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By Christine Graf
Less than six months after selling his Ballston Spa Citgo station, longtime village resident Matt Akari opened Havana Cigar Lounge in the former Stewart’s building on Route 50 and Northline Road.
Before establishing his own lounge, Akari visited cigar lounges throughout the United States.
“I’ve been visiting cigar lounges all over the country for the past 18 years,” he said. “I was invited by vendors because I was selling tobacco products at the gas station.”
Akari found the cigar lounge experience to be so relaxing and enjoyable that he resolved to one day open a lounge of his own. After selling his Citgo station in May, he realized that day had come. He purchased the former Stewarts building that same month and got to work remodeling it.
“It’s a good location and a good-sized space, and it has plenty of parking,” he said. “There was nothing in there. It was wall-to-wall empty. We built some walls and redid the whole insulation and all of the electrical and ventilation.”
Once the renovations were completed, the interior of the building was transformed into a cigar shop with two comfortable lounges. The largest lounge is reserved for those who purchase VIP memberships.
“The room has about 30 chairs, four big-screen TVs, a fireplace, and a lot of art on the wall,” said Akari. “It also has 75 large lockers for the members to store the cigars that they buy from me. My sign on the window says ‘What you smoke here you buy here,’ and there are no exceptions.”
Havana Cigar Lounge offers both gold and silver VIP memberships. For $800 a year, gold members receive 24/7 access to the VIP lounge, a large cigar locker, free water and coffee, and 10 percent off cigars and accessories. Silver members pay $650 a year to receive all of the same benefits except for the locker. For those who don’t want to commit to an entire year, monthly gold and silver memberships are also available.
In order for VIP members to have 24/7 access to the lounge, they are issued a key fob that allows them to visit the lounge during non-operating hours.
The cigars that Havana Cigar Lounge sells are stored in a walk-in humidor. Humidors are necessary to set precisely-controlled temperature and moisture levels necessary to maintain the quality and freshness of cigars. Without proper storage, cigars lose quality in just two weeks.
Akari, who operates the lounge with help from his wife, Ranan, said business has been steady and that weekends have been busy.
“Overall, I’m very happy with it. I get a lot of members who have never joined a cigar lounge before.”
Havana Cigar Lounge is open Monday through Saturday from 11a.m. to 9 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.