It was almost exactly this time of year about six years ago when I was getting ready to leave a job that I was just tired of and embark on a full-time career as a tobacconist…a cigar expert! I felt like I had been training for the job for years, writing cigar reviews on these pages (and the predecessor to this site, Tiki Bar Online) and traveling to foreign countries to visit cigar factories. Now I could impart my gained wisdom every day.
I had already been working a couple days a month at Burns East in Chattanooga, but the opportunity had come to make it a full-time job, working at both that location and the downtown location. Would I be happy working there the rest of my life? Maybe…there was only one way to find out.
I hated the downtown shop almost from the beginning. There weren’t as many people that I knew, the parking was terrible and cost money (not a good thing for someone making relatively little), and the cigar selection was minuscule compared with the other store. I didn’t like the different way of doing things. Did I mention that I hated the parking?
Funny thing happened, though…Over several years of working there I made a lot of new friends with downtown customers, found ways to not pay for parking, and learned to enjoy the more relaxed business that a smaller cigar selection brought. And when the time came to leave Burns for good about a year ago, I found myself working literally around the corner…and hanging out at the Davidoff Lounge at Burns became an almost everyday occurrence after the workday was over.
Customers that became friends became closer friends. Some of the started hiking with me when that became a new passion for me. I met my current boss at Burns years ago, so it was not unusual for him to come hang out, as well. Sometimes I would go upstairs and there wouldn’t be a single person…and no one would come in while I was there. I just enjoyed the time in peace and quiet, listening to some music and reading or playing video games while puffing away on a Davidoff or Padron.
That all came to an end on January 4. The pile of cow excrement disguised as a landlord let the lease lapse without offering to renew, or even letting the owner of Burns know that the lease was coming up, for that matter. Yes, the owner should have known…but the lowlife who owns the building should have been a decent human being for once and given them a month or two notice if he wasn’t going to renew.
We gathered one last time to celebrate our friendships and the good times before the doors were locked forever.
Burns East is still open at 110 Jordan Drive, also in Chattanooga, but Burns Downtown is seemingly closed permanently. It could come back in a different location, but there are no immediate plans for that.
So if you enjoyed the Burns Downtown experience, lift a glass and a cigar and toast the good times. As I write this, I did so with a Davidoff from the last box of cigars I purchased at the downtown store and a pour of Zaya rum that I tried for first time in the Davidoff Lounge just a few weeks ago.
If you didn’t get to Burns Downtown…well, I guess you won’t too soon.
One last thing…since this is my own personal page with my own thoughts…if you like Burns and want to support Mike (the owner) and the current workers, please go shop at Burns East on a regular basis…but never set foot again in Chattanooga Billiards Club or any other business that Phil owns.Iif you know the situation, you know who I’m speaking of…he’s the landlord for Burns and nothing he does is ever worth you putting money in his pocket.
