Made for a Man: Just For Him

“We ran across a store called ‘The Chauvinist’ in Estes Park, Colo.,” recalls Bob Gravett. “All they had was things for guys, and I said, ‘That would probably be a neat store for Springfield.’”

The couple set to work and in 1989 opened Just For Him, their own men’s gift and tobacco store, at 1334 E. Battlefield Road in the Fremont Shopping Center.

“It took us a couple of years to get our feet on the ground,” Gravett says. “But it worked.”

Just For Him’s inventory is “about half tobacco, half gifts,” says Judy Gravett. The tobacco side features more than 50,000 cigars, some 500 pipes, more than 100 blended pipe tobaccos and smoking accessories. The gift side includes globes, shaving gear, money clips, novelties and such games as poker, roulette and chess.

“We also have all kinds of hats,” adds Gravett. “Fedoras, homburgs, derbies, Indiana Jones hats and captain’s hats – and all kinds of model ships, like Bubba’s shrimp boat from ‘Forrest Gump.’”

Bob Gravett adds that among the shaving items are straight razors, strops, sharpening stones, brushes and mugs. “Those things sound old-fashioned, but some people still use them,” he says.

True tobacconists

As tobacconists, Just For Him caters especially to connoisseurs of cigars, and its Web site, www.justforhim.com, lists 97 premium brands, detailed descriptions, prices and cigar-term glossaries, all of which foster Internet and mail-order sales.

“We try to provide a cigar that would satisfy everyone’s palate and price range,” says cigar manager Christian Hutson. “At the higher end, we carry a majority of Cigar Aficionado magazine’s Top 25 cigars. We’re also the only appointed merchant in the region for Davidoff of Geneva … the Rolls Royce of the cigar world.”

Just For Him carries about a half-dozen Davidoff series, including the $20 to $30 Anniversario cigar, and the popular No. 2, which sells for more than $300 for a box of 25. On March 2, the store received shipment of a super-rare collection of 50 Davidoff Double R cigars that retails for $1,137.50.

“These are exquisite cigars,” Hutson adds of the Davidoff lines. “Some tend to be light and floral; others medium – or full-bodied.

“We also carry the highly sought-after and very rare Fuente Fuente Opus X, one of the few Dominican puros. ‘Puro’ means all of the tobaccos in the cigar come from the same country.”

Hutson and Gravett both know the famed Dominican Republic cigar world firsthand, Hutson from training at Davidoff and Gravett from the Tobacco Association of America’s Cigar University program, which provides tours of the Fuente, Davidoff and Partagas factories.

Customer Parkie Gleason also finds a good selection of less expensive brands.

“There’s a very large medium range, cigars like Punch,” says Gleason, a cigar smoker of nearly 40 years. “I’d say they’re very thoroughly stocked. And they’re very well-versed in paraphernalia.”

To preserve quality, Just For Him keeps all cigars in its humidor room at 70 percent humidity.

“We also have a smoking room,” says Hutson. “It’s more or less for gentlemen – and even some ladies – to come together and have a break during the day. We also do complimentary cigar tastings throughout the spring, starting in April. Basically, it’s when we’re promoting a new cigar line. We usually have hors d’oeuvres and drinks.”

Pipe up

The store’s pipe inventory is diverse.

“We have pipes from $3.95 for a Missouri corncob pipe to a Dunhill pipe called The Mammoth for $1,600,” says Gravett. “We also have pipe lighters, tampers and pouches. Tampers go from 50 cents up to $300. If you can think of something for a pipe smoker, we have it or can probably get it. We also have cigar cutters, humidors, pocket cases and ash trays, and gold lighters and regular old $9.95 lighters for the guy out on the construction job. It’s all how much people want to spend.”

Cigarettes are only a small part of the store’s business.

“We just carry a few luxury cigarettes that are free of additives and chemicals,” Hutson says.

The anti-smoking movement has affected the store’s tobacco business to a degree, Gravett says. “Every time they do something, it hurts something a little bit,” he says. “The price of cigarettes goes up and we sell a little more of the roll-your-own stuff. There’ll be some changes. I see the gift side increasing a little bit, and the tobacco side maybe cutting back some.”

Growing relationships

Bob Gravett relishes the relationships built inside the store. “Over the years, you acquire regular customers, you get to know the people, and it’s a lot more enjoyable,” says Gravett. “We’ve had a few years of good business. We have a lot of regular customers. We’ve been very lucky.”

The Gravetts are looking forward to 2007, which includes a million-dollar makeover of the shopping center by owner R.B. Murray Co.

“It’ll put a whole new front for the store,” says Gravett. “We want some new items and hopefully have a grand opening when it’s done.”

Judy Gravett, who does “Miss Judy’s Top Gift Picks” for the Just For Him Web site, says that among the new items the store is testing is an “ice cream ball” that holds ice and rock salt in one compartment and ice cream mix in another.

“You pass it around while you’re telling a ghost story on your camping trip and everybody jiggles it and you end up with ice cream,” she says. “It works.”

Just For Him

Founded: 1989

Owners: Bob and Judy Gravett

Address: 1334 E. Battlefield Road, Springfield, MO 65804

Phone: (417) 886-8380 or (800) 626-2971

Fax: (417) 886-2981

Web site: www.justforhim.com

E-mail: unclebob@justforhim.com

Products: Men's gifts and cigars, pipes and tobacco

Employees: 3 full time, 3 part time