TAMPA, Fla. — Thompson Cigar Company is the oldest mail order cigar company in the country and is a big part of why Tampa has the nickname "Cigar City."
The cigar company announced it is closing its doors locally and will take 112 jobs and more than a hundred years of history with it.
“We are a family, so we’re going to miss each other a lot,” said Monica Encarnacion, who’s been working at Thompson Cigars for about 20 years.
Encarnacion and other employees said it is a sad chapter for Thompson Cigars.
Thompson Cigars was purchased last year by Scandinavian Tobacco Group for $62 million dollars.
Workers were told the company was consolidating and closing the Tampa location. Scandinavian Tobacco Group still plans to do operate out of another location in Pennsylvania.
“We don’t talk much about it because we already know,” Encarnacion said. “But still we know it’s sad.”
Thompson was founded in 1915 and is considered a big part of Tampa’s 'Cigar City' culture.
“It really seems like an important part of the culture of this area that sadly seems like it’s being lost then,” said Ybor City visitor Jim Walsh.
The majority of layoffs at Thompson will take place at the end of June. A much smaller staff will stay in place to wrap things up through the end of the year.
When that time comes, one of Tampa’s oldest cigar companies will be gone.
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