Downtown business known as ‘Cheers West’ to regular customers

Published in the November 27, 2013 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Staff Report

Jeff Burrus in the downtown Wine & Cigar Shop. (Photo by Marty Cheek)

Jeff Burrus in the downtown Wine & Cigar Shop. (Photo by Marty Cheek)

The Morgan Hill Wine & Cigar Shop is affectionately known by many of its regular patrons as “Cheers West.” Customers strolling into the store give a nodding salute to the store’s colorful patron “Punch,” a small clownish statue holding a cigar stiffly by the front door. Walking in, they are warmly greeted by name by members of the staff made up of a team of co-owners.

The store opened in the fall of 2009 after regular customers of the Morgan Hill Tobacco Company, which had held shop for several years on the premises next door to the Granada Theater, decided that the downtown district could simply not do without a fun sociable place for tobacco-lovers to gather, said Jeff Burrus, store manager.

“Forty of us panicked, because we were regular customers and we said, ‘My God, where are we going to hang out?’” he said. “So we got about 20 or 25 of us together one Sunday and started floating ideas like let’s go to someone’s garage and let’s do this and let’s do that.”

Finally Roger Hays, who serves as the shop’s CEO, came up with the idea of incorporating, investing and reopening a new tobacco store business in the same location of the former tobacco shop.

“There were 16 people who ponied up for a five- to seven-year plan to maybe get our money back at that point,” Burrus said. “It was all expendable income. It was a little bit like joining a tennis club or a golf club from the standpoint of the money we put into it. And we kept the social club alive. That’s why rather than necessarily considering ourselves a smoke shop or a wine shop, we consider this simply to be a social experience. People come here for the social camaraderie.”

To keep its license, at least 51 percent of the shop’s sales must be tobacco-related products. But selling local wines from many of the South Valley wineries is an important aspect of its business model, Burrus said.

“Approximately 80 percent of the adult population drinks wine, and 17 percent of the adult population smokes,” he said. “Guess where we’re going to put our money.”

Although it sells high-end fine wines from Napa and Paso Robles, the shop’s heart and soul is to help its customers get acquainted with the vino from the many local wineries in the Morgan Hill region. It serves much as a one-stop-shopping hub for wine lovers who want to discover the best wines in Santa Clara Valley, offering bottles from 23 of the 25 local wineries.

“We recognized there was a void where a lot of vintners in the area couldn’t get their product out on the shelf,” Burrus said. “For example, if you wanted Satori wine, when could you get Satori? You could get it on the third and fourth weekends of the month, or at Rocca’s (Market in San Martin).”

The winter holiday season is a busy time for the store as many locals stop by to purchase party and gift wines from local wineries as well as high-end wines that are not available at supermarkets, he added.

“At Christmas time, we go through a tremendous amount of champagnes and ports,” Burrus said. “We rely heavily on the wineries to make their recommendations. Everything that we stock here is the recommendation of the wineries, not what we chose to put out.”

The shop also holds wine tasting events open to the public on the first Tuesday of every month to educate people about what’s available in the region. Wine lovers interested in attending these tastings should sign up for the monthly email to learn more.

People like to come to the Morgan Hill Wine & Cigar Shop because it’s a warm and inviting place, Burrus said. The shop brands itself as a place, to “sit, relax and stay a while.” Visitors who regularly come to Morgan Hill’s Cheers West discover why it’s a place where everyone knows your name.