Plans are done. Now the fun begins

Just before Christmas we got the plans finished to submit to the City of Fremont.  I think we have everything in order so it shouldn't take too long to approve.  Then construction begins!!!!!

For now we are out shopping, shopping and more shopping for stuff.  We have the Humidors ordered and thats good.  They are custom made and have about a 2 month lead time.  But, we don't have anything else.  On Thursday several of us went down to the Macy's outlet in Union City.  They have a warehouse full of furniture at excellent prices.  Most of the furniture is in great shape and brand new.  We started by looking at nice leather chairs to enjoy a smoke in.

We were sure before we got to the store that we should have all chairs an no couches or love seats.  However, I think we might have had a possible change of heart with some of the selections.  

A love seat isn't so bad as long as you can get enough spacing.  I really like the look of the love seat to the left.  It is very comfortable to sit and and really has a nice touch of class.  There is also a little debate about going with Stadium seating in front of the TV for the sports events.  Not a bad idea and the chairs are very nice to sit in.  Plus you have built in cup holders and they recline!

  

We also built into the plans to have a bar in the lounge.  Right now we will not be able to sell any beverages.  But before we started we did have some discussions with the City and a Beer and Wine license is possible.  As soon as we open we will apply for the Beer and Wine license.  But we still need a bar before we open and the Macy's outlet had a fricken bar!!!  It has a marble countertop and brass footrail and everybody agrees this is awesome.   We need to do a little thinking on how to make this work with the current plans but the awesomeness should come through

If you want to make the lounge comfortable and a place people enjoy smoking cigars you have to keep it clean and neat at all times.  Sitting down to an overflowing ashtray with ashes all over the place sucks.  So, we are going to go with the best ashtrays for smoking cigars any of us have found.  They are called the Big Stinky from Stinky Cigars and I highly recommend them if you enjoy a cigar every now and then, especially with friends.  They have nice wide bowls with well spaced places to put your cigars on.  You don't have to worry about ashes spilling out of this bad boy.

Next week we are meeting with a company to design the signs.  Since the front of the building is facing Mowry avenue a very busy street in Fremont we need nice clean, bold signs.  Something you will glance up and notice as you drive by at 40MPH and say "Hey there is Ohlone Cigar Lounge, I'll need to go and check it out sometime".

Two things are left before we can submit the plans to the City of Fremont for the permits needed for Construction.  One is lighting and that one seems to be under control.  Jeff Beck designed the entire store lighting and has done a fantastic job.  The other was the HVAC and air cleaning system.  After an overpriced, unresponsive contractor we called a Alton Air a local company that has done cigar lounges in the past.  They seem to have their act together and we should be over this hump as well.

There hasn't been much change inside the place since the last update. The contractor has gone in and cleaned it up a bit and we have some fresh pictures.  This is what the store looks like now.  A completely empty shell. This is taken from the front corner.

The first thing you realize is that this is a pretty large.  whole rear rear half is going to be a lounge with leather chairs and big screen TV's to enjoy a smoke and sports at the same time.

Here is the design of the entire space.  There will be a dividing wall separating the retail space from the lounge.  We are building a little bar in the space and really want to at the very least sell beer, wine and soft drinks.  Before we go of a liquor license we have to open.  And it is likely going to take a conditional use permit from Fremont but we feel pretty good that this will be allowed.  There are quite a few other cigar lounges in California with alcohol sales.  You won't be able to come in off the street and get a drink.  There are bars to do that.  But you should be able to get a drink if you are smoking a cigar in the lounge.

Jeff Beck also did most of the store layout design.  Here is what the store is going to look like.  He used Google Sketchup which is an amazing program that is pretty easy to use and FREE.  The picture I took at the top of the article is from the top left corner of the drawing.

We are now building a mailing list.  Click here if you want to going the mailing list or get any other information it will open an e-mail and just let us know you want to get regular updates.

We really wanted to get open by the SuperBowl weekend.  There is very little chance that can happen.  The construction hasn't started and that is going to be a couple of weeks + floors + air cleaner + painting + + +.  Just too much stuff to get done and too little time to do it.  Right now the over/under is February 15th but I'll be happy to make March Madness Basketball (GO TERPS)

Here is a picture from the bottom right corner in the lounge area looking back across the whole lounge and store.  I'm really excited and can

The Checks are in the bank
The Lease has been Signed.
Humidors have been ordered

We can now unveil the location.
3370 Mowry Avenue, Fremont CA 

It is on Mowry Avenue between Fremont Blvd and Paseo Padre Parkway.  Great central location in Fremont!

Now the fun begins.  Before we submit to the city the final plans of the lounge we need the air handling system designed.  We have a contractor we are going with and hopefully this will be pretty quick.  We need to move and scrub a lot of air because one of the fastest ways to make a Cigar lounge uncomfortable is to have it smoky inside and your eyes burn.  And one of the fastest ways to piss off a neighbor is to have cigar smoke leaking into their space.  I think we have done a great job of planning so these things never happen.

We are also working on the look of the place.  It is going to be open ceilings and stained concrete floor.  I was a little worried that the stained concrete wouldn't look good but after a couple of samples I thought it looks great.  We will have some rugs in the lounge but the rest of the store will be stained concrete.  here is a sample.  We haven't finalized on color yet but it will be a rich, deep color not too different from what is pictured.  The process is to come in and grind and polish smooth the concrete.  Then to put some real nasty stuff on to prep and then put the dye on.  Wait a week for everything to settle and voila, a nice polished concrete floor.

There are a ton of things to do and we really wanted to open by the 1st of February.  This would have us open for SuperBowl weekend!  But, right now the over/under is set at February 15th and even that is dicey.  With the lead time on Humidors and other furniture we are really pushing the envelope.

I'm going to try and post regular pictures of the progress.  just so you get a feel of how things are progressing.  The picture above from Google Maps is really the back of the lounge.  You will enter from the parking lot on the other side.  You will walk in and there will be a bunch of very well stocked humidors with top of the line Cigars, Pipes and smoking accessoriness.  As you pass through the retail you will walk into the lounge with comfortable leather chairs, tables, a small bar and a bunch of Big Screen TVs to watch sports and other events.  It's not much to look at right now but I promise you this is going to be an Awesome lounge.  A man-cave away from home.

Keep checking back each week.  I'll try and at the very least get a picture updated and loaded.  If you have any questions please ask.  You can reach me directly or you can always ask the store directly info@ohlonecigarlounge.com

Last week we all went to Big Smoke in Vegas.  We wanted to make this the kick off party for the OCL (Ohlone Cigar Lounge).  We ordered shirts for the OCL and showed up in force.  Great time except if you ever see one of these shirts roll up to a Craps table run away as fast as you can!!!  We're back this week and it is a bit of a sobering experience of how much we have to do to get the store open. We spent a lot of time this week working with the architect on the exact layout of the lounge.  Did you realize how much you have to think about lighting a cigar lounge.  What the floor will look like (currently polished and stained concrete with nice carpets is in the lead), do we have a hard roof or hanging roof over the store room, etc.  We need to find a cash wrap or the place the register and point of sale system goes.  Hell, we need to go find a Point of Sale system.   There is a lot left to do before we open.  Our current target opening date is February 4th Super Bowl Weekend!

But it is all coming together now.  We have a twitter account.  If you want to follow us it is @ohlonecigars  We also have a Facebook page on OhloneCigars.  

Next post will hopefully have the exact address and some early before pictures. 

At Big Smoke Rocky Patel handed out a CD with the Cigar you got.  Meh, I didn't think anything about it.  Some of us watched it yesterday and wow, what a great video.  You can find it and more on RockyTV. This is an excellent video if you want some great information on the cigar making process.  In fact, I'm smoking a Rocky 15th Anniversery Box Pressed today because I watched the video yesterday.

More to come, keep watching and reading.

-JR

A group of guys that worked together realized that Fremont, CA needed a nice cigar lounge. There was one attached to a Head Shop in Fremont, clearly their primary business was the glass pipe side not the cigars. One day one of these guys said that he should open a nice Cigar Lounge in Fremont. There was this huge gap between Pleasanton and San Jose. Fremont is large enough to support one so one should be opened. It was a business opportunity.

One day one of this group of 6 said "If I find a chance I'm going to invest in a cigar store and Lounge in Fremont" What was a semi-random statement coming from somebody enjoying a HERF has turned into the Ohlone Cigar Lounge (OCL). We have just signed a lease so we haven't' even started putting up walls yet. We are targeting opening in February.

Keep watching the site for updates. This Blog will updated at least once a week. At first it will just be progress on the build out and where we stand. Then with what is going on the Store and Lounge. We will have regular tastings and special. You should track out twitter account. @ohlonecigars and website http://ohlonecigars.com/