Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeffrey Burt-Gracik and Jeremy Gracik.
Jeffrey and Jeremy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Not too many people know about the tobacco pipes these days. Most who do think about them being used by a grandfather or Sherlock Holmes, but not by many people today. Fewer aspire to make them for a living. Nevertheless, I have spent the last 15 years as a professional pipe maker. Each of my pipes is handmade, and as a result, the production is really limited. For a number of years, I had been searching for a solution to create top quality pipes at affordable prices. In 2013 and 2014, my brother and business partner, Jeremy, and I had been in conversation about collaborating together, The more we talked about pipes, the more we realized that it could be a really fun project to take on.
Jeremy’s background is in business, and he brought a lot to the table from that side. But the fact that our families live in opposite sides of the country–mine in San Diego, and his in Pittsburgh–presented some unique challenges. Technology certainly made the distance feel smaller as we developed our business and marketing strategies, but when it came to hands-on training–the actual making of the pipes–that could only take place in person. We spent weeks together, and months training and refining our finishing processes to be sure that our work held up to my high standards.
Has it been a smooth road?
Starting any business is challenging, and we had some special obstacles to navigate. We are not big enough to have a large marketing team or a sales force introducing our work to new retailers and customers. Instead, I do most of the photography and social media marketing and Jeremy manages our client relationships. Most of our business is word-of-mouth, and we are grateful that people have been excited about what we are doing. Since launching in 2015, we have grown every year, with our biggest jump coming in 2018 when we doubled our sales.
Working collaboratively with a whole country separating us has presented difficulties at times too. It’s not easy, but we have been able to deal with the hiccups that come from it by communicating well. One of the best things about working together is that it has allowed us to spend more time together. Both of us have busy families and lives in our home communities, so it can be hard to find time to maintain relationships. We’re grateful that we have the chance to talk regularly for business because it gives us a really good excuse to keep up with each other’s lives.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Alan Brothers Supply story. Tell us more about the business.
We make old-school tobacco smoking pipes and accessories. It’s pretty simple, really. I was an occasional cigar smoker when I was younger, but my wife couldn’t stand the odor. She told me that if I wanted to smoke on occasion, that I should smoke a pipe instead. That’s what started the ball rolling. Ever since then, I’ve been in a constant state of making pipes and refining my process—and fortunately, I’m able to pay the bills by doing so.
Jeremy and I decided that we could partner to offer something different than what you typically find in pipe and cigar shops. Most of the pipes you see there were designed decades ago. Those companies have in some cases been around for more than a century, but their aesthetic was pretty old-school. My work has its foundation in classical styles but has been largely influenced by mid-century Danish and modern Japanese style. So, this project gave us an opportunity to introduce affordable pipes with a more modern approach to design. We’ve become known for providing a really excellent value—just a lot of bang for the buck.
I’d say that we’re most proud that we’re still friends after all of this! Every business presents challenges, and they can especially stress the relationships of those involved. But, Jeremy and I have weathered those storms successfully and have used every hard moment as an opportunity to grow and improve our processes and communication.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The pipe community, and it really is a community, has been growing over the past 15 years since I started doing this crazy pipe making a thing. I’ve seen the average age of my clients change from retired folks to younger professionals. People like a break from the busyness of life, and taking an hour with a good book and a pipe, or sitting and sharing a pipe and conversation with a friend is something that we treasure. If we can be a part of someone’s leisure time, we have been successful. I think that now we are seeing more of the occasional smoker, which is a good thing, than the habitual smoker. Like enjoying a cocktail, or an indulgent meal, having a pipe now and again can be part of a healthy lifestyle. And we like being part of a community that values moderation in all things.
We see ourselves adding new designs this year, and hopefully introducing some new accessories in collaboration with friends who produce other products. We had a chance to work with our friends at Bradley Mountain a few years ago to collaborate on a special pipe roll, and hope to explore new opportunities in the near future. Currently, our work has a very limited number of retailers–Smokingpipes.com and Gorshin Trading Post in the US, and several retailers in Beijing and Shanghai, China. It has been important for us to be sure that we can provide adequate supply to our retailers before distributing our work more broadly. This year we hope to add some new retail partners in the US and several abroad to help bring our work to new and different markets. Times are definitely exciting for us.
Pricing:
- Benchmade Briar Pipes — $150-300
- Whiskey Barrel Tampers — $15
- Alan Brothers Zippos — $30
Contact Info:
- Website: alan-brothers.com
- Email: info@alan-brothers.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alanbrothers
Image Credit:
Ed Zeiler, Jeff Burt-Gracik
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