(For more retail coverage, click GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.)
BETHLEHEM, PA-An entity of Bath-based Cigars International has acquired a 5,156-sf vacant building at 4078 Nazareth Pike for nearly $1.3 million. It will transform the building, which dates back to at least 1910, into its retail flagship.
"The location was the major appeal, and we also liked the size," John DeMarco, chief corporate officer, tells GlobeSt.com. Cigars International has an 850-sf store at 535 Main St., which it will retain.
"The new location will be purely retail at first," DeMarco says, "but we plan to add a cigar lounge later. We have weekly events, and this will provide more space for those. We also get a lot of visitors, and the interchange of routes 22 and 191 is very accessible and also has a high traffic-count and excellent visibility."
Shawn Donahue and Costas Hrousis of the Allentown office of Sperry Van Ness/Imperial Realty represented the seller, a couple in Clinton, NJ, which owns and operates an antique store there named Art's Resale. "This was once Art's Resale Two," Donahue tells GlobeSt.com, "but it has been vacant for several years." Douglass Kelly of locally based Emerald Realty Group represented Cigars International.
Cigars International plans a significant investment in renovations and redevelopment. "We don't know how much, until we see what's under the covers," DeMarco says. Admittedly neglected, he says, "It is remarkably well built." The first order of business is to remove hay insulation in the attic. Cigars International mails five million catalogs a year and hosts an annual cigarfest in the Poconos that attracts more than 2,000 visitors.
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