Are all B&Ms like this??

[Sa Da Tay]

Thanks for all the input everyone- this turned out to be an interesting thread. It's good to hear there are some nice B&M's out there. To be clear, my issue here wasn't with pricing- only that the shops I've been to have no display of merchandise and are not very welcoming places that I would want to go just to browse and hang out. Someone brought up the notion that they're doing this to prevent theft. I acknowledge theft is an issue for businesses, but I also think 99.99% of the other businesses in existence have figured out how to display their wares while keeping loss costs at a survivable level. And you can still have the merchandise locked down in cases for counter help to bring out, but at least give me something to look at.

The point brought up about business start-ups not having the capital to buy expensive decor. It doesn't take pricey art to make a welcoming interior but even so, in my mind, if you don't have the capital to do it right, wait until you do.

Finally, I understand that the types of places I've visited are geared towards newcomers and that us ecf'ers are not the norm. However, think back to when you first started vaping your cig-a-like and joined ecf. How long did it take to step up to an ego, then a mod? That progression is going to happen whether you visit ecf or not- ecf just speeds it along. Because as has been documented here countless times, for full-time smokers its really a matter of moving up in devices, or not getting the vape delivery you need and going back to analogs. ECF is a natural commerce producer- it's made rabid consumers out of just about all of us here. B&M's need to step up their game to do the same and survive.

 

[Rule62]

I wouldn't open a vape store today, whether it be a B&M or online only. I frankly don't know how owners make money. Vapers are too fickle; and the technology changes too quickly. For example: A couple years ago, CE2 Clearomizers were all the rage. The early ones weren't very good. They leaked, tanks cracked, and they were hard to fill. Due to feedback from customers, incremental improvements were made; and at one point, a new version was coming out every few weeks. As soon as one problem was corrected, a different one cropped up. Eventually, they evolved into a fairly decent product, at least for the time. Today, you can hardly give a box of CE2s away.
Last year was the year of the RBA. The first DIDalike introduced genesis style to the masses. Previously, gennys were the realm of those who wanted to spend $150 or so. The DIDalikes sold like hotcakes for a while. Nowadays, you can buy them for 1/3 of what you paid for them a year ago. Vendors were stuck with selling them at cost, or below, just to get rid of them.
There are loads of other examples of this. But, given the fact that the more quantity a vendor buys, the cheaper they buy it for; and the fact that things fall in and out of favor so quickly; I don't know how anybody makes money.

 

[Un-Loco]

Thats why ce2's are the vape shop testers now =P

Like i said earlier, i like the B&Ms for the juices. If i like the people at the counter, ill buy my stock items from them. But even me as a slightly hardcor vaper, not gunna buy a $300 mod from them that i can get for $150 online, nor do i expect them to carry it. They know the tuff is cheaper online... But they get me in there to taste juice and i impulse buy the feeder crap for my mods =P

I think they know how to milk me...

edit:iPad typos.. To hard to fix

 

[Skauth]

Lot of replies from vapers in the ATX on here!

 

[Tache]

I guess we're lucky here in little old Victoria, BC (Greater Victoria area something over 300,000 people, very restrictive smoking [analog] by-laws - and we live on an island you can only get to by ferry).

There are three vape shops that I've found so far - there may be more. Line-ups are the norm when you go in, but you never feel rushed. There is a great selection of start up kits, a decent selection of APVs, toppers and other goodies. They have pleasant vaping areas - with the exception of one shop that is just in the process of moving to bigger premises - so I'm sure one is coming.

In addition to their own juice blends, they appear to carry different manufacturer's pre-mix blends - so don't really step on each others toes. When I shop and make a decision on a purchase, I want it then, not in a couple of days/weeks from online. So I don't mind spending a little more for "instant gratification".

All I can say is after five weeks switching to vaping from analogs - I'm a very happy vaper!

 

[Maligator]

Got one here in RI with pretty awesome prices $7 evod and $110 for the evic for some examples and everything is displayed in glass front cases and they will let you hold anything ud like and have display modles of most of the stuff so you can actually try it out. Now if they would only get a provari so I can see what all this hype is really about haha.

They have bcc tanks evods protanks they have rbas and carto tanks and probably 7 or 8 apvs some mechanicals and what not and a ton of juices and u can try them all. I was there for a little while messing arround with the owner working on some of his diy stuff lol.

Oh and a metric crap ton of ego batts haha and some starter kits like the joyetech 510 and eroll which hes asking online prices for. I was so happy to see he wasnt screwing new people

Guess im pretty lucky to have them 20 mins away lol.

Does this happen to be the "e-cig shed" in Barrington? I went there the other day and had a great experience. Yeah, it has the sparse decor as described in the OP but come on, a B&M vaping shop isn't exactly making a million dollars a day to spend on decoration and fancy crap. I'll take the helpful/knowledgeable service, some parts/batts and juice selection I can sample over the looks of a place any day.

 

[Uncle Willie]

It would be difficult to fill a shop of any size with gear and liquid .. a small shop of a couple hundred square feet would likely be plenty .. if there was a lounge area, perhaps a bit larger .. it's also still a bit of a crap shoot regulation wise these days, so until the dust fully settles, I would not be making any major investments in the PV retail area ..

 

[rprata]

Got one here in RI with pretty awesome prices $7 evod and $110 for the evic for some examples and everything is displayed in glass front cases and they will let you hold anything ud like and have display modles of most of the stuff so you can actually try it out. Now if they would only get a provari so I can see what all this hype is really about haha.

They have bcc tanks evods protanks they have rbas and carto tanks and probably 7 or 8 apvs some mechanicals and what not and a ton of juices and u can try them all. I was there for a little while messing arround with the owner working on some of his diy stuff lol.

Oh and a metric crap ton of ego batts haha and some starter kits like the joyetech 510 and eroll which hes asking online prices for. I was so happy to see he wasnt screwing new people

Guess im pretty lucky to have them 20 mins away lol.

Lou runs a great shop. Glad he's there. Little pricier than online but I'm willing to pay a premium to support local business and satisfy my instant gratification needs

 

[rogergendron1]

Well her in mass all the stuff in marks store got put up high behind the two desks and all the equipment is locked in metal cabinets now because jerks ... kids were stealing the stuff.

But yeh all the stuff is hidden and there is a lounge but he is verry friendly and if there are regulars in the store you know people he trust he starts pulling stuff out and showinguyen it off and has you sample juice. Just not when there are a couple of 18-19 year olds he never seen before he is tired of getting ripped of. He lost bottles of juice protanks that were on desplay and rbas i guess he had enough when he got destracted and some punk took 2 provaris with z attys on them off his desk and ran. . .

I know by heart what my b m carries so i DONT even have to ask lol and he knows me so he doesnt mind pulling stuff out to show me new things or a current setup.
Spend some more time at your favorate b m get to know them and what they Carrie. hello i get freebies for just going there lol. . . Cartos protanks heads and juice

 

[Rocketpunk]

We had punk kids come in and steal a Smok pyrex tank off of our counter, as well as an employee's Provari. They come in six to seven at a time and they're all over the place like noise-making cockroaches. None of them want to join our rewards program because it requires us to have a name, a phone number, and a zip code.

I know I was 18 once, too, but my Mom and Grandmother raised me right. I roll my eyes and sigh when those punk kids come in. I do my best to treat them like I would any customer, but as soon as they enter the store my "watch these punks like a hawk" vibes kick in, and at this point, I trust those vibes implicitly.

 

[mirth]

Here in oklahoma we have tons of stores popping up. I see a new one every day it seems. I have only been to a few of them so far but hope to continue going out to see them all.

Of the ones I have been to the one closest to my house is very much like the OP's very sparse furniture, vape bar for tasting, everything behind glass counters, for crazy marked up prices (89.99 for a Tesla just the mod!, 20 and change for the Protank, 1$/ml for decent juice) I go there for juice sometimes to support the local shop, I like that they are open till 8pm so i can stop by after work. There seems to be only a few people that actually know much about what they are selling, but the sales people seemed nice.

The other one OKCVapes, has a much better selection and prices, some nice mechanicals, and tons of juice flavors only slightly higher than online. They also have a similar lounge/bar layout, but also have a larger retail section with a bit better displays.

There is a 3rd place that supposedly makes juice to order that I hope to go to this weekend and check out, have read some good things about it.

Overall B&M's in the area are very hit or miss, with the relative explosion recently (almost 50stores in the metro area) I hope to wean through the ones just looking to make a quick profit and find some to buy some things from. Right now I'm just trying to try a ton of juices to find my ADV, once I find that I will buy a big bottle and be happy to be shopping mostly online.

 

[Nacon]

I have to say.. Aside from e liquid planet's booth at a local flea market.. The b&ms have me completely disappointed. Ill give them one last chance.. Time to figure their $h-7% out and work on better suppliers instead of charging 3x online prices. Their product pushing hustlin schemes are ridiculous. One time I asked for 24 mg juice and he hands me a 12 mg to try, saying "this is a strong 12 mg". Smh!

 

[Jp20]

There's a few good ones, you just got to look. Out of the 7 that I would consider local, only 1 is worth the drive, they have a good online selection but frequently stock certain mods and such "In store Only". It's an incentive to make the drive. It does have the "lounge" but it's nice to hang out and wait for your turn at the tasting bar.

where is this magical place you speak of? I assume you're from fort irwin Ca, because its the only one i've heard of. if not sorry for wasting your time.

 

[Mad Scientist]

I know of two in Philadelphia area. Both have tasting, good selection and reasonable prices.

I don't mind paying a little more for stuff I can get "right now," just like a pack of cigs and matches or a lighter. I look forward to the day that traveling doesn't require bringing everything I could possibly need with me. Something breaks or I run out of juice, just walk around the corner to the closest vape shop and buy it. I think it will happen, just like coffee shops on every other block.

 

[rprata]

Also in the RI area is Sunshine Vapes .. he operates out of a flea market but he's a really good guy, mixes his own juices (good stuff too) and has reasonable prices. Mostly low end stuff, starter kits and such, but if you need a battery or carto in a pinch he's got them.

 

[Hippieangst]

My not-so-local-local B&M (about an hour's drive from me) is even worse than you describe. It's got horrendously over-priced gear ($8 for an acrylic drip tip!?!?) and terrible tasting and over priced juice ($11 for a 10ml bottle of juice I can't stand to vape) and sales people who know less than I do (I had to explain to the person what dripping is when I bought an atomizer).

All the gear is on display in glass cases, but there's no lounge area.

There stock is also very limited...no APV's (just over priced eGos). No RBAs. No Mechs.

 

[Chelley]

I've found my B&M shop to have good prices. They have all there juices out to test out and always very helpful to me. I know the first night I was there a few hours and never felt like I was wasteing there time . They wanted to help me. I don't mind helping someone like that in there business.

 

[Train2]

It seems a lot of these are under-funded. First time business owners; people hoping to turn their hobby into a shop without fully understanding a business model required to succeed. So you end up with limited merchandise based on what they happen to know or use, or can afford, etc.
There's definitely still room for a thriving vape shop in SOME markets, and SOME have apparently done it well. I haven't seen one in person...

I'm actually surprised that I haven't seen a Vape COUNTER partnering into other retail or already-trafficked settings.
I mean, I HAVE seen a "smoke" shop carry some off-brand vaping gear and giving people lame advice...but I'd expect more.

Someone showed a mobile vape-truck that was a cool idea.

I don't think I'd try a store just now - unless I had a multiple market model (vape shop in a bar?) - a fallback against regulation or slow growth.

 

[cat58]

I've found my B&M shop to have good prices. They have all there juices out to test out and always very helpful to me. I know the first night I was there a few hours and never felt like I was wasteing there time . They wanted to help me. I don't mind helping someone like that in there business.

Sounds exactly like my fav B&M - got my start up stuff there and they didn't try to upsell me to what I didn't need at that point, fair prices and my ADV comes from their shop 'cause it's really really good! They are super nice and always answer any question I have. Some other shops have popped up and I've visited 3 of them - some a bit more 'upscale', one I went to that was just nasty. I still like this one the best for nice folks, fair prices and really good ejuices. I shop a bit online, try some other flavors from online vendors but I'm pretty loyal to my B&M 'cause they have my basics and I just like them. They carry mods and such, but I'm not there (yet).

 

[Spazmelda]

I just checked out the new altsmoke location in cincinnati, and I've got to say it was absolutely amazing. It was large, classy, super clean. There was a long juice tasting bar with all the flavors bottles lined up on the counter and filled t3s in front with the names of juices marked on them. Rows of testing batteries were lined up behind the juices. They set you up with a stool and a drip tip condom and give you a list of all their flavors so you can make notes as you taste. The juices were arranged by price point, with the budget brands one end and the top shelf ones on the other. I chatted with the guys, who were very knowledgable.

There was a lounge area, with couches, big screen tv on the wall (maybe a couple, can't remember). I didn't hang out in the lounge area while I was there.

When I was done testing the juices I wandered over to look at the gear. The guy got out several mods and let me put my protank on them and try them out. They had a large selection of batteries, mods, delivery devices, etc...

I've been in several vape shops that were adequate, but certainly not special. More like what was described earlier in the thread. Bare bones, everything sealed away in glass cases. Altsmoke was in a whole different category. I'm so psyched that this place is 30 minutes from my house.