How are the B&M Shops in your town?

[Karltinsly]

I started vaping again on January 1st this year, after most of a year back on analogs. Over the holidays, I had purchased a Vamo v5 and a VTR from FT. I ordered some juice from an online source I like, and was good to go. When I started to run out of juice, I decided to stop in at a vape shop near my house that had just opened a couple of months ago. I was surprised at their selection - Vamo, VTR, MVP2, 134, e-pipes, K101 and several other mechs, twists, iclears, vivi novas, kangers, and lots of other stuff. Their prices are higher than I want to spend, but not unreasonable. They have a juice tasting station, and a nice "menu" to choose from. They'll mix any of dozens of flavors to your specified nic and vg/pg ratio. The juice prices are reasonable - $7 for 10ml, $15 for 30ml. They also have a rewards program that gives you a free 10ml or 30ml after so many purchases. The staff is pretty knowledgeable, particularly about rda/rba stuff - they all have a trident or kraken or something else you have to wind yourself. Which is really my favorite thing about the place - the people.
The first time I went there, I was the only customer, and the guy and girl working there were happy to help me try out juices. At one point, the girl picked up her PV, pulled on it, and DISAPPEARED in a cloud of vapor! I've never used anything more advanced than an iClear 30s, so I was amazed! I asked her how she got all that vapor - and she showed me her K101 mech with a trident on top. Then the guy did the same magic trick with the vapor, and showed me his Kraken - I forget which mech it was on. Anyway, they gave me an overview on rebuilding, showed me their builds, and got me familiar with the some of the nomenclature (RDAs, RBAs, mechs, etc.). If they had had any RDAs in stock, I would have bought one (well, if they were affordable clones - I'm not rich), but they were out. Instead, I went home, watched about 7 hours of pbusardo, rip trippers, grimmgreen, and started ordering stuff off from FT. I ordered a cobra genny and IGO-W from a stateside online store, so I wouldn't have to wait forever, and took my first build in to the vape store for critique, which they were happy to give.
Anyway, I've only been buying juice from them so far, but it's a pretty regular purchase, so hopefully it'll help them out. I'll certainly buy something from them eventually, if it's not too expensive and I have the money. I plan on giving them a good rating on yelp, too. I'm really happy that their knowledge and enthusiasm really rekindled by my own passion for vaping!

 

[blueGrassTubb]

There are a handful of shops in Lexington, and one in Nicholasville.


There is one in Lexington that just opened a couple of weeks ago called 723 Vapor which has a FANTASTIC in-house juice line. So far, 3 of my 5 favorite flavors are from their juice (Grape Sucker, Orange Cream, and Black Cherry). They concentrate on getting the flavor right rather than simply relying on sweetness to cover up deficiencies in their mix. The shop only sells a few lines of juice, but all are either locally made or are considered premium juice (Five Pawns, Uncle Junk's, Ragtime). The people there are great, and even though it's furthest from the house, it's where I go unless it's a quick trip for a battery or something.

We also have an AltSmoke which is a good shop, but tends to carry only the widespread brand liquids (Nicquid, etc), ego batteries, and a handful of the name brand mods (Innokin, etc). It seems to be dedicated to getting people in to vaping rather than catering to more advanced vapers.

I haven't been to any of the others.

 

[omyeyes]

Vegas is loaded with shops everywhere. Of course they are all over priced like everyone here has stated. I've got 3 close places that have great peeps and they are my go to places for specific juices but other than that.......

 

[stylemaster2001]

My sister and I took another "journey" yesterday, this time to Jacksonville, NC. Went to Diamond Vapor Lounge off of Henderson Drive. OMG, this guy has really got it going on! He had low end stuff, ego's and clearo's at ok prices, he had mech mod clones, at really decent prices, he showed me his one actual mod, not a clone...I forget the name, but he was proud of it. They carry Mt.Baker Vapor, don't make their own, but they will mix you up anything from the MBV line if you want. Something new for me was that he carries "Grim Green's juices"....I didn't know he put out a juice line, but the "Crackberry" was fantastic...(think blueberry high taste!!!) He said that was his #1 seller. He also had juice from the "Jackson Vapor" line, another one I had never heard of, high end, high price (24.95/30ml). And....every first time customer gets a free 15ml MBV juice of your choice with first purchase. (Ha, he said, "you can buy a cup of coffee and get a free juice!!!) I ended up getting a juice, Amelia, from the Jackson line, very nice vape, and I also got a 5ml glass tank with metal housing (its a RG500, glass atomizer--for $19! 5ml glass in a metal housing. And he said if I had ANY trouble with it, bring it back by and he'd fix it. He also threw in a couple of mini-Davide tanks....free....just because he saw mine and asked if I wanted a couple backup tanks...nice! Now, his place has "Lounge" in the title, and it really is. There are couches out front, Pandora music playing on a big screen and the really nice part is, he took me in the "back room"....he had the mack daddy setup station for rebuilding and had 4 customers hanging out rebuilding their coils...using all his tools + grinders and drill presses and those fancy ring lights with the magnifying glass to really see what you are doing. He said, once you buy something from us, you are always welcome to come here and work on your rebuilding rather than setting up in your kitchen. He had a couple Marines from the base there hanging out rebuilding and blowing "FOG", my sister had never seen anything like that, she was "blown" away!! lol This guy is so nice, I cant believe it. He said him and his staff will always help anyone with their rebuilding and any problems you may have. Oh, there were two more couches and another big screen tv in the back too! I feel really bad, never asked his name, but I know he is the manager/owner of the shop. He has a facebook page but no website yet. I just cant believe I found a shop that will let me go in and bring my coils, etc...and use all their "really nice" tools/bench free. His prices on the clones were competitive compared to online, so anything else I need to begin rebuilding, I will throw him the business.

Oh, one other thing I thought really goes to show his customer service side....one of his p/t employees also runs a car shop. He refers people over to the shop for complete "de-odorizing" of the interior to remove the smoke smell from your car. He said if I call before coming next time, he will have someone drive the car over there, let me rebuild for an hour or two, and the person will drive the car back!!!!! I really like that. They went the EXTRA mile to make feel comfortable and welcome and I will definitely go back. Now I'm not so apprehensive about rebuilding cause I know if I cant get it where I want it, they will "gladly" help me to succeed....cant ask for more than that!!!!

 

[Denvap0r]

We have been bombarded with shops in the Denver area. Some are good. The bad ones are really bad. The mad scientist mixologists drive me nuts. Saw one guy not even measuring the nicotine. One store selling an MVP for nearly $100, while the guy across the street (literally) had them for $70. I want to support local business, but some of these guys are just taking advantage. Buyer beware for sure.

 

[Completely Average]

There are 3 vape shops "in my town" but there are at least 30 vape shops within 25 miles of me.

About half of these shops cater to newbies. They sell cigalikes and basic ego setups, but rarely anything more than that. A couple of them are little more than store fronts for their corporate national distribution of cigalikes.

Most of the other shops range between the novice and mid-level user, with few if anything for people who want more than a VV mod and cheap clearo. You can get an MVP with an iClear 30, but if you asked for a Kayfun you would be met with the look of a deer caught in the headlights.

About 7 of these shops deal primarily in mid to high range gear. Mech mods, more than 1 dripping atomizer, kanthal wire, these shops have it. Of those 7 shops, 4 are fairly high priced. You can expect to pay about 35-40% more than online prices from other B&M retailers (NOT fasttech).

That leaves me with 3 shops within 25 miles that have a large selection of gear, have a good selection of high end gear available, and have relatively competitive prices. I've been to all 3 and fortunately for me, the best one of all is less than 3 miles from my house, and right on my way home from work.

 

[lacdaddy916]

Ive been to 3 shops in my area that ive been to.

One sells mostly high end models that I've never heard of and that cost $250+. They have a tiny array of juices from reputable vendors. They're great to talk to and converse with tho but i'll never buy anything from there. Their motto is to have the most rare mods available so they increase the value. Like the main dude bought some $400.00 mod thats hand-made from a one-eyed gothic gypsy that lives in Sherwood Forest that calls himself Minotaur!

Another shop is a tobacco shop that dabbles in vape supplies. He has juice brands ive never seen anywhere else. Has the "normal" array of mod clones for waaaaaay to expensive. Im talking $85.00 for a nemesis clone. Good convo but not too knowledgable at all.

Third shop is decked out. TVs and abou 100 different juices. They only sell RDAs (which is weird) and high end mods. Dude is a cloud chaser and proud of it (nothing wrong with that). Wraps his coils with 18ga wire. Their mods are less than memorable. The customer svc is hit and miss. One dude was helping me with trying flavors and just went in the back and was never heard from again. The other dude was more interested in wrapping his coils instead of helping me. Cool place but i'll never go bk.

I much rather spend my money locally but not at the 20% markup! They want to make money but i want to save it!

 

[Keymaster4225]

We have 2 shops in the town near me. One, the first I found out about, is a decent little place. I buy my juice there because I'm really picky about flavors, and buying juice online scares me since it's a total waste if it's something I don't like. Their juice prices are quite good. $25 for 60 ml in everything from 0 mg to 36 mg nic. Hardware prices are a bit higher than online, but not unreasonable. Picked up my VTR there for $99. A bit high, yes, but no waiting which is worth a lot to me. They are now carrying some mech clones, but the prices are much higher than they should be ($55 for a Chi You clone). Starting to carry some RBA/RDA gear as well.

The one problem I have with them is their price for Kanthal...$1/FOOT!!! I heard that when I asked about wire and had to restrain myself from laughing in the owners face.

The other shop is a bit smaller with a significantly smaller hardware selection, but the stuff they do have is a bit higher end. Kraken and Prometheus clones, etc. however, again, the prices on those clones is crazy. They wanted $55 for a Kraken clone...yeah, no. Did find a juice there that is amazing in my RDA though. Strawberry kiwi and tastes like bubblelicious bubble gum. Tasty. At $25 for 2 30 ml bottles, good price too.

 

[4redstars]

I've been to three in the Chicago area. None were impressive which is disappointing. One in the Northwest burbs was a really creepy place and way over priced, one on the Southwest side of Chicago near Midway had great prices (MVP v2 for example for 65), but the juices were gross and the guy working want very knowledgeable. The other was a smoke shop not far west from the one in Chicago and they just stocked as much stuff as possible with no help and stuff was overpriced. Asked the guy if he had an Aerotank and he showed me ce4 type clearos.

There's one not far from me near 83 and Ogden but I haven't gone yet. I hope it's good. This area is really lacking.

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[VapieDan]

Stinks. Chain tobacco shop. Rip off. Idiots in charge. Argh!