Cigar bar to open on Adams Street
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-2151-p1040545.JPG)
Poppy Love Smoke premium cigars, wines shop will soon open at 112 Adams Street.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/576
That building was originally a cigar store... well, the place where the London Bridge was anyway.
I feel like one of those idiots in the old Marshall's commercial standing at the window saying "Open open open"!! What an awesome addition to downtown! I may have to move from Murray Hill just to be closer to such a wonderful place!
Saw it during the Walk. Nice looking place.
(http://static.flickr.com/207/503065665_fe1bd0b633_m.jpg)
POPPY'S? Oh my, the whole City will soon join JTA in a deep sleep...
For all of you youngin's that missed 1968, The Wizard of Oz was accurate in one thing, Poppys will indeed put you into a deep sleep! (Not that I ever did it, but I've read about it, seen the movies, etc. etc.).
Smile! BTW, California Poppy is completely legal...
Ocklawaha
i'm not a big fan of cigar bars, but it's still good news. i would've expected one on bay street before there, but oh well.
Carrera, Congrats on the bar ;)
AT from DC
Quote from: big ben on September 06, 2007, 05:09:46 PM
i'm not a big fan of cigar bars, but it's still good news. i would've expected one on bay street before there, but oh well.
I'm not a big fan of them either, and I agree it's still good news. Almost anything opening up downtown is indeed good news.
Quote from: big ben on September 06, 2007, 05:09:46 PM
i'm not a big fan of cigar bars, but it's still good news. i would've expected one on bay street before there, but oh well.
The funny thing is the corner of Adams/Ocean has more bars/dining options than the entire Bay Street District and not much public money has been invested in bringing it about. If 122 Ocean comes out as promoted, it will easily become the epicenter of nightlife and entertainment in the Northbank all because of private investment. Hopefully as these two areas continue to grow, they'll merge into one general area of night time activity.
GREAT place, loved it. I highly recommend checking out PLS.
Is there really a demand for a cigar bar downtown and/or on Adams street? Will this store survive even?
Heights Unknown
its been there for over a year so far
I look forward to checking it out!
Quote from: heights unknown on June 30, 2009, 08:42:51 AM
Is there really a demand for a cigar bar downtown and/or on Adams street? Will this store survive even?
Heights Unknown
I sure hope so, the place $%&#@* ROCKS!!!
Yes, I think they would have a lot more business / easy money in Riverside, but they're trying to do their part in bringing downtown back, and I commend that. The owners are so incredibly nice, and the place is very cool.
Swisher should put a place like that in the Landing - just like the prospect of what Peterbrooke is rumored to be doing. Oh yeah, Maxwell House should have a coffee shop downtown too...........
QuoteOh yeah, Maxwell House should have a coffe shop downtown too...........
And Budweiser should offer tastings at the Landing for a nominal fee....I'd go. What better way to get partnership from local vendors than to bring them all together downtown. Why again does BCBSF have its Blue store at SJTC?
Retailers had lost their way even before this economic crisis. Too willing to be followers of commercial brokers and data alone, and too unwilling to think creatively.
Jamba Juice coming to Jax was a perfect example. Known previously as a very creative brand from the west coast, they didn't understand the mindset in Jax is WAY different than that in Seattle, San Francisco or San Diego.
Then they listened to a stupid local commercial real estate "guide" expecting they would get how Jamba's hip/cool brand and product could fit in Jax. Local dufus leased 'em up at the corner of Baymeadows and Philips Hwy b/c, hey, there's 75k cars/day. They didn't last 6 months!
Suburbanites don't do hip/cool. They only do town centers, cul-de-sacs and homogeneity -- things that don't match up with Jamba Juice's brand and product. And, of course, a suburban driver could only get into that center easily coming from the N direction, so cut that 75k down 3/4ths, and they'd have to be coming home from work, which isn't the time for Jamba Juice.
Retailer message is to THINK. Don't listen to the same old tired reasoning the retail brokerage community has been following in Jax since the 80s. Most retail real estate people cannot be described as leaders or innovators.
There is a webinar being held in July re: pent up urban demand featuring Christopher Leinberger, the author of "The Option of Urbanism: Investing in a New American Dream" (a great, urban-optimistic read). I hope the entire Jacksonville retail brokerage community attends -- data may not be dead, but it is dormant, and creativity will rule this day!
Their myspace page says their M-F hours are till 7 pm... so I may try and head there straight from work and post a review for you guys tomorrow. Keep you posted....
Quote from: blizz01 on June 30, 2009, 10:53:47 AM
Swisher should put a place like that in the Landing - just like the prospect of what Peterbrooke is rumored to be doing. Oh yeah, Maxwell House should have a coffe shop downtown too...........
Maxwell house should buy the naming rights to the stadium and name it the "Maxwell Grounds"
A cigar bar with lots of pretty women passing out cigars and serving brandy in snifters with card tables placed all over the room sounds romantic to me. Actually years ago I befriended a girl who worked at a cigar bar in Peurto Rico and as a "cigar girl" she made upwards of $300 per night in tips, this was great revenue for workers and in her description of the "cigar bar" there was no lack of patrons. I am excited this is part of downtown!
^ Downtownjag, you are brilliant!
lol thanks, good artists copy but great artists steal....
Review - a little later than intended :o
http://reviewjax.blogspot.com/ (http://reviewjax.blogspot.com/)
"Hidden Gems"
Poppy Love Smoke | 112 E. Adams St.
Word is spreading about this cozy cigar bar and "chill lounge" that serves up sides of live jazz, blues and neo soul. The vibe is Playboy cool: Cigar Aficionado and Maxim on the coffee table, chrome-and-leather decor, the bodacious work of local artists on the walls.
In a case of true urban renewal, Adrian Plummer converted a vacant storefront into a cigar-and-wine shop three years ago. The music lounge opened early this year and is now so standing-room-only popular on weekends the 36-year-old entrepeneur is planning another expansion.
Calling it "love at first encounter," marketing consultant Mike Tolbert discovered the lounge during Art Walk. "Poppy has one of the better and more cosmopolitan environments around," he says.
As for the name, Plummer laughs. "I was daydreamin.' "
http://jacksonville.com/news/2009-12-13/story/discovering_hidden_gems_places_and_faces_in_downtown_jacksonville
From the pic the place looks small. I can not actually tell where this is though. Is this near the Carngie Library?
Well, this'll last two months and then disappear.
"HU"
HU are you serious?? This place has been open for years.... You wrote a comment on this thread a year ago.
And from what I hear they are doing good despite the size of the place.
Poppy is a great spot and Adrian has done an awesome job with that space. He always seems to get a nice crowd.
~j.
It's a great place, I go often. I only have one complaint...
Lately, they've been doing live music, and charging a door charge for it. I went by to get a box of cigars the other evening (they're only open during early evening hours and nighttime) and the woman at the door wanted $10 or $20 per person to go inside. I explained I couldn't care less about the band, and was there to buy cigars from Adrian. She said she didn't care, and that I wasn't coming inside period if I didn't pay the cover charge. Ok, so I left and ordered my cigars from an online retailer when I got home. I'd rather have bought them from Poppy, but hey, what can you do.
This is somewhat annoying. Anybody who knows me can tell you I'm not a cheap person, but that just didn't make any sense to me. They have two separate businesses there, really. The cigar-bar side of it and the entertainment side of it. When someone is there for the cigar business, I'm really not sure why they should have to pay a cover charge for a band they aren't going to listen to.
Other than that, it's a GREAT place, the service is great, people friendly, good wine selection, and they get these great hand rolled natural Churchills from somewhere (not a name brand) that are fantastic. So one minor complaint and a lot of kudos, really.
Yeah, that's not right. Sounds like the door person needs some training. Owners/Operators often forget that the door person is the first and last person a guest sees, and therefore the first and last impression a guest gets.
I don't doubt for a second Adrian would have wanted you to be able to get in and make a purchase.