One of Britian's oldest independent tobacconist chains is launching its own cigarette brand.
AE Lloyd & Son, which has shops in Aberystwyth, Chester and Cardiff, is bringing out Shag in a bid to provide young adults with a new lifestyle brand.
Targeted at 18 to 30-year-olds, the brand has already gone on sale in the 113-year-old tobacconist's three stores and been taken on by smaller wholesalers nationwide. The company said it also aimed to get the bigger players on board and will have talks with Booker later this month.
However, it admitted that other wholesaler chains had been less receptive. Company president Peter Lloyd said: "Our challenge is to get through the door at those wholesalers who only want to talk to the likes of Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher."
He said he came up with the idea for the brand after deciding that existing offers had become "boring, particularly for young people".
Manufactured by Flandia in Belgium, Shag is being positioned as an alternative to other popular brands, such as Marlboro Lights, and carries an rsp of £4.59 for a packet of 20. Lloyd said the company had already taken delivery of 100,000 packets with another 50,000 on the way. He added: "Our aim is to make Shag a £15m brand within two years."

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