Senate Bill 500, which bans smoking in most public places, was passed in the Illinois House by a 73-42 vote and Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) will almost surely sign it. If he does, the statute will go into effect on January 1, 2008.

“I think it is really going to hurt business,” said Rep. Patrick Verschoore (D) in an interview with the Quad Cities Times. “Government is getting too intrusive. They’re trying to control too many things.”

But another ban is in place. This particular bill contains the standard non-smoking provisions but allows smoking in retail tobacco stores, private residences, nursing homes and designated smoking rooms in hotels. But the provision – sec. 35 (2) – which allows smoking in retail tobacco shops also includes this dandy:

“Any retail tobacco store that begins operation after the effective date of this amendatory Act may only qualify for an exemption if located in a freestanding structure occupied solely by the business and smoke from the business does not migrate into an enclosed area where smoking is prohibited.”

Tim Ozgener is now running C.A.O. International, sold earlier this year to the ST Cigar Group. When he’s not running to a trade show, or a store promotion, or checking on the C.A.O. sales team or working with the cigar producers who make the C.A.O. brands, he writes a piece for the “Ozblog” on the C.A.O. website.

Last January, he posted a revealing note about how brands are created and in specific, how the now-shipping C.A.O. Vision brand was developed. It’s worth a look:

“The CAO Vision has been in development for over two years now. I remember reading the Wall Street Journal article on Dell Computers and how they identified a new bourgeoning market. A niche segment had emerged of high end laptops that were faster, smaller, more efficient and intelligent that also looked ‘high tech.’ The article noted that so many people are ‘on the go’ and want to maintain a competitive edge, and buying a laptop that saved time had strong appeal.

From the floor of the 2007 Tobacco Plus Expo!

Las Vegas, NV, April 27 – How do you make a cigar a success?

Perhaps no other question so vexes cigar makers and smokeshop owners, but – as in the movies – sometimes a star can carry the day. A the 2007 Tobacco Plus Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center, it’s clear that there is such a star on the rise.

Jose “Pepin” Garcia.

After spending the first 50 years of his life rising to the top of the production administration in the Cuban cigar industry, he went to Nicaragua in 2001 and decided to stay. It wasn’t long before he ended up in the United States and set up a tiny shop in Miami called El Rey de Los Habanos, or “The King of the Habanos.” It was a prophetic choice of name. 

Garcia toiled like all start-ups, but got an unexpected break when Pete Johnson of Havana Cellars in Los Angeles asked him to help a small line of cigars for Johnson to sell to his friends in smokeshops around the country. That brand was Tatuaje, which launched in 2004 and became an almost overnight success for its bold flavor and outstanding craftsmanship.