Affordable Luxury at the Little Cigar Factory

While the economic boom of the late 1990s may have come and gone for now, it has left one small, affordable luxury in its wake: the desire and demand for a good cigar.

The Little Cigar Factory at 50 Merrick Ave. is filling that need with care, precision and a healthy dose of resilient entrepreneurial spirit.

The concept of quality hand rolled cigars created by local merchants for local customers was first started in Merrick by retired Nassau County detective Tom Wallace, who got the idea to create his own cigar concept after attending several high-end functions on the island where cigars were part of the party.

Wallace writes about his idea on the company website:

"The cigar boom was in full swing,"  Wallace wrote, "but the cigars cost so much and by then I had realized there was no reason for the high price.

"The cigar craze boomed out in 1999 and all those little manufacturers went out of business," Wallace continued, "but then I knew that manufacturing hand-rolled inexpensive cigars was possible and could be done profitably."

With that very basic notion of finding a need and filling it, Wallace turned the business over to his daughter Nicole Wallace-Likos.

A decade later, Little Cigar Factory has grown into an impressive mini-empire using common sense, hard work and a desire to keep quality close to home.

"I'm not a smoker, and besides I'm six months pregnant" laughed Wallace-Likos, who oversees the entire concept. "But one thing I've learned is that to be successful, you've got to be able to do everything required in your business. So I can roll, label and recognize the taste of a good cigar."

On the island, the Little Cigar Factory has licensing agreements in place that have allowed it to grow and establish stores and lounges in Merrick, Albertson, Massapequa and Babylon–with more locations in the works.

Beyond that, the concept is setting up shop with investors as far and wide as Michigan and New Mexico. The Little Cigar Factory even has a 12-year-old store on the remote resort island of St. Maarten.

"It's avid smokers who are getting involved," explained Wallace-Likos, who was recently honored as Long Island's 2010 Small Business Woman of the Year by the Town of Oyster Bay. "Licensees love the concept, because the product essentially sells itself. (Our partners) and customers know it's a quality product offered at a fair price."

The Cigar Factory does private labeling (for parties, functions and special occasions) and sells to other retail outfits, which can then put their own label on its cigars, explained Jack Oates, who operates the Merrick store along with Nicole's husband Bill.

"When I took some of these up to New Hampshire and my buddies up there were comparing them to their local stuff–for the price–they were flipping out," Oates went on with a soft, low-key delivery that belies his bearish, biker meets Santa Claus look. "Sometimes the first one's on me…and then they're coming back over and over."

This reporter sampled a stout medium blend made with tobaccos from a variety of exotic locales including the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Columbia –and Connecticut?!

"Strange but true," said Wallace-Likos. "The best cigar leaf wraps in the world are grown in Enfield, Connecticut. If you ever take a drive through the area, you can see the rows of open barns where the wrappers are hanging."

Before taking that Rockwellian drive up New England's picturesque Route 91, stop by the Little Cigar Factory on Merrick Avenue. Jack Oates will make sure to recommend the perfect cigar for the ride.