Sam Klafter emigrated from Hungary in the late 1800s and worked for the Frankle Brothers cigar shop in Youngstown Ohio, eventually opening some of his own stores with partners in Canton, East Liverpool, Warren and ultimately New Castle, PA where Klafter’s is headquartered today.

Klafter’s opened its first retail tobacco outlet called Cigarette Express in Boardman, OH in 1992. Klafter’s continued to open locations throughout Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. Eventually all of the stores were rebranded as Smoker Friendly and Cigar Express.

In 2025, Kocolene Development Corporation, an employee-owned company based out of Seymour, Indiana purchased Klafter’s Inc. including 16 retail stores and the wholesale business. To learn more about Kocolene’s history, go to www.kocolene.com.

Today Kocolene operates 38 retail locations branded Smokers Host and Smoker Friendly, Klafter’s Wholesale, Ranger3PL, and Kocolene Investments, and employs over 200 people.