Smoker Friendly Acquires Florida's Tobacco Depot Chain

BOULDER, Colo. — The Cigarette Store Corp. (TCSC) dba Smoker Friendly has completed its acquisition of Tobacco Depot and its 13 stores located in and around Tampa, Fla. The family-owned Tobacco Depot was previously owned and operated by Fred Hoyland for more than 20 years.

Following the acquisition, Smoker Friendly will continue to operate the stores under the Tobacco Depot flag, but will begin co-branding them "Smoker Friendly" in the near future. The new owner will also introduce the Smoker Friendly brand family of products at the acquired stores.

"These stores are an excellent 'bolt-on' to our existing company stores in the mountain states and provide a complimentary product mix to the categories we currently sell in our stores," said TCSC/Smoker Friendly President Terry Gallagher Jr. "We are very excited about bringing the great premium cigar business that is established in these stores into our portfolio."

Smoker Friendly said it will operate Tobacco Depot with the same dedication to customer service and product selection as previously provided, maintaining the team of Tobacco Depot employees. It hopes to use the acquisition to expand its footprint into the Florida retail tobacco market.

"Fred Hoyland and his team did a great job building the company and operating tobacco stores in this market, and we are proud Fred looked to Smoker Friendly as an acquirer when he was ready to exit the business," Gallagher added.

Boulder-based TCSC/Smoker Friendly is the largest licensee of Smoker Friendly International and operates 103 retail outlets with a mix of tobacco stores, cigar lounges, liquor stores, and convenience stores and gas stations under the name Gasamat in six states.