iHumidor
Acquired : 2006
Activities : Wholesale and retail tobacco sales, specifically cigars
Parent Company : IMASCO Ltd.
Stockists : online
Origin : Beverly Hills, CA 90210
www.iHumidor.com

In early 2006, Grand Metropolitan added iHumidor, part of a $30 million portfolio, to its operations. The ecommerce operator maintains inventory of over 800 brands at over 100 locations. Assets also include Cigar Club News, Cigar Registry, and Cigar Finder as consumers are relying more on technology to improve their experience.

Portfolio brands in both retail and social clubs participate in most of the top 100 markets in the world including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, London, and Dubai.

The Cormier Family traces its roots back to the Brittany region of France, with the earliest mention in the Middle Ages. The name Cormier is actually derived from the Old French word, “come,” which referred to the fruit of the sorb or service tree. It was given to someone who lived near such a tree or who sold its fruit at the market. Over time, the Cormier Family prospered and a descendant was raised to the peerage as Lord of Brittany in 1480.

Throughout the 1700s, the Cormier Family branched out across the globe, with one faction working it’s way through French Provincial Canada into Quebec and Ontario. On January 06, 1881 Harry Bullard Lee was born in Norwalk, Canada. He would relocate with his family to the United States and be drafted in 1917 into World War I fighting for the Americans. His marriage to Rinnie Mathewson had produced a son, Horace Mathison Lee in 1915. The first Lee born in America and Vin Lee’s maternal grandfather. Horace Mathison Lee’s father-in-law was the founder/owner of The Coolidge Inn and Bar built the year that the Volstead Act was overturned ending Prohibition in the United States.

Vin Lee, Chairman/CEO, orchestrated the acquisition of the Beverly Hills Cigar Club and the global expansion that has given GrandMet the presence it has today.

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