4 Vape shops within walking distance of me

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IgnorantCig

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I live on the East Coast USA.

Walking down the street, it's hard to notice that vaping is taking off in any meaningful way, because most people that I see still smoke analogs, that includes both young people and older people too. I'm not going to judge them, because it wasn't that long ago that I was still puffing on an analog, and I had failed to see the awesomeness of vaping.

Besides myself, I don't really see too many people vaping outside on sidewalks. I vape outside in the same way that I'd smoke analogs before, so that means practically all of the time, and especially when I'm walking outside. I'm using a thin e-cig, so I don't usually get too many strange looks. I can imagine what kind of looks somebody walking down the sidewalk must get if they're using one of those big, fancy and shiny looking mods to vape with.

Just 6 months ago, there were no vape shops at all in the immediate local area where I live, and now there are 4 that have opened up, all within a very short walking distance of me (10 minutes or less). I'm pretty sure that a lot of non vapers who live here are walking past those stores every day and wondering, what the hell kind of store is that and why are so many of them opening up in this neighborhood?

One of those four stores will probably fail though, because their sign says tobacco/vape store, while the other 3 are dedicated to vaping only. A store can't be both in my opinion. That's a bit of a contradiction and a stupid combination to put it bluntly.

I've been to a couple of the vape stores so far, and in the short time that I was in those stores there were always new customers there who were smokers who were looking to start vaping.

So while I might not notice how popular vaping is by walking on the sidewalks, I think that it's safe to say that vaping is taking off big time with so many small vape shops opening up, and the amount of people vaping will only increase, because there's still a lot of smelly smokers out there who haven't yet given up on their cancer sticks.

And if this is happening where I live, then I bet that similar things are happening all across the country. Every small town should have at least one dedicated vape shop! I like the quick and easy access to all sorts of liquids and brands.

Just today, I was reading online about some premium liquids, and instead of ordering it online (I didn't want to wait), I had acquired a bottle of that exact liquid five minutes later, after sampling it quickly, and I was already at home and vaping it 10 minutes later.
 
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Rule62

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I don't completely agree that a shop can't be both. There are a couple tobacco/vape shops in my area that are that way, simply because they are in transition. A friend of mine owns one of the most successful shops in my area, which started out as a tobacco shop. It is now a very well supplied vape shop, and has converted many smokers to vaping. Over the past couple years, the tobacco side of the business has steadily decreased, to the point that it only amounts to about 15% of total sales. When it drops to below 10%, which will happen, the tobacco side will be eliminated entirely.


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IgnorantCig

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I don't completely agree that a shop can't be both. There are a couple tobacco/vape shops in my area that are that way, simply because they are in transition. A friend of mine owns one of the most successful shops in my area, which started out as a tobacco shop. It is now a very well supplied vape shop, and has converted many smokers to vaping. Over the past couple years, the tobacco side of the business has steadily decreased, to the point that it only amounts to about 15% of total sales. When it drops to below 10%, which will happen, the tobacco side will be eliminated entirely.


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The shops that you mention have a good excuse though. You said that they're in transition, so that's totally understandable. The shop that I was talking about was a brand new shop, and that to me is a bad idea in my opinion.
 

Rule62

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We've had an explosion in the number of vape shops in my area, the last couple years. I keep thinking it has to reach a saturation point eventually, but it hasn't so far. I haven't seen any new shops that are combo tobacco/vape. But some of the older ones started out as tobacco shops.
It's just me, but what I like less are the combination head shop/vape shop, of which there are a couple in my area.


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juggler86

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The most successful store is most likely going to the tobacco/vape shop. How can you think that is the 1 to fail, when you say you see many more smokers then vapors. Smokers will more likely go into that store then a dedicated vape shop and be able to see what they are missing out on while contemplating smoking or vaping. If this store carries quality products and a competitive price it will last and help many smokers convert to vaping. It also is going to be the best store for newbs, they wont have to worry about being judged like they would be in so many B&Ms. Business wise and conversion wise it will be the most successful and helpful.
 

Robert Cromwell

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I'd love to patronize the local vape shops in my area. I'm all for supporting local businesses. The problem is, none of the vape gear I use is available locally.


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yeah pretty much the same from here. The 3 I have visited in my area had nothing I was into. The employees in the first one could not believe I was using cartomizers. Even though cigalikes are still mega sellers nationwide.
 

DomDoobie

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The scary thing is that when something starts becoming this popular it gets noticed. The States and Governments see dollar signs ! I hope this thing doesn't fall through in the near future. Back in the 80's One Hour Photo stores popped up everywhere. You could almost become an instant millionaire. Where are those stores now ? Gone because of regulation and of course the digital photo age. I just hope in a couple of years the same thing doesn't happen in the vaping industry. It's said to be a 2 billion dollar a year industry right now. Wouldn't you think everyone's going to want a piece of the pie ?
 

Rule62

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yeah pretty much the same from here. The 3 I have visited in my area had nothing I was into. The employees in the first one could not believe I was using cartomizers. Even though cigalikes are still mega sellers nationwide.
Cig alikes, Egos , and clearomizers are still big sellers, especially to people starting out. All the local shops here carry them, as well as the latest big thing, which is various regulated box mods and sub tanks. Nothing wrong with them. That stuff just isn't what I use. I'm strictly a squonker and bottom feed atty guy.


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Rule62

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My local shop says they are just waiting for the FDA to ban all online sales, in June :-x:nah:
The hole in that strategy is that the local B&Ms are purchasing their stock online, most of them from the same sources.


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