Nat Sherman Temporarily Shuts Townhouse and Website, Stresses No Changes To Cigars After Acquisition
A day after being acquired by Altria—the $25 billion company behind Marlboro—Nat Sherman closed its Townhouse in Manhattan as well as its website in a move the company said would be temporary.
"The Townhouse will be closed briefly," the company wrote in a letter, "but will reopen very soon, with the same great team in place." An "under construction" sign appears on the company website.
In the letter, Nat Sherman wrote of "some minor interruptions to our business in the next few days as we work out some logistics related to the transition."
Nat Sherman makes cigars as well as high-end cigarettes. The company stressed in the letter that "there are no major changes to our Nat Sherman cigar and pipe tobaccos business. Our entire portfolio of cigars and pipe tobaccos remain unchanged, still produced by the talents of our existing manufacturing partners. Our incredible team of dedicated sales representatives also remains unchanged."
Changes are, however, coming to its cigarette brands. The company wrote that it would modify its cigarette packaging and advertising, and those changes will result in what's expected to be a temporary shortage of the product. "They will not be in stock in the immediate short term," the letter read.
Yesterday's deal, which was for undisclosed , made Nat Sherman a wholly owned subsidiary of Altria Group Inc. The company said it would operate separately from Altria's most famous unit, Philip Morris, the maker of Marlboro and many other cigarettes. "Under this new ownership structure, Nat Sherman will remain separate from Altria's other operating companies, including Philip Morris USA," Nat Sherman wrote in the letter.
