is not open to the general public/consumers.

If you work in the cigar industry whether as a retailer, manufacturer, supplier or media, you can go to the show, though you must be an IPCPR member, which starts at $450 annually and gives you three passes to the show.

That being said, there are plenty of people who attend the trade show regularly that probably don’t meet the qualifications.

SO YOU WILL BE THERE?

Yes. I get in tomorrow, but all of us will be there.

HOW MANY “NEW” CIGARS COME OUT?

Less than last year. If I had to take a guess, there will probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 500-600 new cigars. That’s a pretty steep drop off from last year, a bit more than half as many cigars, but the amount of new cigars has actually been declining for a few years now and for a variety of reasons.

I HEARD A LOT OF PEOPLE WON’T BE THERE?

I think it’s safe to say everyone would be surprised if attendance is up compared to last year. There are a few reasons behind this:

1. The California Cigar Tax Doubled on July 1 — This means a lot of California retailers, who make up a decent segment of the attendance, don’t have a ton of incentive to go to the show. Most California retailers tried to stock up before the tax hike on July, so even if they went, it’s unlikely they would be buying.
2. FDA Costs Are Real — For some manufacturers, the added costs of dealing with FDA has forced a readjustment in how they spend their money. We’ll get into this more at a later date, but the reality is if your margin was tight pre-FDA, it’s not any better now.
3. The Show Doesn’t Work for Some Brands — For smaller companies that have to justify the cost of going to the show with the profit generated from the show, it’s tough, very tough. Some of the companies seem to be accepting that they’d rather avoid losing money and deal with whatever perception or #fomo[ref]Fear of missing out.[/ref] might be generated by not being at the show.

Bonus Point: As we’ve mentioned time and time again, people love to complain about the lack of attendance at the show. Each and every year since I’ve gone to the show, since 2010, there has been a plethora of comments about how drastically reduced attendance is compared to the year prior, enough so that if even half of those comments were true, there’d be less than 2,000 people at the show this year.

But they aren’t.

The IPCPR admittedly doesn’t track people entering the show very well, but the data the organization has shared suggests attendance has been pretty steady with the only major changes being an increased amount of exhibitors and show space.

IS THAT ANNOYING AD GOING TO BE THERE AGAIN?

Sort of. We’ve updated how the ad display so hopefully it is less annoying. In other good news, Davidoff has really stepped up the prizes we have this year for the contests, so stay tuned.