A good brick and mortar is a beautiful thing. It's kind of a home base. They often can't compete with online
retailers, although sometimes they do, or nearly do, if you add shipping. It is nice to choose a blend and
take it home, period. When these places close, they tend to disappear or move to remote locations where
they become online retailers. If my local independent one-man shop ever closes, I hope he can find a
much younger guy or gal who can buy him out, and maintain the rent on a grandfathered basis. My nearby
chain store (Tinder Box) just moved within the mall and expanded their cigar humidor, but kept the pipe
display and tobacco about the same. Of course, in the mall, there's no smoking. At my independent,
there is; the disclaimer on the front door is printed in pencil -- it's the mother church of pipes.
