NJOY Expands Retail Presence Overseas
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- NJOY formed several partnerships to bring its electronic cigarettes to more retail outlets in the United Kingdom.
According to a report by the Retail Times, the new pacts with a range of retailers and wholesalers will place the NJOY Kings brand in more than 15,000 outlets in the United Kingdom beginning this month. The outlets range from high-end department stores to convenience stores.
NJOY already has a distribution network -- including Sainsbury's stores -- across the pond. According to the report, NJOY Kings e-cigarettes will now be available at the following retail chains:
- Tesco Express and petrol stations
- McColls Retail Group
- Londis
- Budgens
- Booker Wholesale
- Premier
- Bestway Cash and Carry
- Esso
- Harrods
- Selfridges
The partnership with Tesco will expand during 2014 to include more Tesco main stores, in addition to the company's Express stores and petrol stations.
NJOY electronic cigarettes are sold in approximately 85,000 retail locations in the United States. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company moved into the United Kingdom and Europe in mid-2013 and plans to continue the expansion throughout 2014.
"With NJOY, and e-cigarettes as a category, we see a huge opportunity -- the opportunity to make cigarettes obsolete," said Bo Ekberg, senior vice president international at NJOY. "To achieve this goal, e-cigarettes must be made as conveniently available as their tobacco counterparts. Whether it's in a community store with the morning paper, a petrol station, or a high-end store like Harrods or Selfridges in London, we need to be in every place existing adult smokers would expect to find cigarettes -- providing an alternative to tobacco products."
NJOY's European push comes three months after Greensboro, N.C.-based Lorillard Inc. acquired SKYCIG, a British-based e-cigarette business. The tobacco company plans to grow awareness of its SKYCIG brand and blu e-cigarette brand across Europe, as CSNews Online previously reported.