It's starting to sound like the stereo craze in the 70s as Japanese stereo equipment started to arrive in America. Stereo shops started to show up in strip malls. Small shops would have Marantz, Sony, Sharp, and other brands sitting on tables made from 2x4's covered with carpet. They'd have two or three 18 year olds who knew a little bit about audio and the rest they learned from reading magazines. The internet was just a dream, so only people who read those magazines knew anything at all about frequency response, DB down points, tuner sensitivity, and peak/RMS power. If you actually knew how Dolby NR worked, you were a guru.
Then, once the public started buying those systems at full blown retail plus, stores like Circuit City, Hi-Fi buys, and a raft of others moved in and the mom and pop stores folded. The big guys were buying in volume and cutting prices like mad. Finally, the big guys began to feel the pressure from Best Buy and the rest is recent history.
I see vape stores being subject to management techniques, marketing skills, and product knowledge and that only works if there's enough capital to outlast the early competition. Big Tobacco will be on every street corner in convenience stores selling cig-alikes and maybe high end eGo type ecigs with their name brand juice in cartridges. Those who switch and are brand conscious will buy convenience store products where they bought their tobacco cigarettes.
Those of us who frequent web sites and participate in forums will buy where we can find sellers who have product knowledge and can talk the talk. If you are vaping a high end VV/VW mod, sporting a tank, and re-building your own coils aren't likely to be fooled by sales pitches. Most ECF members can hold their own with the average vape shop employee and might occasionally let them in on the latest and greatest that they haven't heard about yet.
There's one vape store in my town that is worth visiting and that's Stormy's Vapor Cellar. Carolyn is a vaping veteran who's knowledgeable, personable, serious about vaping, and knows her products. She's managed to move from a basement operation into a storefront with a warehouse next door that contains the online business. She has recently opened another store in a nearby town that has jumped out and run like wildfire.
Her secret is professionalism and employee training. When you walk in there's a friendly face, a homey atmosphere, and all the right products. If you have a question about hardware, they have used it and can relate to the questions you ask and talk the talk. There are vape nights, door prizes, free coffee and a place to sit down and sip it while you talk with others. Prices are a little higher than online, but the average order comes to about what you would have paid online + shipping. That's fair.
I think the early vape shops who are established have a better chance of surviving as long as they can maintain a competitive strategy and keep trained people to attract customers, provide the guidance they need, and build the business.
