Why We Left The Epitome: Our Story, Our Decision, and What Happened Next
For two and a half years, Ben and Echo Bond poured time, money, and heart into The Epitome. When we decided to leave, we hoped to close that chapter respectfully and focus on our family’s future.
Unfortunately, the transition became something very different from what we expected.
This is our account of what happened, why we made the decision to leave, and why we are asking everyone involved to let us move forward in peace.
Bringing The Epitome Back to Life
Two and a half years ago, we purchased The Epitome, a longtime Mississippi tobacco store with decades of history, which is now gone.
Moe, who ran the store for approximately 30 years and is now 84, remains someone we love dearly. He still visits our lounge today. His history with the business matters to us, and we are grateful for his friendship. When we took over, he told us we had “saved his life”—words we have never forgotten. He now comes to see us at Back Bay Cigars, and we truly appreciate that.
The business needed substantial work. According to our inventory at the time, there were approximately seven cigars when we took over. We documented conditions that concerned us, including moldy coffee carafes and dirty ice-serving equipment. Filthy floors and very unsanitary conditions. We have pictures to prove it and we couldn't believe they were serving customers.
We went to work bringing The Epitome back to life. Echo and our daughter, Ferris, helped remodel it into a clean, comfortable, classy cigar lounge.
We wanted premium cigars, quality pipe tobacco, good conversation, and an atmosphere where customers could relax. Alcohol was not our main focus. Vaping and cigarette smoking were not permitted, and we established boundaries around behavior inside the lounge.
Sometimes that meant asking people to leave or banning them. Those decisions were about protecting the atmosphere we were working hard to create.
For the customers who supported us, The Epitome became more than a business. We made friendships, helped people through difficult times, and treated many of them like family.
The Work Behind the Counter
Ben worked exhausting hours—often seven days a week and as many as 14 hours a day. He built relationships, developed his cigar and pipe-tobacco brands, and put tremendous effort into keeping the lounge going.
Around April, we began spending more time at our new D’Iberville location (Back Bay Cigars & Merchantile) while full-time employees staffed The Epitome. We still regularly stopped by in the mornings and evenings to check on things and handle whatever needed attention.
But the business was not generating enough to cover its staffing and expenses. We put approximately $9,000 in the two months of our own money into keeping it operating.
Eventually, we had to draw a line: if The Epitome could not support itself, we would not continue using money from our other businesses to carry it.
Our sales reports reinforced that decision. July sales were down approximately 19% year over year, and August sales were down approximately 26%.
We cared about The Epitome, but continuing to fund it was no longer the right choice for our family. We also felt the mall was heading in a different direction—a transition we believe will become more apparent over time—and decided we did not want to be part of that next chapter.
Building Our Next Chapter
Meanwhile, Bubbly Babes Bath + Body was growing. Echo and Ferris needed help keeping up with demand for our handmade products, and our family needed a production space that could support that growth with the help of Ben.
We found our new home at 3275 Racetrack Road in D’Iberville, across from the Scarlet Pearl Casino.
This location allowed Ben to help with Bubbly Babes production while continuing his love of cigars through Back Bay Cigars. He built the humidor himself, and we created a retail space with an outdoor area where customers could enjoy a cigar and good company.
Our focus became growing Bubbly Babes, expanding wholesale, and building a future that made sense for all of us.
The space is bright and happy. We enjoy working there together, and we love the direction our family is heading. It was like a breath of fresh air and still is!
The September Payments: Being Clear About What Happened
We want to be straightforward about the payments.
Before September, we had made our purchase-agreement payments and paid our rent on time. We then deliberately did not pay the September loan payment or September rent.
We had already decided we would no longer contribute outside money to keep The Epitome operating. We wanted to return the business to the previous owners.
Our understanding of the purchase agreement (Which is an agreement that Ben wrote!) was that its default provision allowed the previous owners to take the business back. We intentionally stopped the September payments with that outcome in mind.
We are not denying the missed payments or pretending there was no default. What we dispute is any suggestion that returning the business was a surprise to us or something we were desperately trying to prevent or "running from something", lol.
We had decided we no longer wanted The Epitome, and we communicated that decision to the previous owner!
The previous owners initially told us they did not want it back and offered to lower the payments. We declined. Our decision involved more than the payment amount: the financial demands, the environment, and our family’s other priorities all mattered.
They later agreed to take it back.
Handing Over the Keys
Before traveling to Washington, D.C., to help our son move home after college, we arranged to meet the previous owners at The Epitome at 10 a.m.
The Sunday before the turnover, we used our Yukon and trailer to remove the belongings we intended to keep.
We left approximately 400 cigars and substantially more inventory than we had received when we purchased the business. We wanted to leave them with something to work with.
On the morning of the meeting, Ben was finishing a pipe-tobacco order while Echo carried a lighted sign and a few remaining personal items to the car.
When the previous owners arrived at the back door, we felt they were treating us as though we were there to empty the business (Which they are telling people). That was frustrating, considering we had already removed our belongings and were leaving hundreds of cigars behind. WE DIDN'T WANT ANYTHING ELSE.
We handed over the keys and left feeling relieved. We believed we could finally move on.
That day, a sign appeared offering The Epitome for sale for $40,000.
The Three People Involved
For the purpose of this account, we have referred to the three people involved as “Clown 1,” “Clown 2,” and “Clown 3.” Those nicknames reflect our frustration; what matters here is their involvement in the transition.
Clown 1 is the previous owner who agreed to take the business back. This was someone we had trusted and spoken highly of and never had issues with, we considered him a friend.
Clown 2 is someone we had previously banned from The Epitome following a dispute involving statements about Echo (which everyone who has a brain knows that he lied). We had helped this person in the past, which made the later hostility especially disappointing. After we left, he became involved with the lounge (operating it). We could share more about our experiences with him, but we are choosing to keep this account focused on what happened with the business. Based on those experiences, we no longer trust him and want no further involvement with him, he is bad news.
Clown 3 is someone we did not know who participated in conversations about the business and a possible purchase. He stated that clown 2 would be running the Epitome.
Our cameras remained in the lounge after we left. When we reviewed the recordings, we heard conversations about our family, the business, its sales, and the lease that deeply concerned us.
In our view, parts of what was being said did not match the sales reports and communications we had provided.
We heard the question, “They must be running from something.”
We also heard the previous owner ask whether this was a “big F-you to Ben,” followed by agreement and laughter from the person we had previously banned.
That was comical. We thought we were completing a business transition. Hearing it discussed as a way to get back at Ben made it feel deeply personal but also how ignorant and trashy they all were.
Our daughter heard these comments too. It hurt to watch her see people speak about her family that way.
The Lock and Lease Problem
Returning the business did not, by itself, resolve the mall lease. At that point, the lease remained in our name through December.
After we handed over the keys, the locks were changed before the lease issue had been resolved. We became concerned about our access and our continuing responsibility for a space other people were using.
The mall manager told us we could call the police about the situation and have the locks changed to restore access. We were preparing to pursue that route. File criminal charges for trespassing.
From our perspective, the previous owner was fortunate that the situation was resolved before we took that next step. We were serious about addressing the lease and access issues, and Ben made that clear.
We cannot speak for what the previous owner was thinking. What we can say is that Ben set a deadline: September 30 at noon to pay the rent and arrange to take over the remaining lease or we were filing charges.
The previous owner then sent us a photograph of a $2,500 check (4 minutes before noon FYI on the deadline), told us the September rent had been paid, and said he would take over the lease through December.
During those discussions, the mall manager asked us an important question: did we really want to return to that environment? By that point, we were ready to take action. The mall manager had told us we could have the locks changed and require them to leave because the lease was still in our name, and we were prepared to pursue that option if the matter was not resolved.
The answer was no.
We did not want The Epitome back. We wanted the outstanding lease responsibilities addressed so we could move forward. After everything we witnessed and heard, we were angry enough to want to involve law enforcement. Ultimately, we would not have pursued a criminal complaint, especially with children who could be affected by the fallout. We wanted the situation resolved so we could move forward. Choosing restraint did not mean we accepted how we were treated—it meant we were staying true to who we are and how ruthless they were.
After hearing Ben’s business judgment criticized, we have a question of our own: Who made the smarter business decision?
Ben recognized that the lounge was not supporting itself. Our family decided to stop putting more money into it. When the remaining lease became an issue, he set a firm deadline and insisted it be addressed.
People can disagree with our decision, but it was deliberate. We were choosing where to invest our time, money, and energy.
Ben and Echo Are a Team
Ben was the face of The Epitome, and Echo was the life of The Epitome.
Ben brought his passion for cigars, long hours, and personal connections. Echo brought her energy, creativity, and heart. Together, with Ferris’s hard work, we helped make the lounge what it became.
We also heard Echo blamed for our departure, as though her involvement in a family business was somehow out of place.
Let us be clear: Ben and Echo are a team.
We make major family and business decisions together. Echo did not force Ben to leave The Epitome. Ben was exhausted by the environment and agreed that investing more family money into a declining business and MALL no longer made sense.
Ironically, the same people criticizing Echo’s involvement later had to pause their own business discussion to consult with their wives before making a decision. We have video evidence and find it hilarious.
Apparently, a wife’s opinion only becomes “interference” when the wife is Echo.
We built The Epitome as a family, and we made the decision to leave as a family. Echo had every reason to be involved in decisions affecting our work, our money, and our future.
We were a team then, and we are a team now.
We Chose to Move Forward
To the person who asked whether we were running from something: we were choosing to leave something that no longer worked for us.
We were leaving financial strain, an environment we found stressful, and a business that required more from our family than we were willing to keep giving.
We were moving toward Bubbly Babes, Back Bay Mercantile, Back Bay Cigars, and a future we were excited about.
We are proud of the work we did at The Epitome. We remodeled it, invested in inventory, created an atmosphere we believed in, and built meaningful relationships.
None of the disagreements afterward erase those accomplishments.
Kindness Does Not Mean Accepting Mistreatment
We are not vindictive people. We love helping others, and we helped many people during our time at The Epitome. We intend to continue doing so.
What hurt most was not criticism from people we barely knew. It was feeling betrayed by someone we had trusted and treated with respect. The other two clowns meant nothing and never will. We hope they succeed.
We have learned from this experience, but it will not stop us from being kind. It also will not stop us from setting boundaries.
There were other comments in the recordings that we have chosen not to repeat here. We have retained the footage and our communications.
We have dealt with behavior we experienced as hateful and intrusive. One person we had previously barred from The Epitome later drove past our other business, which added to our discomfort given the history. We had to file police reports, Federal Trade Commision and other departments on another person. This isn't the environment we want, so keep it up and someone will go to jail.
We want that chapter to end.
We are not asking anyone to take sides. We are not trying to interfere with anyone’s livelihood. We hope everyone succeeds and finds something positive to focus on. We truly mean that.
We simply ask to be left alone.
Our lounge had rules. Vaping and cigarette smoking were not allowed. We did not want excessive drinking, racist remarks, abusive language, or disruptive behavior in our business.
Being asked to follow those rules—or being asked to leave—was not an invitation to carry a personal feud into our other businesses.
We will continue protecting our customers, employees, and family while treating people with respect.
Thank You—and Come See Us
If you have read this far, thank you.
Thank you to the customers who became friends, the employees who helped us, and everyone who continues to support our family.
The essential point is simple: we decided The Epitome could no longer be supported with money from our other businesses. We intentionally did not make the September rent and loan payments, communicated our intention to return the business, and handed over the keys.
We wanted to leave. We are not ashamed of choosing a different direction.
We are happy where we are now. Leaving the mall was about pursuing a better life and a stronger future for our family. We are ready to put our energy into that future.
Come see us at Back Bay Mercantile and Back Bay Cigars, 3275 Racetrack Road in D’Iberville, across from the Scarlet Pearl Casino.
Have a cigar. Buy some Bubbly Babes body butter. Sit down, relax, and enjoy good company—with no drama.
We wish everyone well, and we ask for the same opportunity to move forward in peace.