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is their trucks and ours was a strong mail order business, so the deal made sense." Michael Berro, HLA's special projects director, whose parents started the company more than 30 years ago, added that the Goldman's are well respected by customers and vendors in the indus- try, especially when it comes to premium cigars. Bringing House of Oxford's customers and private labels to the company means HLA can better serve its cigar shop customers. To further that goal, HLA recently acquired another tobacco distribu- tor based in Florida that will soon begin shipping products out of the New York facility as well. Nearly 95% of HLA's customers are indepen- dently-owned stores. They rely on the distributor to provide the widest selection of products possible, says National Accounts Manager and Senior Buyer Dennis Williams. "We carry every major brand of consumable from cigarettes to candy, gum, cards, grocery, frozen, snack dairy; anything you'd find in a convenience store or smoke shop," he says. HLA has especially focused on keeping up with the growth in the OTP (other tobacco products) category. "The OTP market is exploding as less people are smoking cigarettes, but still smoking tobacco," he says. "It could be snuff or chew, but the biggest growth right now is in electronic cigarettes. As the About Harold Levinson Associates Founded: 1977 Headquarters: Farmingdale, NY Employees: Warehouse: SKU's: Approx. 500 600,000 sq. ft. 18,000 FDA gets involved there may not be as many com- panies offering products, but the category will con- tinue to grow and cement itself. It's not a tobacco product, but it's the same consumer." NAVIGATING THE REGULATIONS One area the company sees as a growth driver is the smokeless category, fueled by the restrictions on the ex-cigarette smoker who's trying to find another form of tobacco intake. Restrictions and regulations are impacting product mix and creating an educational opportunity for HLA's retail customers as the end- user customers try to sort out changing legislation. "Smoking restrictions for the end consumer and taxation are two of the biggest issues our retail customers face," says Williams. "There are fewer and fewer places people can smoke, and the prod- ucts they use are getting more and more expensive because of taxation." HLA's impressive operation is based in a 600,000- square-foot warehouse located in Farmingdale, NY. www.npnweb.com n NPN Magazine OCTOBER 2011 29