Letter from Fred Stoker

ibild

Guess I have been out of the loop for a bit.. Have been working to get caught back up on all that i got behind on while unemployed...

So I just got a letter from Fred Stoker and sons; in which they tell me as of June 29 2010 they will no longer be able provide products to their valued customers....

Something because of PACT ACT??? So what happened and why cant they stay in business???


"If the representatives of the people betray their constituents,
there is then no recourse left but in the exertion of that original
right of self-defense...." Alexander Hamilton

"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty". Thomas Jefferson

matsnuffs

This Link Explains it, old thread from a week ago.

Pact act doesn't help matters either, I'm sure.

miamimark

I'm probably just getting old but I can never read most of the colored text. Anyone else?

Bart

Evidently, the family sold the business before Fred died. It is sad news..there's a thread on it here somewheres , probably a couple pages back, Ibild.

Bart

I keep a pair of 3-d glasses by the computer for just these occassion, Mark

..and my Decoder Ring

miamimark

Lol. I have to squint and move my face closer to the screen... can't be bothered.

k5btp

@miamimark Try highlighting the text as if you were going to copy & paste it. brightens it up nicely in my browser.

miamimark

Thanks for the tip K5btp. I guess I just don't see the point of the colored text and wondered if anyone else felt the same way.

Juxtaposer

@miamimark same here, I hope it wasn't important. Someone let me know if I missed anything.

Unknown

Aaack! No offense ibild, but I'm with the majority here: that makes my eyes hurt! That's a feature that should be disabled.

ibild

I was going for the Red White and Blue look since a Great American Tobacco Company has passed... However i didnt think people would be able to read the white; but the letters are white!!! you all must have fancy monitors cause I can see to read it with my poor man puter!!!

tom502

They has Stokers chew and dip at a local tobacco shop I went to last weekend.

LincolnSnuff

The problem with the colored text is really not the color itself, but rather the dark background color of this forum. It makes for poor contrast and difficulty reading.

PieterClaassen

I use a laptop and by pushing the screen way back (open), I can easily read the colours .

Unknown

Highlight the text and it shows up white.
Dave

Bart

Just a note to all the folks who have ordered from Stokers direct.

I called them today. They aren't taking new customers and the nice lady told me that even though the date of closing up is in June, the snuff will no longer be available as of May 23.
It was a very sad telephone call. I asked what she would be doing after they closed up.
She said she'd be 'pounding the pavement'. I could tell she was crying.
She couldn't believe it's been 70 years and now all the sudden it's over.

Very sad call indeed, even though businesses close every day, these people didn't do anything other than sell the wrong product ,I suppose.

Well, can only hope something good comes out of it.

Bart

cstokes4

Well, consolidation has been planned for years, seems that PACT was just the right time to implement it.

Roderick

If they won't sell the business I wonder if they might consider selling the snuff recipes? Would be a shame to let it die completely. Repeated from other post.

sandy130674

This is very sad - I've really enjoyed their chewing tobacco. Is it just the shop that is closing? Is the chewing tobacco going to be available still from places like Northerner? Excuse my ignorance - is the shop and production run by the same people?

cstokes4

From everything I have read, they are moving their production facility to Louisville, KY. That is where the purchasing company is located. This has been planned since 2004-2005.

cstokes4

@Roderick:

Give them a ring. I'm sure you could work something out with the parent company.

tom502

I wonder where? I might want to apply for a job there.

cstokes4

Here's a full profile:

North Atlantic Trading Company is on the straight and narrow but it prefers its business path to incorporate plenty of Zig-Zags. Its North Atlantic Operating Company (NAOC), best known for its Zig-Zag brand of rolling papers, is a top importer and distributor of cigarette rolling papers in the US. NAOC also sells several styles of tobaccos, rolling machines, and accoutrements. North Atlantic Trading's National Tobacco subsidiary is a leading maker of chewing tobacco in the US on the strength of its best-selling Beech-Nut chaw, as well as Havana Blossom, Trophy, Stoker, and others. Chairman Thomas F. Helms Jr. owns about 49% of North Atlantic Trading.

Bart

@Tom502
Ibold's in Frankfurt I believe. Maybe somewhere close.Damn, that would be neat to work at Stokers.
I'd consider moving south for that.
Maybe a traveling/snuffing salesman...pushing Stokers on folks

matsnuffs

This is sad...I wanted to get a tub of their plain, even though I've never tried it...can't now as I'd be a new customer!
Roderick, buy their recipe! Otherwise, it will be lost...and I won't be able to try it!

tom502

Bart- so it's in Frankfort? Someone said Louisville? Pinkerton's, I think, is a few blocks from me.

Bart

The National Cigar Co that makes Ibold is in Frankfort, relocated from Cincinnati.
I want to say Pickerton makes RedMan Dip and some pipe tobacco, but I don't have any in front of me to be sure.
BTW, is the capital of Kentucky pronounced LOUISville or lou -ville?

PieterClaassen

Bart, is that where Ford Louisville trucks come from?

tom502

Lou - EEE - ville

And Frankfort is the capital.

PieterClaassen

Loo Evil

OTD

I'd always heard it pronounced Luhville

Of course this is by a fella with a huge Southern drawl that affects everything he says in a similar manner (-;