Cigar lounge coming to N. Main

Pat Kimbrough, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read

May 21—HIGH POINT — Wayne Southerland said he hopes others will discover the same type of passion he has for cigars when he opens his new High Point business soon.

The owner of Southerlands Cigar Lounge at 804 N. Main St., he said he's targeting a mid-June opening. The lounge will be in the building that used to house a Pizza Hut restaurant. It will offer cigars for sale and feature areas on-site for smoking cigars. It will also serve bourbon and some beer.

"About 15 years ago, I started smoking cigars and getting into it and started to enjoy it and learn about cigars. Then about five years ago, I thought this could be a great opportunity to start a business, because you always want to do something business-wise that you enjoy," Southerland said.

The lounge will sell upscale and mid-range brands, as well as lower-priced cigars, which Southerland said he hopes will appeal to those who are new to cigars.

"Your starters like Ashtons — those are the ones that are good for beginners. You want to be able to train them on how to cut a cigar, how to light a cigar, how to smoke a cigar," he said. "Some cigars will be on the upper scale like the harder ones to find, because there is a shortage of tobacco right now."

Customers must be members of the lounge, although Southerland said he will offer a seven-day trial where people can pay a cover charge and experience the lounge to see if they want to join.

In addition to the main lounge areas, he plans to offer private smoking rooms and patio space.

"We'll have a lot of your upscale bourbons and will carry some beers, but probably not a lot," he said.

It was difficult to find the right location for the lounge, but Southerland said the former restaurant was ready-made for what he wanted to do.

"When you start a cigar lounge, one of your biggest expenses is your ventilation. With this being a restaurant and having the vents here already, I just needed to upgrade them," he said. "We did a lot of upfitting, but that was probably one of the main things that definitely made us come here."

For more information, go to www.southerlandscigarlounge.com