Home > Cigar Stars Index Page > The Miranda Family
A Mom-And-Pop Shop
In Seven Years, Mariana and Nestor Miranda Have Turned Miami Cigar & Co. into a Force in Cigar Distribution
by Shandana Durrani
The room is chalk white, with a table and
chairs as plain as the walls. While the temperature outside inches
toward 90 degrees and the air is humid, the ambience within is as cool
and calm as the three people seated at the table. Nestor Miranda, his
wife, Mariana, and their son, Daniel, appear at ease. Their faces are
wreathed in smiles, smiles that speak volumes.
The Mirandas own Miami Cigar & Co., a seven-year-old firm that
nationally distributes cigars made in Honduras, the Dominican Republic
and Spain. A modern-day success story, Miami Cigar began as a small,
two-person firm in 1989, distributing just 40,000 cigars that
year. That number rose to 3.1 million for 1995, thanks largely to the
success of its flagship Honduran brand Don Lino and Dominican brands
León Jimenes and La Aurora. Not bad for a mom-and-pop shop.
We are very happy with the profits, says Nestor Miranda, president
and co-owner of Miami Cigar, in his slightly accented English. The
total volume is over and above expectations. Sometimes we think in the
middle of the night if it is real or just a dream. But I think we
deserve it. We have worked very hard for it.
That the Mirandas' cigar business is a success is not unusual,
especially with the recent cigar craze. What is unusual is that the
couple, who are both 53, began the business when the industry wasn't
booming. In 1989, premium cigar sales were flat. While other companies
in the cigar industry were filing for bankruptcy or downsizing, the
Mirandas launched their firm. It didn't hurt that many of their
initial contacts in the liquor business were already dealing with
Nestor.
As a sales representative for Southern Wines & Spirits, a
California-based liquor importer and distributor, Nestor often
traveled to shows and liquor shops, making contacts and developing
liaisons with retailers around the country. In 1989, at a function for
the Latin Business Association at the Viscaya Hotel in Miami, Nestor
and Mariana forged a relationship with a representative from La Aurora
cigars. Long a cigar aficionado, Nestor spoke to the representative
about doing a cigar and brandy tie-in with his company. But Mariana
had plans of her own.
Nestor got together with these people and said that he would like to
have a humidor, she says. And they sent him a humidor from the
León Jimenes family. And I said to Nestor that it was very
nice. I was bored and I said it would be nice if I could sell cigars
to the liquor stores. I represented the company and they were
delighted.
La Aurora was not a well-recognized brand in the United States at the
time. Its U.S. distributor, Campa Imports, sold them primarily in
cafeterias and restaurants. Campa wanted to expand awareness for the
brand in the United States, and the Mirandas had Nestor's liquor
contacts.
I knew so little about cigars, Mariana says, laughing. Meeting her
now, it is difficult to believe that there ever was a time when she
was ignorant about the industry. You know this size called panatela?
she asks. 'Panatela' in Spanish means pound cake. This owner from a
liquor store said, 'Mariana, let us buy some of your panatelas.' And I
looked at him and I said that 'I don't sell pound cake.' He started
laughing and said, 'Mariana, for heaven's sake! You know so
little. Panatela is a size.'
Now, Miranda is recognized as one of the foremost women executives in
the cigar industry. While women have always played a role in the cigar
world, few have had the opportunity to establish themselves in
top-level positions.
I have never ever had any bad words coming from men in the business
or any lack of respect. They love me and I have an excellent rapport
with my customers, she says. It was funny at the beginning dealing
with a woman, but they love it. I think it has been very, very good
for me because I have taken advantage of being a woman in the business
and I can get away with little things like, 'Oh, please come on, you
have to buy from me.' They cannot tell me no, because I am a woman.'
It was a rough beginning. The Mirandas would put in countless hours in
the business, sometimes working seven days a week. Mariana served as
an account executive, but she also handled the billing and accounts
receivable, and worked in the mail room, packaging and shipping
cigars to the retailers. Nestor, still employed at Southern Wines
& Spirits, usually helped at nights and on weekends. Danny worked
part-time. Most of the work was conducted at their small office in the
Calle Ocho section of Miami.
I would leave the house at about eight o'clock. I would go to all the
liquor stores with Campa, only selling La Aurora, and I didn't come
back until all the liquor stores got the product, Mariana says. I
had a little answering service that I would get. When I would get to
the office at about one o'clock, I would take all the messages, go to
the warehouse, make the packages and send them.
Mariana worked with Campa until the end of 1989, when she decided to
launch Miami Cigar. That same year, the Mirandas were approached by a
representative for Don Lino cigars. The Honduran cigar maker was
searching for a U.S. distributor, and the Mirandas, looking to
establish their business, saw an opportunity. They acquired the rights
and began selling Don Lino in the United States.
I really worked with Don Lino on the streets, trying to distribute
them at all the different restaurants and tobacco shops, Mariana
says. At that time, cigars were not that popular. But I always did
pretty good, always had good sales. Nestor was in the company whenever
he could help me.
On Saturdays, Nestor and Mariana would leave their home early in the
morning, load their car with boxes of Don Lino cigars and travel from
Miami to Naples, Florida, and all points in between, selling cigars to
restaurants and tobacco shops. Their goal was to sell $1,000 worth of
Don Lino cigars every Saturday; often they wouldn't return home until
they reached that goal.
The cigar sales weren't very high, but we worked very hard, Mariana
says. In the beginning it was very hard; some weeks I couldn't draw a
single penny out of the business. I had to build it little by little.
The hard work eventually paid off. In its first year, Miami Cigar sold
100,000 Don Lino cigars. Several years later, at the 1993 convention
of the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America, Miami Cigar introduced the
Don Lino Habana Reserve, a Honduran cigar with a Connecticut shade
wrapper and Honduran filler and binder. It was an instant success. The
firm followed with a new Don Lino in 1994, the Colorado, another
Honduran cigar, with a colorado wrapper. It also has been well
received. In 1995, the orders for all Don Lino cigars exceeded 2
million.
The Don Lino lines continue to grow through name recognition and
placement in tobacco shops throughout the United States, such as De La
Concha Tobacconists in New York City, which was Miami Cigar's first
tobacco shop client, and its initial step beyond Florida.
We were approached by Lionel [Melendi] of De La Concha, Nestor
recalls. He came to Miami and talked to my wife and said he really
liked our cigars and would really like to sell them in New York. So
that was our first bridge from Miami to the big market. Every month he
was ordering 10 or 15 boxes.
We have a very good relationship with them, says Melendi, De La
Concha's owner and president. They are a very hardworking couple,
with a lot of unique ideas for promotion and distribution. They follow
through on all of their promises.
The success of Don Lino didn't go unnoticed. In 1993, Nestor was
approached by members of the Brugal family, a well-known rum producing
family from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. The Brugals
helped introduce the Mirandas to the León Jimenes
family. Nestor and Mariana flew to Santo Domingo and made a successful
pitch for the U.S. distribution rights, outside of Florida, to
León Jimenes and La Aurora cigars.
The Mirandas returned to Miami and soon established León
Jimenes and La Aurora in the premium cigar market. They sold 135,000
cigars in their first year; they project sales of 1 million this year
and 1.5 million in 1997.
From nothing we built León Jimenes as a premium cigar, Nestor
says. They changed the wrapper from a Cameroon wrapper to a
Connecticut wrapper. That is a big change for the consumer because
they were accustomed to the Cameroon wrapper, so it was shocking. But
by the same token, at that time Connecticut was coming along very
well. Ever since then they have been improving the wrapper.
The problem was that La Aurora used to be discounted, says Daniel
Miranda, the 26-year-old director of marketing. It didn't have any
type of brand recognition. We have tried to bring it out into view a
lot, to put it in the right places.
Since 1992 Miami Cigar also has distributed the Spanish-made Ducados,
a machine-made dry cigar with a natural wrapper, with projected
U.S. sales of 1.2 million cigars in 1996.
The Mirandas usually work 12- to 14-hour days, five days a week, and
sometimes on the weekend as well. The burden has been eased somewhat
since they expanded their staff to include several customer service
representatives, an accountant, a sales representative and a few
packaging personnel.
They have also enlarged their office space, recently moving into a
6,000-square-foot office, complete with a 28,000-cubic-foot
humidor. The larger space will come in handy with their latest
addition, U.S. Tobacco International brands Don Tomás and
Astral. The Mirandas acquired the U.S. distribution rights (outside
of California) in January 1996; they consider it their biggest coup
yet.
In 1995, we were approached by the UST company; that was the
beginning of Miami Cigar & Co. going to the big leagues, Nestor
says. When we were approached by UST, we felt like we had reached
cloud nine.
Don Tomás, which is made of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobacco
with a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, is a well-established
brand. Astral, which is also constructed of Honduran and Nicaraguan
tobacco, has been well received since its launch in June 1995.
Just three years ago they had only one broker who conducted business
in New York, the company's top region. Miami Cigar now employs about
20 brokers, who make sales calls to cigar shops around the
country. But the Mirandas themselves are busier than ever.
The Mirandas were high school sweethearts from the town of
Holguín, Cuba, but, like many others, fled their homeland in
the years following Fidel Castro's rise to power. Nestor left for the
United States in 1962, when he enlisted in the Army and was stationed
at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Mariana left Cuba the following year and
settled with relatives in Madrid, Spain. For a while the Mirandas'
relationship was tested by the distance, but when Mariana emigrated to
California in 1964, Nestor traveled across the country to find
her. And then, the couple says, fate stepped in.
I was staying at the Silver Lake Motel and from there I called
Mariana to see where she lived so that we could get together, Nestor
says. Mariana asked me where was I staying and I said the Silver Lake
Motel. I said, 'I am far away from you, right?' and she said, 'You are
just seven blocks away from my home!' I believe that it was destiny
that pushed me to be with her. No question about it.
They married in 1965; their son, Daniel, was born in 1970. They left
California in 1971 after a large earthquake rocked Los Angeles and
moved to Miami, where Nestor found a job with General Wine &
Spirits, a subdivision of Seagrams. He was transferred to Tampa,
Florida, in 1974, at which time Mariana gave birth to their second
child, a daughter, Tatiana. A year later the family relocated to
Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Nestor became regional manager for New
Mexico and Nevada. The Mirandas lived briefly in New Orleans from 1980
until 1981 when they returned to Miami. They have lived there ever
since.
In 1981, Nestor joined Southern Wines & Spirits, where his
brother-in-law worked, as division manager for the Latin market. He
remained there for 15 years, until deciding last January to devote
himself full-time to Miami Cigar.
What I am doing right now is traveling around the country, looking
for accounts, working with brokers, checking distribution of my
products and teaching my brokers how to expand the line and improve
communication with customers, says Nestor. This is number one. You
have to communicate with your customers so they know you--when they
know you, they know your company. That is the big thing with Miami
Cigar & Co.
So what's in store for Miami Cigar? The Mirandas' conservative
estimate for total distribution in 1996 is 9 million cigars. They hope
to have a signature cigar, created by the makers of León
Jimenes, in the future, and intend to distribute a robusto cigar from
La Aurora and a torpedo from León Jimenes. They also plan on
redesigning their labels.
Other plans include a men's cologne, made by Franck Olivier in Paris,
which they planned to introduce at the August 1996 RTDA convention in
Cincinnati. The smoked-glass bottle is shaped like a pocket cigar
case, and has been well received in marketing tests. But cigars remain
the top priority.
I like to smoke a variety of cigars that we represent to know the
quality, because I am like the quality controller of Miami Cigar &
Co., Nestor says. When I find something that I don't like too much,
that doesn't mean that the cigar is bad, it just means that it needs a
certain improvement. I communicate that to my importer. It is like
every one is my kid and I love every one of them. Like a good mother
and father, we take care of our kids.
A mom-and-pop shop indeed.
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