Major Stash Cigar, at 60 Liberty street near Ellicott street, behind the Pok A Dot, held a Grand Opening at their 1600 square foot cigar lounge on Saturday afternoon.
The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce welcomed the new business to the area with an official ribbon cutting after their soft opening at the end of October.
Owner Doug Palmer says a lot of people who are coming in to check them out like the atmosphere. “Not everyone is on top of each other, its casual. The furniture is comfortable and the air is not smoky at all.”
“They think the pool table and the dart board on the opposite side of where the TV is gives everybody a bit of their own environment while they are here,” says Palmer.
The new cigar lounge already has a group of regulars each week.
“If somebody wants to come in and do work we have seating so people can come in and do work. We have the seating so people can come in and be by themselves in the corner. We also have the space for larger groups that come here to socialize.”
Palmer says Major Stash Cigar lounge is not super high end and does not make people feel uneasy. It is very middle of the road. They offer 40 different cigars, cigar lockers, free WiFi, free coffee, tea and sell cutters and lighters.
The 1600 square foot space has an air cleaning system that works to clear the smoke. Palmer say the air is not smoky at all.
Things that are not allowed are E-Cigs, vapes, hookahs, glass pipes or any outside cigars.
Palmer started the cigar business out of his home several years ago.
After looking for the right space for two years, Palmer and is wife Christa happened to be at the Pok-A Dot one day and noticed that this space was available in the ID Booth building on Liberty street.
“I happened to be here at the right time.”
The space had only been vacant for one month and was not on the market yet.
“There is a need in Genesee County, especially here in Batavia. Lots of people from Rochester who pop off the thruway or from Darien Lake or on their way to a Bills game. That’s why we think we will have the right clientele and customer base.”