TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — For more than a century, Ybor has been known as Cigar City. It’s a title earned through generations of hand-rolled craftsmanship that has helped build this region’s economy, but small cigar businesses said today’s economic pressures are threatening that legacy.

Tabanero Cigars has been rolling in Tampa for 15 years, but its owner says that legacy doesn’t matter when the margins vanish.  He’s now moving production abroad just to keep up.

“As a small business, we are a cigar lounge for quite some time, we were just expecting for someone to come save us, the economy to save us and that hasn’t happened,” owner Yanko Maceda said.

Maceda said rising tariffs and inflation are threatening the core of his business. More than a decade of branding and loyal customers haven’t been enough to shield his shop from economic strain. He’s seen slowdowns before but says this one cut deeper.

“So, we tried to figure out how we can expose more of this to people, because that idea of waiting on the economy to turn around, I think that doesn’t work on a new age,” Yanko said.
Rather than wait for relief, Maceda said he moved part of his production to Nicaragua cutting costs where he could keep prices reasonable and doors open.

“We feel that we are starting all over again, all over again, with the difference that we have brand ourselves for the last 15 years, but when you look at the numbers, it’s like starting all over again,” said Maceda.

Maceda said they are doing what they can to stay in business. he said the current economy leaves no room for error.