Fine Tastes opens downtown

Jim and Dana Kessack's new store, Fine Tastes, opened for business Oct. 8 at 320 E. Wal-nut.

The store specializes in im-ported cigarettes, domestic cigarettes, cigars, filter paper, loose tobacco and other tobacco-related supplies.

The shop now has 35 varieties of imported cigarettes, and will eventually have about 50. In the cigar line, Jim Kessack said the shop has cigars for "less than a dollar to on up into the $20 range, so we've got the full gamut covered."

Fine Tastes also offers cigar cutters, from the more affordable everyday models to the higher-end antique variety. The downtown shop offers other antiques, such as watches and lighters, as well as new Zippo lighters, of which Jim Kessack is a collector.

He said the shop can engrave the lighters or put company logos on them for businesses. Cigar labels and cigar cutters also can be personalized with names and logos, as can be flasks and knives and other items, which also will eventually be found at Fine Tastes.

The Kessacks are happy to sell the domestic brands, including Marlboro, at an affordable price, but "at the same time, we're giving them a sample or two of some imports that we're trying to sell, and trying to switch them from their brands to something a little more exotic, or even something that's a little less expensive," Jim Kessack said.

Tried and true

In the Kessack family, Dana Kessack is the tobacco user, and she's tried most of the tobacco products the store carries.

"We have a Garni cigarette from Ar-menia. It tastes like a Marlboro, but it doesn't have any of the chemicals in it, and when you put it out and re-light it, it tastes like a fresh cigarette because it doesn't have all the nasty chemicals that domestics do. And they're cheap," she said, selling for $2.25 a pack.

One reason the Kessacks decided to open their shop downtown is that it's hard to find tobacco products except in bars, and often those can be pricey.

"It's great that the cigar bars are around ... but we kind of go along the lines of thinking, if you're going to have a drink, go to the bar, if you're going to have a cigar, go to see your tobacconist,'" Jim Kessack said.

Revitalization

The Kessacks are excited about the ongoing revitalization downtown. They want to cater to downtown workers and the growing number of downtown patrons, but customers don't have to be tobacco users.

In addition to the engraveable items and tobacco products that can be purchased for gift-giving, the shop also carries sodas, teas, mints and chewing gum.

Fine Tastes' product lines, tobacco and otherwise, will shift to meet customer demands.

"It's Springfield's store, and we just want to learn what we can do to service (people) better, and their needs. And as we grow, we'll kind of adapt to the clientele," he said.

For the tobacco users, Dana Kessack added, "We're trying to be everyone's store, so if they have suggestions, or even a brand that we don't carry, if they'll let us know, we'll do our best to get it for them."

Fine Tastes' hours are 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, and 9 a.m. to at least 10 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. Hours will fluctuate to accommodate special events such as pub crawls. The store is closed on Sunday.