Paul Kirlis retired two years ago to fulfill a lifelong dream and open his own cigar shop, but the economic downturn has left him selling fewer and fewer cigars.

Now, after 14 years owning a home inspection business, Kirlis’ retirement dream is facing some harsh realities as his customers go up in smoke.

“It's slower than normal. Not as many people are coming in and we’re not making as much money as a year ago,” he said. “Some (of my customers) have lost their jobs. It is tough out there, and it’s getting tougher and tougher with the price of gas and oil.”

With much of the stock for The Cigar Room coming in from overseas, Kirlis has watched the price of cigars increase as manufacturers and shipping companies struggle with increased fuel costs just as his customers have begun tightening their personal budgets to compensate for the higher price of food and heating oil.

While his regular customers range from doctors to lawyers to truck drivers, Kirlis says they all share the common love of smoking a cigar. In the past few months, he has noticed his customers buying fewer cigars but lingering longer.

“People come here to enjoy a cigar. When they’re stressed out at work or at home they get to come down here and relax before reality sets back in,” he said. “You can see it on their faces. It’s going to be tougher when it gets colder and people have to chose between oil and a cigar.”

While purchasing cigars for stock has become more expensive, Kirlis said he preferred to eat the increased costs rather than pass them along to his customers. So far, having fewer customers has translated into less of a need for new orders; a silver lining to the tough economic times for Kirlis’ business.

Unlike other businesses that have purchased stock orders using bank approved lines of credit, Kirlis prefers using cash to credit and stays away from corporate or business credit cards, and has not suffered from the credit crunch that has afflicted other struggling business owners.

“I try to stay away from charge cards,” he said. “I don’t carry a large stock. I can’t afford it. But if I need something, I can usually get it.”

Selling cigars imported from countries like Honduras and shipped up from Miami, Kirlis said his stock – which starts at about $3 and goes up from there – gives his customers the opportunity to smoke cigars from across the world.

Even so, Kirlis has struggled to move his inventory and has turned to hosting events as a way to draw in more potential consumers, while keeping his following alive among his regular customers. Thursday night cigar tasting sessions pack people in, he said and he has plans to host a Halloween party at the end of the month.

Still, Kirlis worries.

“It’s always there,” he said. “If something crashes and I can’t pay rent or light or heat, as a businessman you’re always worried about that. If it happens I don’t know what I’d do, but life goes on.”