Local Tobacco Shop

My area has few options for tobacco shops. Small shop on the island primarily caters to the cigar crowd, but does have a small selection of bulk pipe tobacco and accessories. I stopped in this afternoon looking to get 1/2 pound of Lane 1Q and 1/3 lb of Black Cavendish.
Looking through the pipe stuff, I saw that he had one pipe tool, I needed one so I grabbed it up. No pipe lighters so my eye moved toward tinned tobacco. Nothing really exciting, only had 5 blends and nothing really caught my attention. So I pay for my tobacco and pipe tool and thank Mr. Z. for his time.
Mr. Z. lights up a cigar and reaches behind him to the shelf, "did you bring a pipe" he says to me in a welcoming fashion. "Of course I brought a pipe" was my friendly reply. "Have you tried Nightcap?" he asks. I told him that I had not, and might consider grabbing a tin next visit.
Mr. Z. tells me to make myself at home. A brown leather sofa and two brown leather chairs wrapped around a small coffee table entice me to take the offer. He walks around the counter, plops the tin of nightcap on the table with a magic marker."Write your name on the bottom" he exclaims."I'll keep that one under the counter for next week when you come in, at least you will have something to smoke when you visit."
So, I write my name on the tin, open it, pack a bowl and enjoy an hour and a half chatting with Mr. Z. about politics, tobacco legislation and taxation along with random conversation to make the afternoon worth sharing. Got to sample Nightcap, which was a new blend for me and spend some time with old man Mr. Z. getting to know him a bit and he getting to know me. All in all, I consider today a win win. His shop is over priced, but I will return for a few bulk items, pipe cleaners and such just so I can feed a local business with some dollars.
I was treated like family and rewarded with conversation and experience of an old school tobacconist. I was very surprised he opened a tin for me to try, and expected nothing in return except for the company and a new face in one of his chairs. When I got up to leave he shook my hand, welcomed me back anytime to share a bowl with him and handed me a single pipe stand from under the counter. Nothing fancy, just a cheap plastic one, but it is nicer than the one I did not have, right?
So, thank you Mr. Z., today you earned a new customer and as time goes on perhaps the friendship of a younger individual more than willing to absorb all the information you are willing to share.
Happy smokes gang,
Carbon

Over taxed, over legislated perhaps.Over priced? Compared to internet "stores"?

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@MikeStanley, Yes to all. His price for Nightcap was $20 a tin. I can buy on line for less than $11. Bulk, per pound he is right in line with most I have seen on line. So he will get my business for anything he has that I want in bulk. As to your list....
1)I could not agree more, it has tremendous value to me

2)I believe that it is coming faster than we think it is

3)Not a matter of us letting them go, a matter of when the government kills them due to over regulation
I asked him about expanding his pipe tobacco selection, he says he only has about ten regulars that come in and buy bulk so they can make their own blends. He carries a light burley, unsweetened black cavendish, a light and a dark virginia and from time to time he orders in 4 pounds of latakia for another guy.
A history that he shared with me, and this pertains strictly to Florida. Several years ago the roll your own places popped up all over the state. They were taxed on cigarette tobacco making their business just as expensive as buying a carton of smokes at the store. So, they started using pipe tobacco to make their roll your own blends, thus making their product a lower cost value for customers.
The state was making no money on these tobacco sales, so four years ago they added the cigarette tax to pipe tobacco. Over night prices doubled and the roll your own places fell off the map. There are a few new ones opening here and there locally, but they won't last just as the others before them. The tax was added to cigars as well, adding an average of $1.10 to each cigar.
Tobacco shops like his have a lawsuit against the state and have been in limbo in the court system for three years. He also told me that the FDA is now in the tobacco game. They are trying to pass legislation so every cigar, pipe and cigarette tobacco be tested for its chemical component break down. Mr. Z. stated it would put many out of business if this passes and again, there is legal action in place to defeat it.
So, it is a catch 22 for all of us. I am not wealthy by any stretch, and like many, I need to spend my hard earned money wisely to get the most for my buck. Buying local I could acquire 1 tin with my weekly tobacco allowance, buying on line I can get 2 tins. The math is simple for me, as it is for so many others that work on a fixed budget. Monthly, I would much prefer to add 8 tins to my pile. However, I will buy loose bulk tobacco and supplies from his shop every month.
After speaking with him and discussing the taxation and legislation, it really opened my eyes to how entrenched in killing small business the government is. Not to make this a political rant, I find it very sad indeed.

If I travel north to the other island about 35 minutes we have a true tobacconist, on St. Armands Circle it is http://benningtons.com/
I have not been there yet, but I plan on going next weekend. They have been there since 1965 and it is a full service tobacconist. I am going to call tomorrow to see if I can bring a video camera and maybe talk to the them about the business, changes they have seen and about their house blends. Maybe I could put the video here if they let me. I have heard it is a very upscale place and have seen video of their Boca Raton store which is an hour south of me on another island.
Mr. Z's place is nice because it 5 minutes from the house, but driving to the island is no big deal to go to Bennington's.