Hard to Support B&M.

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psychpipes

Can't Leave
Sep 4, 2013
321
102
36
Nature Coast of Florida
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. :?

 

lurch76

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 2, 2013
166
0
It is the same way where I live. The only "tobacconists" in my area are discount cigarette stores. I have to drive an hour in either direction to go to a true tobacconist. I have family near both of those B&M's so it's not inconvenient.

 

leparker

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 22, 2014
224
0
Weyers Cave, VA
I agree, so many have made cigars their major focus and kinda forgot about pipes. My local is going to get some of my favorites for me. Hope he starts to stock more, he does have some decent tins but not a great selection. I would like to start a pipe club there and get the members to persuade (pressure) him to keep a good assortment of tobacco and some good pipes.

 

psychpipes

Can't Leave
Sep 4, 2013
321
102
36
Nature Coast of Florida
...drab OTC blend selection with a handful of Medicos, Yellow Boles, and Grabows.
Man do I come off snobby in this. No offense of course to people that enjoy OTC blends and drug store pipes. I have a couple and never use them. I just don't like them. When they are the only thing I see in a tobacconist's store, I walk back out the door.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
I also live in FLA and I do not buy tobacco in this state. They have an 85% whole tax on pipe tobacco and a 0 % tax on cigars so I refuse to pay the stupid prices the local b/m has to charge. You are best served using one of the sites sponsors for your tobacco needs.

 
There is a new cigar shop opening up just down the road. But, when I walked in, they quickly told me that they were not going to carry anything for pipes.
Knowing that we have a substantial pipe community growing here, with about 1/10 of the cars having a guy with a pipe in his mouth, I asked him why he wasn't going to carry pipes.
He asked me if I bought pipes and tobacco online.
I said, sure.
He asked me who, and I listed off the sponsors of this site.
He said that if he wanted to carry pipe supplies, that those were the wholesalers, and they would also be his number one competitor. He said it was lose/ lose stacked in their favor.
I am guessing that established B&M's have a well rooted clientele. This keeps them in business as their suppliers are working against their interests by offering lower prices than their retailers can afford to offer. This sets price expectations way lower that possible for a B&M, and is just bad business. Unless of course the goal is to drive out the B&M market altogether.
It's good for us (the pipe smokers) though, as we get lower than normal pricing, but we lose the culture of the pipe by having places to hang out.
This is not exclusive to pipes. Many areas of specialty markets are having to fight this same problem.

Until the wholesalers back out of the online market, we will be stuck with this slippery slope.

 

iliumneves

Lurker
Feb 10, 2014
30
0
I'm fortunate enough to have two stores (same owner) in walking distance with a solid selection. Only issue is the markups on tobacco. Priced a small tin of Frog Morton's Cellar at just over $18! They go for under $9 at pipesandcigars.com. I understand a little markup and I'm willing to pay it to support local. That is just way too high.

 

apatim

Can't Leave
Feb 17, 2014
497
0
Jacksonville, FL
I here you, psychpipes. There are quite a few up here in Jacksonville but, to my knowledge, all but one cater to cigars only. There is one small shop near me that advertises as having the larges selection of pipes and pipe tobaccos in the region but it doesn't take much to have the largest when the others have none.
Since starting the pipe hobby, I've only visited that shop once. They have maybe 100 different pipes... most are fairly high priced. I didn't check out their tobacco selection so I don't know what kind of selection they carry. I plan to visit again, soon, now that I have a little more knowledge/experience. I've picked up 9 pipes from the internet so far and about a dozen different blends.
Hopefully the local B&M will surprise and please me. I'd like to support them but not if it is going to cost me a lot more.

 

zekest

Lifer
Apr 1, 2013
1,136
9
So I wonder...if states, one-by-one, go the route of Washington State and make shipping pipe tobacco to them illegal, will that create a need for local tobacco shops, or signal the birth of Tobbacogeddon.

 

aquilas

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 3, 2013
212
1
I can understand the pain there, Psych. In my local area, there are no tobacco shops. There are smoke shops, selling everything from cigars to bongs to condoms to Arizona Iced Teas. The nearest pipe tobacco shops are about 20-30 minutes away each and I try to go there as often as I can. One of them, I try to frequent often because they have a free lounge (the other place charges), although they don't have much in the way of pipe tobacco...nice pipe selection though, held a $1200 pipe there.
Anyways, I'd say, if anything, even if you're buying small stuff like an ounce of tobacco or a tamper or some cleaners, you're still supporting your local b&ms. Who knows, maybe they don't have much in the way of pipes/tobacco because they don't have a market for it, but since you'll be buying stuff there from now on, they mgiht be able to expand little by little.

 
Apr 26, 2012
3,348
5,142
Washington State
In my local area of WA state I have a discount tobacco shop which sells mainly cigarettes but does have a very small selection of cigars. They do have roll your own tobacco, but they don't even have normal OTC blends. No SWR, no CH, no CB... nothing like that. Really weird. The neighboring town has two cigar shops. One has a decent selection of bulk tobacco's but they are mainly Peter Stokkebye and Lane Limited blends. They have a small assortment of pipes too, but 90% of the business is cigars and has been since they opened many years ago. There is another cigar shop which is all cigars except for one large garbage bag full of Lane 1Q. If I want to find a shop that has a good assortment of pipes and pipe tobacco I have to drive across the river to Oregon. There is a cool shop over there that I visit every few months and pick up some tins, but its not some place I travel to enough to really support. I do visit the local shops here and at least buy a cigar or two to help give them some support.
Here in WA the tobacco taxes on tin tobacco is so outrageous. I saw a tin of Sutliff Private Stock which typically sells for $6.95 on most internet distributors; it was being sold for $17. Its crazy. That's why they don't ever sell tin tobacco and just stick to bulks.

 

plateauguy

Lifer
Mar 19, 2013
2,412
18
Washington state tobacco tax is at 95%. Add that to hard to find a B&M and it's tough to smoke a pipe here.
The closest B&M is an hour away from my home - the Tinderbox on Hosmer in Tacoma. It's an excellent store but not on par with Iwan Ries. Frankly, I'm surprised that there are any B&Ms here, plenty of bong shops though.
Hey Metal, are you talking about Rich's Tobacco Shop in Portland?

 
In the beginning of the Patriot Act type laws, proactive Florida tried to pass a law saying that I had to send them a copy of merchant information on precious metals that I sold via the internet to the states revenue services. My lawyer told me to just ignore it, that it was unenforceable garbledy goop. And, in talking to other jewelers, they were told the same.
This Washington law may just be a case of self-compliance by some vendors. I'll have to ask one of my customers that is a postmaster here. But, I don't know for certain. It just seems silly. They would have to utilize the FBI or some other federal law enforcement to get someone across state lines.

 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,317
11,073
Maryland
postimg.cc
If you are fortunate to have a good B&M, support the heck out of it. I'm lucky and travel past 4-5 great shops on the East Coast regularly enough to keep my tobacco stocked up. Because of this I don't have to do mail order and would rather pay a few bucks more for a tin, just to keep these shops available to me.

Sadly, like Harris, and because of the 30% tobacco tax in Maryland, I rarely use the two great shops in Maryland that I also travel past (Faders & The Annapolis Smoke Shop). I do try to get there 2-3 times per year and buy some of their bulk blends, but the majority of my purchases comes from tobacco-friendly PA.

 
Jan 8, 2013
1,189
3
I doubt anyone heavily enforces it cosmic, but I know when I asked at the post office the other day I was told that it couldn't be shipped into, or out of state. The only exception being small quantities to APO addresses. Either way, I am ten minutes from a B&M, but the smoking laws prohibit me from enjoying that to the fullest as well. Looking forward to moving back south.

 

allan

Lifer
Dec 5, 2012
2,429
7
Bronx, NY
When I go into NYC I try to stop at a local shop and buy a tin or some other supply even though it is way more than 2 times the price of online.
But, they have a place to smoke and sit and schmooze with other patrons (mostly cigar smokers) so it is worth it to me.
It's a tough road for a retailer to follow. The laws are stacked against them and I really feel for them.

 

ithelouniverse

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 30, 2013
513
0
West Texas
Our B & M is incredible! The owner is second gen and very very active in the pipe lifestyle. In fact, he goes to trade shows instead of bulk ordering the new pipes. He hand selectes everything he going to sell to make sure it's up to par. The only exception is his Turkish Meers, but he only recently stopped hand selecting them because he's now done business with the same vendor for 31 years. The mark up on pipes is almost non existent and the markup on tins is very reasonable. The staff are incredibly friendly and the lounge area has a fully stocked fridge and pantry, keurig coffee machine, a zillion different tea blends, and on top of ALL THAT he sells awesome shave supplies
Best of all he gives back to the community. He helped send two high schools bands on trips, one to Ireland and the other to Florida. He always passes the hat for people in need, and sends cigars to troops overseas. Great place to relax.

 

rmbittner

Lifer
Dec 12, 2012
2,759
1,994
I live six hours away from this shop -- so it's hardly my "local" B&M -- but whenever I'm traveling back to my hometown in Southern Illinois, I make a point to stop at Jon's Pipe Shop in Champaign, IL. This is the best B&M I've ever seen: Dozens and dozens of tinned blends, an array of jarred blends (including some they do themselves), and literally hundreds of pipes.
The shop is fairly small, and like many successful pipe shops it's located in a major university town. (The University of Illinois is only a couple of blocks away.) It's in the heart of downtown, so it's very well situated for walk-in traffic. But what really helps this shop survive, in my opinion, is their huge collection of estate pipes. They do all the restoration work themselves, and their stock is amazing. If you don't see what you're looking for, ask -- and they'll bring boxes loaded with pipes from the back. And the guys that work there are a blast to talk to and just hang out with. To me, this is an old-fashioned kind of shop that really focuses on pipes and pipe tobacco, with only a nod to the cigar guys. It's a treasure, and I'd highly recommend stopping by if you're ever traveling through Southern Illinois.
Bob

 
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