In 2010, the late Mr. Elliott Goldstein, alongside his sons Jerry and Randy and to-be co-owner/manager Larry Rhoads, established a cigar shop within Clean Machine Car Wash in Glenside.
The seemingly odd genre-pairing was born out of Elliot’s and Larry’s love of cigars and a dearth of quality shops in the area.
“His favorite cigar spot was closing, and he didn’t want to travel just to buy cigars,” Larry, a Clean Machine employee of four decades, said. “So he pitched it to me, and we said, ‘What the hell, let’s give this a shot.’ It originally had eight standalone cabinets.”
Within two years, word started to spread, and Elliot decided to install a walk-in humidor.
“It was a pretty large investment, and ever since then it’s taken off. We do online sales nationwide in addition to our walk-in clientele,” Larry said.
Originally named ‘The Cigar Shop,’ the store was retitled to ‘El Cigar Shop’ as a play on Elliot’s name after he moved to Florida and before his eventual passing in 2019.
“We try to carry big names and little brands. Our bread-and-butter is the local golfing community,” Jerry said.
“I get to know the customers and offer them special deals and discounts,” Larry said. “We have a fairly substantial inventory with lots of boutique items.”
For Father’s Day weekend, customers can expect a flat 10% discount off of everything in stock. That discount comes in addition to the shop’s usual offer of ‘Buy 6, Get the 7th Free’ among other price-happy deals.
Store guru Larry plans to travel as far as the Dominican Republican and Nicaragua for cigar-centric tutorials within the next year or two.
“It’ll be a bunch of cigar aficionados educating one another. They’ll give tours of facilities, show you how to blend and roll, it’s educational and fun,” he said.
For more on El Cigar Shop, located at 401 W Glenside Avenue in Glenside, you can visit this website. For more on Clean Machine Car Wash & Detail Center, you can visit their Facebook page and website.
Larry, center, in the shop
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