I opened up my vape shop a year ago, and since then I've made friends with other vape shop owners in the area. I'm in my early 30s, I worked two jobs for years to save up enough money to start a business. I also have loans. My friends in the business are in the same spot. Are we just supposed to file for bankruptcy and end up broke and homeless? I don't have anything at all to fall back on. And let me guess, nobody at all is going to reimburse us for completely losing our livelihoods. The kicker is, I've never sold to a minor, nor have I ever sold any tainted BS THC carts.
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Wish you luck IV.
Not only are you running a business and employing people, you're running a business that helps save lives.
Most around here saw the writing on the wall. They also sell cigarettes and have moved in to CBD/hemp products. I don't think it's sustainable at this point to be strictly vape and juice anymore. You have to diversify to survive now.
I don't think that would be enough to sustain a business. Everyone is already selling CBD, not just vape shops. I've seen it in convenience stores, gas stations, video rental stores, even in an amish grocery store.
@IVvapex, I feel your pain. I hope we all will be able to sustain through the storm. Unfortunately, this has become not a health issue, but a media driven political issue.
This is a very moving testimony of another vape shop owner.
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I see CBD in local vape shops. Several carry many glass bongs, some quite pricey. I don't know if an of these shops will be allowed to sell recreational weed which was legalized recently by referendum with sales starting in months. I don't see how vape only shops stay viable wihout flavored liquid. There is a tobacco shop chain in my area with a substantial selection of vaping stuff. They mix on site. I'm sure they will survive with noticably reduced sales.
I'm in Michigan where the governor declared her emergency a week before Trump. Michigan state government gets $1.2 billion a year from tobacco. It's painfully obvious that money is what the governor cares about. Will she carry on with her publicity stunt now that the really big guns are firing? Regardless there will be lawsuits but we won't hear about those until after the actual executive orders are public so the lawyers know what to protest. I think court ordered delay deserves serious consideration for a bunch of reasons.
Any shop owners reading this thread--what are your vape customers telling you?
I'm in Michigan where the governor declared her emergency a week before Trump. Michigan state government gets $1.2 billion a year from tobacco. It's painfully obvious that money is what the governor cares about. Will she carry on with her publicity stunt now that the really big guns are firing? Regardless there will be lawsuits but we won't hear about those until after the actual executive orders are public so the lawyers know what to protest. I think court ordered delay deserves serious consideration for a bunch of reasons.
Any shop owners reading this thread--what are your vape customers telling you?
Find or contact any of the 300+ vape shops that were put out of business in Pa just a few yrs ago. Or any of the small business owners that fell to Amazon the last decade.
Diversify, yes. But cigarettes, cigars, cbd, no.
The whole cbd craze is the next target.
And the point of vaping is to be a positive to the world of smokers wanting to stop. Perhaps find a need in your community and fill that if practical. My community for example has zero bicycle repair parts available in a 20 mile radius with hundreds of little kids sitting around because they cannot get another inner tube, or a chain. For a couple of bucks for labor you can even swap out said tube and teach little johnnie how simple it is to add air when it needs air…… and sell air pumps.
Just a thought.
The whole cbd craze is the next target.
And the point of vaping is to be a positive to the world of smokers wanting to stop. Perhaps find a need in your community and fill that if practical. My community for example has zero bicycle repair parts available in a 20 mile radius with hundreds of little kids sitting around because they cannot get another inner tube, or a chain. For a couple of bucks for labor you can even swap out said tube and teach little johnnie how simple it is to add air when it needs air…… and sell air pumps.
Just a thought.
Best of luck to you. Still not clear what the FDA will do so there is still some hope.
Do diversify as best you can though. Vape shops around here are more Cannabis supply houses with bongs, pipes, Dry leaf stuff etc since they legalized it. They still have ejuice but flavored was banned. They sell 0 nic flavored and shots of nicotine to mix in it.
Do diversify as best you can though. Vape shops around here are more Cannabis supply houses with bongs, pipes, Dry leaf stuff etc since they legalized it. They still have ejuice but flavored was banned. They sell 0 nic flavored and shots of nicotine to mix in it.
Not a bad idea, actually. There's not a bicycle repair shop within 20 miles of me. I alway see customers at the one nearest me. It promotes health and helps both kids and adults.
Businesses get displaced regularly for various reasons .. I've been self-employed for over 45 years and lost track of the number of times I've had to adapt and change .. it's just the way it is ..
I hate to sound brutal, but watching the Industry and the Regulatory folks over the last few years, I personally would not have sunk a nickel of my money in it as a Business ..
I hate to sound brutal, but watching the Industry and the Regulatory folks over the last few years, I personally would not have sunk a nickel of my money in it as a Business ..
Ha! There's a whole generation of underage Juul users who don't even know what they were.
Tell em "they were like a Red Box only bigger" and they look at you all bitter beer faced and say "now that was a stupid idea".
So vape shops becoming bicycle tire repair shops seems to be the proposed solution. Brilliant, love how you guys think!
Video rental stores were huge...before cable, streaming services, and Red Box made them obsolete.
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