TAMPA, Fla. — Eric Newman wants his Ybor City-based company to become a major tourist attraction.
“Like the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky.” says Newman.
He is the president of the 125-year-old J.C. Newman Cigar Company.
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There used to be 150 cigar factories in Tampa, which is the reason it got the “Cigar City” nickname.
J.C. Newman is the last one alive. The factory hand-rolls and machine-makes about 12 million cigars a year.
The factory is getting a major makeover, complete with a new museum and a company store.
Once it opens in May, visitors can enjoy different tours – including a free one – and see the same machines cigarmakers used for over a century.
For more on the J.C. Newman Cigar Company, visit www.jcnewman.com.
