Cedartown soon to be home to new cigar bar
The former home of Cedar and Smoke is coming back to life in short order after a new business owner looks to bring a cigar bar to Herbert Street.
Paul Coley hasn’t quite decided on a name for the new establishment — he was thinking about Maddie’s Tobbacconist but isn’t sure yet — but he plans to be open in the weeks to come after receiving his license to serve beer and wine from the City of Cedartown.
The city amended the alcohol ordinance last fall after proposing changes that would allow for Coley to open his establishment and split beer and wine sales with tobacco and accessories, rather than the tradition mix of food and alcohol sales utilized by restaurants that serve.
“It’s been some work,” he said.
Opening day is will be announced as soon as the work is completed on the space, Coley said. Additionally he’s working to determine hours of operation that are best suited for his business.
Coley’s been working to transform the former restaurant into a place where people who enjoy a good cigar or pipe can come and relax with a cold drink, and give people a safe and climate-controlled place to store tobacco products on a membership basis.
A new humidor, display cases and more are being setup within the former dining space, and the kitchen is being closed off completely and leased out. Additional details about that venture are to come. Space will be available for rent in the humidor for those who want to become members on a monthly or annual basis.
Coley added that special benefits will go along with membership, like special liquor storage in the humidor, discounts within his store and access to rare cigars before the general public.
“We may end up bringing liquor in down the road, but we’re trying to see what demographics we have in there,” he said.
Coley put the concept together in recent months to open the business after spending the past six years making handcrafted pipes to sell to customers that started as a hobby.
“I got into pipe smoking,” he explained and added that the cost to entry into smoking a pipe can be high, with custom carved pieces like he creates costing hundreds of dollars but only requiring a little investment and time on his part to make.
“I figured I can make it myself,” Coley added. “Then I figured I could make them and sell them to pay for my hobby.”
Most of his sales in the past have been in the area itself, and he enjoys a following of customers in the Rome area. He said that there’s growing excitement to see the shop open.
He also is glad to be able to locate in his hometown.
“I love Cedartown,” he said. “I’m big in my lodge and we belong to Kresge, and my kids go to school here. I want something to hand off to my kids, my generation. A tobacco shop is an old world business, was run by families back then. It’s starting now to get back into it.”
Editor’s note: there was an internal editorial error on the part of the Standard Journal when this story first posted online on Tuesday morning, Jan. 28 that we caught after the fact and initially removed it from the site. We have fixed the issue and hope you enjoy reading about Cedartown’s future downtown business. — KM