Ecigs Now at Safeway Winnipeg

[gewain]

Can't believe it but someone told me they were selling them. I phoned up and they said yes they were at customer service and I think it was $10.99 or $11.99 for one disposable and around $35 for a kit. Just phoned and they are the ones from Smoke NV Online Store.
They say there is no nic but my buddy thought they did.
Even so it is surprising and a step in the right direction for ecig users. Maybe soon we'll see some with nic.

 

[Hot Sauce]

They have those in almost every Petro-Canada in my area. Nice to get the word out but i don't think they do the vaping world justice. Especially with no nic... Someone that doesn't know much about e cigs or vaporizes would probably be turned off from the poor performance of that product.

 

[MisterMike]

Plus, their prices are ridiculous. F'rinstance: $18.99 for 5 pre-filled cartos. (cf. Smokeless Image, who has them for $8.95US)

In my more naive days, I tried one of their disposables, and it barely lasted me a day before it crapped out. It was only through stumbling on a review of the NV that I found out about ECF and better alternatives. Otherwise I would still be smoking today. Completely misleading claims on the packaging, and just an all-round not good experience.

 

[Eileithia]

I've seen a few corner stores in my area starting to carry e-cigs. Unfortunately all of these seem to be overpriced junk brands like smokstik which really aren't doing the vaping community any good. It's too bad really that they're not educated on decent product.

 

[Hot Sauce]

Hopefully they will get more people to do some personal research, like MisterMike, and find great information sources such as ECF. I know a few people that bought them, after I advised them not to, and were thoroughly disappointed. All of them are now using Ego's that I ordered for them.

 

[~ puff ~]

They're also showing up ~~~~ in dollar stores around town, 'nicotine free' of course.

Convenience stores like Mac's and 7-11 have them too, when I first saw them they were 29 something plus tax.

Now they have a $10 disposable that looks like cheap 808 clone. No charger. And only 1 cartridge...~~~~~~

Read somewhere that e cigarettes are doing half a BILLION dollar sales in China in 2012. ~~ That's huge! ~~

Thanks~ for the info~~~~~~

~ puff ~ puff ~

 

[Smile n' shine]

Read somewhere that e cigarettes are doing half a BILLION dollar sales in China in 2012. ~~ That's huge! ~~

~ puff ~ puff ~

Most of that courtesy of ECF members?

It is good to see the availability but I definitely agree with the others about quality set ups.

 

[wreimer]

OK...the ones currently available are generally junk. I think everyone will agree with that...BUT, and this is a big "but"...THEY ARE AVAILABLE AND VISIBLE. Is it not better for vaping as a whole to have a product, ANY product, visible and available in mainstream locations to get people thinking about, and hopefully researching further and finding better quality systems through sites like this?
What we've had up to this point are for the most part tech savvy smokers, actively looking for an alternative to analogs. With even the low end e-cigs out in larger chain stores, people who might not be as tech savvy, especially those who have no knowledge watsoever about e-cigs very existance, Seeing them, maybe trying them, maybe not, but hopefully piqueing thier interest enough to google e-cigs when they get home.
In a perfect world it would be great to see all these retailers carrying something like entry level ego kits, a decent selection of juices both with and without nicotine, etc. but I think we're a ways away from that point. Personally, I'd much rather see increased awareness among smokers than none at all. Maybe instead of the constant "gloom and doom" outlook, we should be trying to see things like this as an admittedly poor advancement in awareness, but an advancement nontheless. In the last month, I've had five people come up to me and ask me if my GG was "like those ones they sell in 7-11". FIVE times in a month....and before that, it never happened to me...not even once. People would just look at me oddly, or suspiciously. Now, I've had the chance to explain to five perspective vapers the differences between the 7-11 versions and products that are actually good, functional and dependable alternatives to analogs.
I see that as a VERY positive thing

 

[darren molnar]

Initially I was a bit negative about the ecigs showing up at convenience stores and gas stations. But nowadays nearly everyone walks around with a Google in their pants, and I think that changes things a lot.

When I google smoke nv, an ECF thread shows up on page one, and in that thread the first page has links to Canadian suppliers selling the stuff we all know and love and would recommend to starters. So I think even the laziest of searches has the potential of showing what's good out there.

,,,,,So Canadian venders, when I google smoke nv, why don't your sites show up on page one? I'm not a web designer guy, but I thought it used to be that site designers could manipulate things to get their sites to show up on other related searches with key word additions or such like that?

 

[darren molnar]

Ah, as I was slowly typing I see that wreimer was saying very much the same thing as I just did, funny when that happens!

 

[dhdonline1]

My first pv was one similar to this one. It was around $30 for the kit and $10 for a 10 pack of cartridges. It was an "Health e-cigarette" and complete crap. Tasted like crap. Performed like crap! Do I regret buying it? NO! It got me started in the vaping world, and now own 3, with a 4th planned, multiple cartos, clearos and juice. Will be starting diy juice this week. Haha may as well jump in with both feet!

I am happy to see gas stations and major retailers starting to sell ecigs. I would like to see better ones, but then they would take a decent starter kit we can get for under $50 and sell for 100+. So, selling these cheaper units it hopefully do what it did for me. A start to see what they are all about!

 

[X P3 Flight Engineer]

Since anyone who purchases one of these has shown a curiosity, at least, about e-cigs we should willingly try to be of help and of course make them aware of ECF.

They can make their own decisions once they find they have access to all the information in the world!

 

[gewain]

OK...the ones currently available are generally junk. I think everyone will agree with that...BUT, and this is a big "but"...THEY ARE AVAILABLE AND VISIBLE.

Thanks wreimer for making my point so much better than I could. Another benefit we hopefully see is Health Canada not pressing Canada Customs to harass us when our hardware comes across the border. It's obvious that these are just overpriced junk but hopefully it won't be long before the "real" stuff comes to market at reasonable prices. We will then only have to worry about nic.

 

[Toronto_Mike]

I see a huge opportunity for Canadian Vendors to do door-to-door sales with your local corner store. Well, it's a bit more complex than that. Let's say, a vendor approached an independant corner store with an owner who smokes. 1st step would be to turn the owner onto vaping & then supply his store with a small order on consignment. The owner can always choose to sell non nic or with nic.

The corner store near my house sells illegal movie dvd's right on his counter. Let's face it, a lot of independant store owners look the other way at the legal stuff. Some of them in Quebec are selling contraband cigs.

For the customer, who walks into the store & see's the owner puffing away on an ego would be mind blowing. What a way to promote ecigs to it's target market - "the smoker". Just a thought.

 

[X P3 Flight Engineer]

For the customer, who walks into the store & see's the owner puffing away on an ego would be mind blowing. What a way to promote ecigs to it's target market - "the smoker". Just a thought.

For many small stores tobacco pays the bills. They may not be happy to lose a steady income that a smoker provides.

A store that didn't sell cigarettes would be more likely to add an income source like e-cigs.

 

[VIVAP2]

I see a huge opportunity for Canadian Vendors to do door-to-door sales with your local corner store. Well, it's a bit more complex than that. Let's say, a vendor approached an independant corner store with an owner who smokes. 1st step would be to turn the owner onto vaping & then supply his store with a small order on consignment. The owner can always choose to sell non nic or with nic.

The corner store near my house sells illegal movie dvd's right on his counter. Let's face it, a lot of independant store owners look the other way at the legal stuff. Some of them in Quebec are selling contraband cigs.

For the customer, who walks into the store & see's the owner puffing away on an ego would be mind blowing. What a way to promote ecigs to it's target market - "the smoker". Just a thought.

Many will buy a kit, use it for few weeks, and then go back buying packs of cigarettes and tell friends that even with nic, it's still not fully satisfying the craving of a real cigarette. Not good for the business. The secret of the success is in building a community, I beleive. Vapers encouraging and supporting vapers.

 

[vise]

Many will buy a kit, use it for few weeks, and then go back buying packs of cigarettes and tell friends that even with nic, it's still not fully satisfying the craving of a real cigarette. Not good for the business. The secret of the success is in building a community, I beleive. Vapers encouraging and supporting vapers.

That may be true, but every community has to start somewhere, be it on the internet, or the corner store.

 

[Toronto_Mike]

For many small stores tobacco pays the bills. They may not be happy to lose a steady income that a smoker provides. .

True, but they would only be converting one smoker at a time - it will take years to build up a client base & the corner store that sells e-cigs & e-juice will spread to the smokers friends & family. Also - there is a lot more profit in e-cigs to make, compared to selling cigarettes right now because there is no government tax. Some vendors are selling a $3 bottle of Dekang for $15.

 

[Toronto_Mike]

Many will buy a kit, use it for few weeks, and then go back buying packs of cigarettes and tell friends that even with nic, it's still not fully satisfying the craving of a real cigarette. Not good for the business. The secret of the success is in building a community, I beleive. Vapers encouraging and supporting vapers.

The guy at the corner store is "key". He/she has to be the consultant & be able to explain the how's & why's. No doubt, they'll have to do some suggesting & answering a lot of questions.

 

[dhdonline1]

I don't think we will ever see apv's sold in corner store situations. To be honest, I am not sure that would be an ideal situation, as there is quite a bit to know to operate them well and safely!

Having said that, I hope we do see a "decent" starter kit sold in larger retailers. A good 510 kit would be nice to see! Hopefully whatever we do see being sold in retail situations pushes people to find something "better" instead of discouraging them.

Maybe some day we will see tobacco retailers getting rid of that part of their business. I think that is unlikely, as there is too much money in it for them and really no knowledge needed. If vapor products were to completely replace tobacco on a national level, I fear we would be facing the same fight as with tobacco. Tax, usage restrictions and general chastising for using the products, even though there aren't the same health risks.