Swisher International Group Inc history

By 1870, the brand really took off with hundreds of cigars rolled daily in a one-room factory.

The pair purchased the cigar business from their father in 1888, christening their business Swisher Brothers, and immediately began directing their energies toward building a name for themselves as cigar makers.

Wanting to keep this a family business, in 1888, he sold the company to his capable sons, Harry and John H. Swisher who learned the business from the ground up at a very young age working alongside their dad. It turned out to be an excellent decision, because by 1895, under the leadership of these ambitious, and entrepreneurial young men, the company now had three factories, employing over 1,000 people, and producing as many as 300,000 cigars daily.

Their partnership ended in 1913 when John purchased Harry's interest in the company and brought in his son Carl.

When launched in 1918, King Edward sold for ten cents.

Production totals leaped upward, as mechanization ushered in the age of mass production, enabling the Swishers to produce 100 million cigars a year by the end of the 1920s.

In 1923, after searching for a suitable location to establish new corporate headquarters, John and Carl settled on Jacksonville, Florida, a community close to tobacco fields and shipping facilities, where the company would be headquartered throughout the 20th century.

By 1927, the company consolidated all production in its Jacksonville facility ending almost 70 years of operation in Ohio.

Swisher & Son began to become so popular among cigar smokers that by 1930, during the darkest days of the depression, and at a time when most companies are either closing or drastically downsizing Swisher hired hundreds.

In 1958 Swisher shipped the first shipments of Swisher Sweets, a brand name that generations of Americans would associate with the company.

By 1964, the company makes an astronomical four million cigars per day and ships to all fifty states and forty-seven countries.

In 1973, when 11.2 billion cigars were sold in the United States, the demand for cigars began to wane, touching off a two-decade-long period of market contraction.

As these acquisitions were being completed, Swisher made another diversifying move, entering the little cigar market in late 1985 with its Swisher Sweets Little Cigars.

In 1986 Universal Cigar (which included brands such as El Trelles, La Primadora, Optimo, Santa Fe and their Clearwater Florida factory.

By 1990 Swisher's little cigar brand had become the leading seller in its market.

By 1992, these top-quality cigars are circling the globe, so the company changes its name from H. Swisher & Sons, to Swisher International.

In 1994 the company closed its Waycross, Georgia, plant and consolidated its operations into the flagship Jacksonville facility.

In 1995, American Maize, the parent company of Swisher was sold and as a part of the sale, William Ziegler acquired Swisher.

In December 1996 he took the company public, raising roughly $100 million in Swisher's initial public offering, which gave him the financial resources to strengthen the company's already stalwart position in the cigar market.

In addition, a new production facility in Honduras was opened in October 1997 to make premium hand-rolled cigars, including Swisher's Bering brand.

By 2002, the company slashed its premium cigar brand, and divested itself of the Bering brand.

In 2012, former Swisher International CEO Tom Ryan was quoted as saying that Swisher Sweets accounts for 85 percent of unit sales, and the flavored cigars account for 25 percent of the total volume.

On October 20, 2014 it was announced that Swisher will acquire all Drew State Tobacco Company brands (ACID, Herrera Esteli, Liga Privada, My Uzi Weighs a Ton, Nica Rustica, and Undercrown) as well as Drew Estate’s factory.