BUFFALO, N.Y. — A shop on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo is getting ready to celebrate its second year in business.

The owners have been serving the community both by contributing to the growing business district and by serving as a hub for the community to bond following the May 14 tragedy.

Premier Cigars is Buffalo’s first and only Black-owned cigar shop and lounge. Whether looking for a place to buy, lounge, browse or listen, this is the place.

Owners and longtime friends Donnie, Dorian, Willie and Robin sought to create the ultimate space of luxury for cigar aficionados.

“All of these guys in this picture, we’re like family, and other than smoking cigars, we’ve known each other for many, many years, said co-owner Robin Truesdale. "Our families have known each other for many, many years, we smoke cigars together, you know, we cry together, you know, we laugh together.”

The location was intentional as well. Located on Jefferson Avenue, the shop joined the business revival happening in the district nearly two years ago to create a "for us, by us" experience in the Black community while inspiring other entrepreneurs to see the value in the area as well.

“As we were planning and, you know, developing our plan for the business of Premier Cigars, we couldn’t think of a better place to be than on Jefferson as it’s coming up and it’s growing, and we wanted to be a part of that growth and also we wanted to be an example,” Robin said.

The growth of Jefferson’s business district is expected to accelerate with part of the $50 million in state funding devoted to Buffalo’s east side devoted to helping small businesses, an announcement Gov. Kathy Hochul made at the Apollo Media Center across the street from Premier Cigars.

The lounge is in line with the luxury you’d associate with the cigar lifestyle. From aesthetics to the actual components of the establishment, everything is by design, including the shop’s most impressive element, the custom humidor.

“The humidor itself, it was all handmade by a young African-American young man that we know, so he designed this as well as one of the other owners," Robin said. "His uncle did the detail work on the outside of the humidor for us.”

Inside the humidor: Spanish cedar and a humidifier, keeping the cigars at just the right humidity. Storing these creations is as much an art form as being a connoisseur of them. The elegant space became a safe space for the community recently. Located just half a block from Tops on Jefferson Avenue, many community members took solace in having the cigar lounge after having lost so much to the hands of hate.

“I had someone ask me, 'did you guys stay open even after that?' I said of course," said Robin. "I said because a lot of our customers and our family members, as I call them, this was a place that we all congregated to talk about our feelings of how that made us feel. So for us to close, that would have been giving him what he wanted and we weren’t going to do that. He had already taken enough.”

As Premier Cigars gets ready to hit a major milestone with its second anniversary, with owners even eyeing plans for expansion, the location shows others the importance of being deeply ingrained in the community.

“Again, we just want to be that example, you know, for other businesses and other people to again, just give back and invest in this community," Robin said.

Premier is getting ready to host its anniversary celebration on July 24 at the Metropolitan Entertainment Complex. The event will also highlight other Black-owned businesses in the city.