Jackson Jambalaya

That is too funny. I noticed that the other day too. Also noticed a guy that was walking into the shop, but clearly no business appears to be operating there.

Hmmmm.

Grapevine says that they were audited by State Tax Commission and since they had not been paying their fair share the owe big dollars and have filed bankruptcy and hope to reopen under a new business name a few blocks from where they were.

Heard that last night. No BK filing though, at least under the business name a few minutes ago when I checked. Also noticed no papers filed with the Secretary of State either.

Corporate name is Wholly Smokes, Inc., filed Chapter 7 04/02/10.

Well, lookey here. Stuart Irby is one of the owners!

https://business.sos.state.ms.us/corp/soskb/Names.asp?PItemID=253389

I hear a Cigarillo shop is opening in the Regions building downtown. I have no idea if they are related?

Habana has been sh*t since Bret left and that got that Jimmy guy to run the place.Something sounds ratty cause their prices were 2x too high!

Took a friend thre the first time, they treated us like they did not care if we bought merchandise or not. Gave them another chance, same attitude. Never went back, spent my money elsewhere. Had the smell (not of tobacco)of a front-operation, gave me the creeps.

Few times I went in there, I liked it.

This is sad. I've seen too many businesses fail over the past year in and around that area. I wish them best if they try to reopen. I went in a few times and they were reasonably priced and very polite.

wonder if the massive tobacco tax hike had any impact in their business.

Went there a few times and always found the service friendly and the selection fine.

Only thing i Know was Larry's commercials on wjnt, sounded like a nice place, sorry to see any business FAIL

Stuart was at Que Sera today at lunchtime. Looked pretty peppy and engaged in conversation to me. Almost well enough to be deposed.

Real easy answer for 'ya...Gary Hilton. He took over about a year ago. That dude is the kiss of death to any business he touches. Hilton Walker Renfro...gone! Mindbender...gone! Extreme Woods and Water...gone! Deja Vu...gone! Mean Mallard...gone! Avalon Cigars...gone!

And what successful venture do YOU enjoy, Mr. Critical?

Several months ago a former Havana employee told my husband that Havana would be closing because an investor was pulling his money. The investor? Stuart Irby.

Actually, that's Ms. Critical. I pay my bills, I keep my job and I don't scr*w other people. That is my successful venture, ME and MYSELF. When Gary wrecked Two O'Clock Bayou (after it had been successful as Deja Vu for fifteen years) alot of people lost their jobs while he and all his friends ate adn drank for free and god got paid to run it in the ground. If Irby pulled his money out, it was probably thinking he didn't want to be in bed with Gary.

I thought 2 O'Clock shut down because of the problems with the neighbors and Ridgeland.

I thought Razor was a joke.

Not even close. Two O'Clock shut down because it went broke and the place started going broke when the owner hired Gary as a "Consultant." He changed the name, started dating the staff and ate and drnak their nearly every day and nights with tons of his friends and played manager. The owner tried to sell it to the neighbor after it closed but i don't know what happened with that.

Scorned lover I presume?

Never a lover, just an angry ex-employee of another business he ruined. I'm just one person standing in a long line, maybe as long as the line of angry lovers.

Hahaha... yeah that line is long... I'm right on with Anon. She tells it EXACTLY like it is. Kiss of death is correct. Look up the definition of sociopath. I rest my case.

Another definition you could look up for that guy would be 'parasite'. But you already know what that one means.

Don't fool yourself, oh defender of Hilton. The guy is a lamprey on two feet. I am one of many, many people who can tell you that from experience. A superficially charming but thoroughly amoral huckster.

To whoever posted this above... RIGHT ON! Hahahaha. Well stated.

Gary Hilton is the "Kiss of death" for anything he gets involved in. I can't believe there's anyone left for him to con into supporting him!

"Lamprey on two feet" LOL! I spit Dr. Pepper out of my nose when I read that. Too bad about Havana Smokes. That place was cool back when Brett was there.

Ms. Critical, you forgot The Point (aka Razor), gone! Planet Weekly, gone! Shimmel's, almost gone!

Re: Gary Hilton
Actually, having met the guy twice, I didn't even find him "superficially charming".I found him a rednecked huckster with a line of bullshit a mile wide that I would think most people can see through.He reeked of Rankin Co trailer park to me. I personally thought the first time I met him that he was manic or coked up.He could not keep nexus from one sentence to the next.
He's a squirrel and if anyone allowed that idiot to run or manage or direct them how to do same, they deserve what they get/ got.The prices at Habana were far too high.The idiots charged $80.00 for the EXACT SAME bundle of " Private Selection" cigars that Larry Lynn charges $18.00 for. Yea. 80.00 vs 18.00 + 4.00 shipping. That's just one example. A literal example.Nobody would or could stay in the cigar business charging what they attempted to charge. The place went down since they left Lakeland and Bret left. The new manager, "Jimmy Green Teeth", was not good for business. Forget Habana. Plenty of places to order offline and I shall.

While I do miss Planet Weekly terribly, I can say defintively that Gary Hilton was never within miles of the place. I did see him in action at the Point and was not impressed.

Gary was running Planet Weekly with the backing of Mike McRee. He changed it to Planet Magazine and got his buddys to write all the articles and he just used it as an excuse to have photo shoots with local girls. I think it lasted about six months after he took over. McRee pulled the plug and another Jackson business bit the dust. More peole lost jobs. So sad.

I like the Humidor in Brandon...

Someone told me about this blog today. I would be lying if I acted like it didn't interest me since a great deal of it involved me. I always think it curious when someone speaks so abrasively about someone specific but doesn't have the character to divulge who they are.

It makes one think, “who could I have irritated so badly?” If anyone bothered to read the extent of the previous posts I will admit some of it is true. I am from Rankin County and may be considered by some to be a redneck. I will further admit the part about the scorned lovers made me sound a little cooler than I deserve.

My guess is that Tom Ramsey is responsible for the mean-spirited “anonymous” posts judging by the limited vocabulary used. He’s also the only person I know that is interested enough in me to even remember the insignificant details of my life. If you don’t know Tom, he is a self-proclaimed investment banker turned lobbyist, turned chef here in the Jackson area.

Back to the topic Farewell to Habana. You will be missed. It is true Habana Smoke Shoppe is closed due to bankruptcy. It is also true that the bankruptcy was precipitated to a large degree because of a huge amount of State Excise Taxes had gone unpaid by the General Manager who also happened to be the only other shareholder other than Stuart Irby. Those of you who are interested can check the Secretary of States website under Wholly Smokes.

Sorry to disappoint you “Anonymous” but you gotta chalk this “kiss of death” up to someone else.

By the way, if you want to discuss your anger issues with me give me a call and we can meet over coffee and discuss it. Maybe at Dunkin’ Donuts it Pearl.

http://jackson.craigslist.org/for/1724612098.html

OMG! How many business have failed under Gary Hilton?

Deborah Williams

Hey Anon...what was the posting on craigslist? :)

Smiling (inside) ;-)))

This whole thread is beyond awesome. Makes me smile on the inside and on the outside. BTW... all Tom... sure.

Just got a Facebook PM directing me to this thread. Sorry...wasn't me. I always sign my posts, even when speaking in the pejorative.

Tom Ramsey
tom@tomramsey.com

Is "Avalon Cigars" really bust??

Did "Avalon Cigars" really go bust?

I think they are still in business. I would have heard if they went under.

Tom Ramsey
www.tomramsey.com

Skisgirl,

it was a listing for the bankruptcy auction of the businesses goods.

- http://www.taylorauction.com/index.php?subp=1&sct=88&pg=ap&pid=16454

Far be it for me to DEFEND anyone because allegedly I am a heartless and cruel individual, but I have known Hilton since I was fourteen or fifteen years old, for over thirty years. I count him as one of my closest friends in the world.

Redneck? Hardly, Hilton was the very FIRST metrosexual. I should know because I am a redneck and I wear that moniker proudly. Gary is not one of us.

While I do not profess to know about all of Gary's business dealings in Jacktroit, I do know that I wrote for the Planet and did enjoyed it immensely. Why it failed is of no concern to me.

I was at Two O'Clock Bayou numerous, numerous times with groups that included Gary and NEVER did I drink or eat for free. But, there is certainly such thing as trade-offs and bartering in business.

Avalon Cigars is not out of business.

It seems to me that if Gary Hilton was a business cancer, then people would stop doing business with him. Oddly, that is NOT the case and I do not know many business owners that would trade with someone that failed at everything they touched.

My two cents.

Hopefully, folks that do not know all of the facts concerning certain situations will not continue to throw accusations about stuff when they really have no clue what happened.

Dang, Kingish, the Razor had a promo showing Tara playing with a garden hose. How in the world could that be a joke?

Quoting Paul Mitchell: "While I do not profess to know about all of Gary's business dealings in Jacktroit, I do know that I wrote for the Planet and did enjoyed it immensely."

Perhaps Planet Weekly failed because its writers (hired by Gary Hilton) lacked knowledge of basic English grammar.

My two cents.

We had an editor. I do not have one when commenting on a blog.

I do not profess to be perfect.

You just "think" you know a person my son. But alas... you do not.

Note: Stuart Irby signed the petition on 04/01/10. Yet, couldn't testify in the civil matter.

Signing a document proves what?

The only thing "people still doing business with him" proves, is there are a never ending supply of suckers in the Metro area and Delta. (Look, Ma, no editor!) No, this isn't the other Anonymous, just another person (of many, trust me) who KNOWS this guy is a business cancer. Holding this knowledge, I prefer not associating my good name with his; even on a local blog. I've wasted enough of my time on this subject. Adios.

Wow, I added three whole letters in my first comment that had 254 words. I suck and need to be chastised completely.

Just ask anyone who worked for him at Mindbender. He wasn't satisfied to just scr*w the employees and the vendors out of their money and paychecks, he also scr*wed employees wives and girlfriends. He got sued for this and LOST! It's probably in a court record somewhere.

Amen to that. Next failure on the agenda... Avalon Cigars! As history has taught us, only a matter of time.

No Paul. I only feel empathy for you. Especially when you financially fall into his next "million dollar idea". You've got "next victim" written all over you.

12:54 - you might be right about Avalon. They havent updated there website since last year. I checkd out there blog and it was last updated in July of 09.

Hey Guys they are open now. Was just by there yesterday and there's this pretty cool woman working there.

There's a new smoke shop in town! Renegade Cigars in Maywood Mart. The managers from Habana have a new cool shop of there own!

So where is the over/under on when this one will go chapter 7? Do I hear 9 months?

Speaking of new businesses in Jackson, the old K-Mart building on I-55's frontage road is now a mammoth Comcast complex. I don't know if that means they are hiring or just consolidating existing employees.

"Renegade" Cigars... sigghhhh. Same old... same old... and I do mean old.

I hear Mike McRee is still screwing people. Only paying employees enough to barely survive. What else has Mike McRee done in the Jackson area? He is a silent assassin in the ring of money hungry mongols.

http://www.cigarmedia.tv/the-arzt-of-cigars/2010/8/30/1-september-column.html

"I missed seeing Avalon’s Gary Hilton at IPCPR. That was because I wasn’t on the floor when he entered wearing a name tag, in the name of Bill Smiith of Renegade Cigar Shop (a Retailer). He was quickly seized by security people and shown the door and threatened with arrest if he attempted to return.

Apparently he neglected to settle with the IPCPR for his huge number of booths last year!"

And once again another Gary Hilton business has gone belly up.

Go West old man... greener pastures and fresh prey abound. The hunting will be good.