I have been living in my current home for about 7 months. Before moving here I lived in Tallahassee. Even Tally didn't have much in the way of pipes (besides the massive amount of bong stores...I mean water pipes). There was one smaller store called Jerry's Cigars. I used to go there every couple of weeks and pay my respects to the local business. I actually bought my first pipe there: a Rocky Donegal #69 with a nickel band. They also had a decent tobacco selection: a lot of house blends, some tins etc. It was small, but adequate enough.
Here in Citrus County, which is rural for sure, finding a B&M has been even harder. It seems like every store I enter has a drab OTC blend selection with a handful of Medicos, Yellow Boles, and Grabows. I happened across a place called Tobacco Depot in Homosassa during my lunch break this afternoon, and was at least okay coming out of the place. They had a very small selection of house blends; mostly aromatics. They had the usual OTC blends as well, but no tins to be seen. The pipes were the usual things you'd find, which makes me sad because nicer pipes on display might attract more customers to the habit than a bunch of Yellow Boles in ugly hanging baggies. They also had a bunch of MM Cobs and some of the Ozark hardwoods, though.
Even though the selection was far from ideal, I picked up a couple ounces of the house blends that smelled interesting: one was a Va/bur blend, the other an interesting smelling blend I don't remember the contents of. As I walked out, I noticed a glass case that had some reasonably priced Luciano pipes (at least I think).
Anyway, point being that I want to support local B&Ms, but it is really hard to find one that is good. I know there is an Edward's down in Tampa, but I really don't feel like driving down there all the time. I wish more of these "tobacco shops" had more in the pipe section. Unfortunately, the touristy-cigar-smoker seems to be better income for these places. :?
Here in Citrus County, which is rural for sure, finding a B&M has been even harder. It seems like every store I enter has a drab OTC blend selection with a handful of Medicos, Yellow Boles, and Grabows. I happened across a place called Tobacco Depot in Homosassa during my lunch break this afternoon, and was at least okay coming out of the place. They had a very small selection of house blends; mostly aromatics. They had the usual OTC blends as well, but no tins to be seen. The pipes were the usual things you'd find, which makes me sad because nicer pipes on display might attract more customers to the habit than a bunch of Yellow Boles in ugly hanging baggies. They also had a bunch of MM Cobs and some of the Ozark hardwoods, though.
Even though the selection was far from ideal, I picked up a couple ounces of the house blends that smelled interesting: one was a Va/bur blend, the other an interesting smelling blend I don't remember the contents of. As I walked out, I noticed a glass case that had some reasonably priced Luciano pipes (at least I think).
Anyway, point being that I want to support local B&Ms, but it is really hard to find one that is good. I know there is an Edward's down in Tampa, but I really don't feel like driving down there all the time. I wish more of these "tobacco shops" had more in the pipe section. Unfortunately, the touristy-cigar-smoker seems to be better income for these places. :?