A Return To The Valley Of Darkness

ruger414 · May 16, 2014

This past week I returned home from college for the summer. I live in a very small town in the eastern part of California where there are apparently no pipe smokers. I walked into the only tobacco store within a 50 mile radius of me and found exactly what I expected: a huge case filled with glass pipes, a wall of e-cigs, and a large number of cigarettes. I asked the woman at the counter if they had any pipe tobacco or accessories and she said "of course!" and led me to a single box containing two pouches of Borkum Riff and another pouch of Bugler (which I thought was a "roll-your-own" kind of thing). She then showed me a few unnamed wooden pipes (definitely not briar) with metal bowls and a cardboard display of "The Original Corn Cob Pipe" which are made in China and aren't original at all. The one useful thing in that store was a bottle of Zippo lighter fluid which I bought and then quickly left.
This is the only tobacco store within miles of me... It's going to be a long summer... :crying:
On a good note, the second I got home for that disappointing adventure I placed an order with smokingpipes.com for some Capstan Blue, Orlik Golden Sliced, GLP Gaslight, and GLP Odyssey :puffpipe:

kanaka95 · May 16, 2014

Dam ruger414 Why does it have to be that way.I feel your pain.Hear ya on the 50 mile radius.I'm about 50-55 miles from the nearest tobacco store my self.The stores here have a lot of tobacco but its all roll your own cigarette type blends.Nothing else.It sucks.But I do have a little better option if i do go to the B&M.I can choose from 3 different blends.(LOL)lanes 1q,Another type of lanes dark black Cavendish,And one with no name on it.That's it.They do have a small selection of pipes not sure if they are briar.Went there twice and realized that 4noggins,smokingpipes,and pipes and cigars were the best go to places for tobacco needs.Especially since i don't need to leave home fight traffic and run into grouchy people.Plus the prices are great.Good selection of baccys you ordered there.Keep puffin on.

ravenwolf · May 16, 2014

That's terrible. How far we have fallen...
Thankfully, we have the etailers for those of us in such situations. Good choices that you picked out! : puffy

:

novicemaker · May 16, 2014

In my nick of the woods i have a few "small" smoke shops and about 30 or so miles away there is a bigger cigar store that also caters to pipers. Has a good selection of the big names like dunhill for pipes and have the major tobacco brands but that's about it and the prices are crazy because its in a mall and its suppose to cater to higher end buyers as the area in which the mall is is near 3/4 of a million dollar homes and up.

topd · May 16, 2014

Years ago when Malls became popular around the country, (the U.S.) every single one I ever went into had a pipe and cigar store. I bought my first meerschaum and some Dunhill tobacco at a kiosk in the mall in Savannah, but they have gone the way of the dinosaur. There are no tobacco stores within driving distance of here, South West Arkansas. Whenever we go on a trip, I always look on-line for a real walk-in B&M I can visit.

numbersix · May 16, 2014

Sorry to hear it ruger. I had a similar thing happen to me. A new "Pipe Shop" opened up near me. Their logo was a traditional bent briar - so I go in and all they have are bongs and e-cigs. Talk about bogus advertising!
I have nothing against bongs and related paraphernalia, but c'mon! Stop pretending your a real pipe shop.
:evil:

bulletsnbriars · May 16, 2014

I've been very fortunate to always live near good baccy stores... Until now. My home town in montana had an enormous drive up store mostly stocked with cigarettes; but a decent variety of pipes and cigars. Shortly before I moved away, a true humidor store moved in with an excellent selection of both. Than, I moved to Nashville with numerous cigar lounges and two dedicated pipe stores, one of them being the famous Uptown's, which I still haven't visited yet. Now.... I'm in North Dakota. *sigh* Youd think the old timers would smoke some pipes, but no. Most stores don't even carry RYO baccy, it's all cigarettes and chew. I found a store that sells MM Cobs, but it must be for potheads cuz there was no baccy to match. Thank God for online shopping.

ruger414 · May 16, 2014

Thank you all for the condolences.... :crying:
If it wasn't for online retailers I don't know how I would make it through the summer. Haha

voorhees · May 16, 2014

Hearing this I shouldn't complain too much about the shop I work at. We may only carry Lane bulk, but at least we have that and we have real MM cobs and a few Medico pipes on display.

cosmicfolklore · May 16, 2014

Maybe, just maybe, if there weren't online retailers, there'd be a B&M near you. Does the dog wag the tail or the tail wag the dog? Smokingpipes.com is one of the B&M's only wholesalers for several brands of pipes and a few brands of tobaccos, and it can become very unfair when a wholesalers compete with their retailers, because there's no way a retailer can beat the prices. It's an unfair advantage.
I have to deal with this in my own non-pipe field. And, maybe, just maybe it's not the law makers, not the public, but our own greed that has put a lot of these B&M's out of business, or at least have been big contributors.

tlag77 · May 16, 2014

Maybe, just maybe, if there weren't online retailers, there'd be a B&M near you.

Great point to ponder, that's for sure.

cosmicfolklore · May 16, 2014

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In talking to several B&M owners... I predict that it will be hard to find a new Savinelli pipe, or GLP brands, or C&D blends in B&M's in the near future.

pipesinperu · May 16, 2014

Maybe, just maybe, if there weren't online retailers, there'd be a B&M near you. Does the dog wag the tail or the tail wag the dog?

Good point. Just look at book stores if you want to see how that whole thing plays out.

Smokingpipes.com is one of the B&M's only wholesalers for several brands of pipes and a few brands of tobaccos, and it can become very unfair when a wholesalers compete with their retailers, because there's no way a retailer can beat the prices. It's an unfair advantage.

Interesting. I'm new to the forum and the hobby, but had picked up on what I sensed to be an unspoken preference among many members for P&C or 4noggins, and a bias against SPC. Is this why? Or am I imagining things?

bulletsnbriars · May 16, 2014

@pipesinperu, I just pick the site that has the most tobaccos I want at the moment. P&C is a great site, but they have a lot of blends backordered, so I think my next TAD will be elsewhere.

cosmicfolklore · May 16, 2014

On here, I don't think there is a bias.

pipesinperu · May 16, 2014

@bulletsnbriars I'm not living in the U.S. at the moment, so P&C is out for me, unfortunately, because they have some good deals. So it's between SPC and 4noggins.
It's expensive to have stuff shipped here, so I can't place orders very often, but my first purchase was with Smokingpipes mainly because 4noggins was out of a lot of the stuff I wanted. Also, there's the pipe selection at SPC. Their customer service was fantastic and I was happy with my experience. But I'm pretty familiar with the book industry and I know how Amazon is viewed there, for instance, and what has happened to B&M book stores in the last 10-15 years. Reading this:

I predict that it will be hard to find a new Savinelli pipe, or GLP brands, or C&D blends in B&M's in the near future.

And knowing that all those brands have some connection to SPC, I thought maybe there was an issue of B&M's and others not being able to compete, and this causing some conflict. Of course, one major difference that seems obvious even to a newcomer like me is that SPC seems like it's run by people who know and love the hobby, whereas Amazon sells diapers and flashlights and whatever else you can think of. I don't think there's much of a love for books there, but more of an intent to steamroll over all the competition in all the areas they dip their hands into (which is pretty much everything). But I guess that's a rant for another day and maybe another forum!

cmdrmcbragg · May 16, 2014

I count myself lucky having a B&M (Prince Philips) about 10 minutes from my house, a really well established one (Edwards) about 25 minutes away. And then Tewksbury & Co. is a 10-15 minute walk from my college campus. Plus there is P&C and others. I only buy from the B&M if I want a tin right away or I want one of the house blends, otherwise I probably wouldn't go very often. Edward's has the best tin selection as well as tons of pipes, a decent sized lounge and a very large walk in humidor.

cosmicfolklore · May 16, 2014

I've made that very same rant before, LOL. I know it is the way of things. But, what strikes me a the most stupid things posted are when people come on here and post that they think its OUTRAGEOUS that their B&M is several dollars more expensive than the online folks, when their B&M's have to go through some of those guys to get the very same products. Like a guy can't make a buck or two to keep the dam doors open, lol, much-less buy some food to stay alive.
I totally understand the mixed messages of lamenting the deaths of the B&Ms but praising the rise of online venues. I "get" that, but its just as important to keep in mind that the two things are related. We are killing the B&M's. We should own it.

kanaka95 · May 16, 2014

Junkyarddawg +1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1 you guys get the point.

rangerearthpig · May 16, 2014

We have two tobacco shops in my town. They are nothing more than head shops with a few porn magazines. I went in one once. Never again.
I have a choice of driving over 100 miles or ordering my pipe gear online. I shop online.

A Return To The Valley Of Darkness

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