Bennington Tobacconist

Bennington Tobacconist is a family tobacconist that has operated in Florida since 1965. It holds a place in pipe history not as a workshop but as a shop brand that commissioned Europe's established factories for lines bearing its own name. For this reason the Bennington name appears in the community both as a store name and as a stamp read on the pipes themselves.

From Sarasota to Boca Raton

The business's founder is William Bennington; the first shop opened on the state's west coast, in Sarasota, at Saint Armands Circle. Records note that what set the shop apart from its surroundings was that it did not settle for shelf sales, instead blending tobacco by hand on the premises and rolling cigars by hand. Bennington's three sons, Jack, Jim, and Garry, grew up within the business; the shop remains in the same family's hands today.

The second location came about as the business grew. According to the family's account, after a search lasting a few years the decision fell on Boca Raton, on the state's east coast; a tobacconist shop that had been operating for fifteen years in the city center was taken over on January 7, 1980. This gave the business a presence on both coasts of Florida at once. The familiar face of the Boca Raton branch was Jim Bennington, who returned to the family business after studying industrial systems engineering at university.