I Hate to Post This..Briar Patch Closing

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brian64

Lifer
Jan 31, 2011
9,604
14,671
Sure, businesses do have to adapt to changing conditions.
But I'll take the word of those directly involved until and unless it is shown to be in some way inaccurate or untrue:
Due to the continued aggressive anti-tobacco policies of the City of Sacramento and the State of California, we are no longer able to continue operations. The recent passing of the flavored tobacco ban by the City of Sacramento makes it impossible for the Briar Patch to remain viable. In addition to the local legislative impediments, the FDA and Federal Government continue to impose new regulations on the industry increasing costs nationwide. The onslaught of legislation has caused many increases in the cost of doing business, due mostly to increased license fees and compliance costs, that we can no longer keep up. We wish this were not the case, and we hope that in the future consenting adults are still allowed to enjoy the use of tobacco without further taxation and regulation.
No business should have to "adapt" to punitive taxation or legislation regarding "flavors" and "protecting children". We all know that's total bullshit. Few things are more disgusting than invoking the protection of children as a cynical way to push an agenda that actually has nothing to do with protecting children.
Those types of hurdles should never occur. It is quasi-criminalization of a business. Not sure how they're supposed to "adapt" to that.
EDIT: IMO, all sales taxes should be the same standard amount on any legal product. Using taxation as a means of penalizing one product over another is indefensible. Same goes for all of the "compliance costs" as mentioned above. All of that type of penalizing and strangling of a legal business is what should never occur imo.
Either it's legal or it's not.

 
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Jan 8, 2013
7,493
733
Sad news. I hate to hear of a B&M closing down. It's sad, and it's disgusting. It's getting harder and harder to enjoy tobacco and relax in some places, while it's getting easier and easier to smoke pot, get high. Everything is going upside down.

 

codyl

Lurker
Mar 28, 2018
7
1
The Briar Patch's own statement said their planned closing is the result of regulatory changes, both local and federal. I tend to take them at their word. How can anyone reasonably expect a company to continue to adapt to a business climate like that being imposed on the business? Even if the company could adapt today, there is no telling what significant adaptation will be required next month and next year. There is simply no end to the anti-tobacco craziness that does not include a ban on all tobacco use. At some point a company has to make a decision that the business is no longer viable given the climate. As far as California, I need only say there is cultural cognitive dissonance where Sacramento feels the need to ban flavored tobacco sales because of children that already by age statute cannot legally purchase tobacco and San Francisco, which is not far, that gives free needles to drug addicts (resulting in tens of thousands of used needles being left on the streets monthly) and has a poop patrol because it accepts people crapping on the streets. Combustion of tobacco is bad, combustion of Marijuana is good, free needles for drug addicts, and pooping in the streets is accepted...but flavored tobacco must be illegal for the sake of the children. (Sarcasm) Yes, it is likely Briar Patch's fault for failure to adapt to the craziness of California in addition to the FDAs deeming regulations on pipe tobacco and tobacco products.

 
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sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,632
44,859
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Few things are more disgusting than invoking the protection of children as a cynical way to push an agenda that actually has nothing to do with protecting children.
Yeah, not so sure that's entirely true. To some degree the "save the kiddies" is a useful tug at the heart strings, but there are also people who have a genuine concern for kid's health issues. Tobacco seems to be an easier target than the junk food being propagated in various school systems. The junk food industry has better lobbyists.
Those types of hurdles should never occur. It is quasi-criminalization of a business. Not sure how they're supposed to "adapt" to that.
Yeah, that's difficult. But there are always options. Relocate the business, sell something "different" to smoke that's the flavor of the day. Figure something out if you want to keep the business going. Do something different? Long before Thorens was a maker of high end electronics and stereo gear, it was a make of designer cigarette lighters. Should one have to do that? I'd like to think not, but that's a fantasy.
My shop was equipped like a small art supply. Hundreds of brushes, pots of paint, easels, board, pencils, etc, etc, tens of thousands of dollars in equipment, and I could see the advancing change that was coming so I adapted to it. And that change accelerated so that when the switch over arrived, it wasn't a matter of months, it was literally a matter of a few weeks. All that gear has been gathering dust for the past 26 years, replaced by a computer and a graphics tablet. Some of my clients adapted and others went out of business. I taught hundreds of people new skills so that they could stay employed.
My grandfather switched from being a harness maker to auto repair.
Complaining about getting wet from the coming tsunami won't change anything.

 

brian64

Lifer
Jan 31, 2011
9,604
14,671
^ Everything you're describing regarding the general concept of a business adapting to survive is of course true.
But perhaps a particular business owner just isn't interested in changing the nature of their business. Perhaps they are not in business solely for the purpose of surviving and making money.
Perhaps they actually have an abiding interest and love for the particular product or service that they've chosen. I'm reminded of a line in a Don Henley song (A Month of Sundays) regarding the plight of the small family farm:
Folks these days just don't do nothing simply for the love of it.
If for a shop like Briar Patch adapting and surviving was the sole aim, I would say they'd be best off getting out of tobacco altogether.
Maybe they could open a candy store and then have no problem selling all of the FDA approved aspartame-laced children's candies...you know, just to contribute to the general health of children and still make money at the same time.
"Flavored" pipe tobacco has exactly zero impact on the health of children. But perhaps I'm mistaken...maybe Sacramento children are sneaking into pipe shops wearing fake mustaches and purchasing Captain Black and Dr. Grabows.

 
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jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,570
27,079
Carmel Valley, CA
A little more on the lighter side: Jesse- How many sable brushes do you own? Are you able to use any of the "vintage gear" in today's work?

 

xingpao

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 11, 2019
119
89
As I stated in the proposed legislation thread, I think the banning of flavored tobacco is a huge issue because so many blends are cased or topped.
On Pease's website FAQ he even refers to them as flavorings and the potential for utter destruction of the hobby is there. If a nationwide flavored tobacco ban is put into place, I am sure some companies will remain, but most will lose the ability to sell their largest money makers.
I do not know the Sacremento situation up close, but I cannot see any pipe store taking a chance that selling some goopy tin is going to put them at odds with the law.
Seriously, there is no loophole for personal sales, so how will you obtain any cased blends you don't already own?

 

olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,033
14,644
The Arm of Orion
My grandfather switched from being a harness maker to auto repair.

Perfectly doable in your grandfather's time when all one needed to find an occupation was willingness to work and learn. Not anymore. Nowadays even menial jobs require tons of BS certifications, diplomas or university degrees, simply to get considered for the position. Starting out your own business is not much better: it also requires tons of permits, fees, and insurance, even before we get into the lotsa cash you need to spend on marketing.
I've been out of work for years now. Check the job postings daily and find... nada. Even for those jobs for which I'm qualified, the BS requirements kill the deal, or I'm too old. S'posedly it's illegal to discriminate based on age, but they do it anyway: there's even a gov't program that gives subsidies to business to hire personnel but they must be below 30 years old. Yeah, I can see my local tobacconist applying. :roll:

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,632
44,859
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
But perhaps a particular business owner just isn't interested in changing the nature of their business. Perhaps they are not in business solely for the purpose of surviving and making money.
Perhaps they actually have an abiding interest and love for the particular product or service that they've chosen. I'm reminded of a line in a Don Henley song (A Month of Sundays) regarding the plight of the small family farm:
Folks these days just don't do nothing simply for the love of it.
Then they either find a new location that is friendlier or choose to shut down and go do something else. My choice to retool was far less about money than that I loved what I was doing. I have always wanted to work in the arts, loved working in animation and visual effects, and had been made very aware how long the odds were that I would ever get to do so.
If I wanted to continue to do what I loved doing I had to adapt to that changing environment, simple as that. But that change wasn't free. My first computer, a Quadra 950, cost more than $8,000 and came with a mighty 8mb of RAM. 16MB chips were $750 apiece. The Wacom graphics tablet ran $3500. Disc storage ran about $2000 per gigabyte, unless you went with cheaper drives, which were really unreliable back then. Applications, like Photoshop, weren't cheap, and they were crap compared to what I could do with a brush and paint. I could have made a substantial down payment on a house for what I spent of retooling in 1992. Working in a digital painting environment was like being shackled. Over the years I figured out ways to make it work and developed tools for painting as the software moved beyond rudimentary. I hated the technology, but accepted it as necessary if I wanted to continue doing what I loved to do. That was the choice if I wanted to continue to do what I loved doing.
A little more on the lighter side: Jesse- How many sable brushes do you own? Are you able to use any of the "vintage gear" in today's work?
John, I don't know the exact number, but I would guess about 150 or so, of various types and sizes. I found that brushes could do different things based on what stage of use they were at, so I had well used and worn brushes that could produce painting effects that fresh brushes could not, and vice versa. And many of those brushes were expensive, $25 and more per brush. I still have a Windsor & Newton 2" wide sable that I used to use for knocking in skies on my matte paintings it's not even offered anymore because few people could afford to buy one.
As for the 2nd part of your question, it's been several years since I had occasion to use any of that old gear. But once I hang it up, I'll see what's still viable in the stuff I prepped for storage and stored away, and start painting again for my own pleasure. The paints alone would cost many thousands of dollars to replace.
S'posedly it's illegal to discriminate based on age, but they do it anyway
Ageism is a huge problem and it's rampant in my industry. I was warned that it would get harder to be hired after hitting 40 because of the obsession with creating for a young target audience. I passed that milestone more than 25 years ago, so so much for that.
My career has had its up and downs. I co-founded a division at WB only to see it shut down as a casualty of a political struggle among people far higher on the food chain than I. A few years later I was the Xerox copy boy at WB Animation, working at 20% of what I had once been paid and happy to get it. Because I had held some pretty high positions, people would refuse to hire me because they thought that I was "overqualified". What a load of bullshit. As I've told a few interviewers, the only thing for which I'm overqualified is unemployment. A job is an opportunity. After a turbulent couple of years, I've been back doing what I love to do for the past 18 years.

 

instymp

Lifer
Jul 30, 2012
2,420
1,029
Unless you have owned and operated your own business you have no idea what they are talking about.

 

stbruno70

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 9, 2013
580
238
How sad to hear this news.
Whenever I would go to Sacto on business, I would be sure to drop in. All their locations were classy, and well stocked. I remember years ago some very high-end Japanese pipes with amazing birds eye and glass jars bursting with baccy, including Penzance and Stonehaven.
Ron Michelson was always a joy to chat with, as he was both engaging and highly knowledgeable.
I wish them well in their future endeavours.

 

ashdigger

Lifer
Jul 30, 2016
11,379
70,058
60
Vegas Baby!!!
Unless you have owned and operated your own business you have no idea what they are talking about
I absolutely agree with this.
Jesse, I mean this respectively, you changed to keep up, you weren't fighting the local, state and federal government. You were adapting to your industry.

 

brian64

Lifer
Jan 31, 2011
9,604
14,671
^ Exactly.
If it was only the market shifting, then that would just be the way things go.
But when a particular business is singled out and targeted with punitive measures it's a completely different thing.
As I said before, either it's legal or it's not. Either charge them with a crime or take off the handcuffs.
EDIT: and of course, when I say "particular business" I'm saying that in context of my previous comments. I'm not just talking about their individual business but about punitive taxation and compliance costs on tobacco dealers in general.
If there's one thing I would think every reasonable person should agree on it's that taxation should never be used to penalize a particular legal product. It should all be standard across the board...whether you're selling tobacco or mouse traps.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,632
44,859
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Jesse, I mean this respectively, you changed to keep up, you weren't fighting the local, state and federal government. You were adapting to your industry.
That's true, but for 12 years I was my own little company, and when David Stockman came up with the total insanity of forcing people like me to estimate how much of a tube of how many paints I used per painting, how much wear and tear each brush went through in order to declare expenses, I and a bunch of others went through merry hell.
Nobody was supplying me with equipment. That all came out of pocket for handling my own shop work and later my freelance work.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,570
27,079
Carmel Valley, CA
How sad to hear this news.
Whenever I would go to Sacto on business, I would be sure to drop in. All their locations were classy, and well stocked. I remember years ago some very high-end Japanese pipes with amazing birds eye and glass jars bursting with baccy, including Penzance and Stonehaven.
Ron Michelson was always a joy to chat with, as he was both engaging and highly knowledgeable.
I wish them well in their future endeavours.
Indeed, all best wishes to them.
I believe Ron retired before they closed the first branch about four years ago. Fine fellow.

 

ashdigger

Lifer
Jul 30, 2016
11,379
70,058
60
Vegas Baby!!!
Jesse, okay, so David Stockman sounds like a prick, but he's not the enforcer the local, county, state or federal government is.
It's not an adapt or die issue. At. Fucking. All.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,632
44,859
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
It's not an adapt or die issue. At. Fucking. All.
No, that's true. The Visual FX industry had to deal with the major studios who pretty much killed off most of the FX houses by driving them into bankruptcy. A different form of the same thing, just done in the private sector. Which is why I left the FX business and shifted into animation.

 

canucklehead

Lifer
Aug 1, 2018
2,863
15,323
Alberta
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
C. S. Lewis

 

brian64

Lifer
Jan 31, 2011
9,604
14,671
It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.
And what's even worse yet is what we have.
An army of morons omnipotent moral busybodies who don't even understand that they're being used for the purposes of the robber barons.

 

litup

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 16, 2015
722
2,206
Sacramento, CA
I'm a little late to this topic but given that the Briar Patch is my "home" brick and mortar store where I've attended dozens of pipe club meetings I wanted to start by saying that this news broke my heart. But it was like saying goodbye to a loved one that had been slowly dying. It's not a shock when it happens, but it's no less sad.
I know that for years the political climate has been making it more difficult for the owners of the Briar Patch to run a successful business. I won't pretend to know anything about their balance sheet but I do know that guys like me would have been their target customer and I know that because of rent and taxes they couldn't offer competitive prices on pipes or tins. So much of my P&T budget went out of state. I think it's safe to assume that anyone with internet access in Sacramento was likely doing the same.
In my humble opinion, the letter written by the owners was a good "screw you" to Sacramento and California politics in general. But it wasn't the sum total of why they closed. For one, this new ban doesn't even go into effect until January. They could have continued operating through the rest of the year without any change if it were just the flavor ban. Secondly, the owners have lived out of state for a while now and if operating a B&M was really their passion, they'd likely have chosen to live in the same state they ran their business. I think this ban was the proverbial straw capable of breaking Joe Camel's back. But it was also good cover for some people looking to get out of the business.

 
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