Sad Excuse for a B&M

05venturer · Sep 20, 2013

I was pretty excited a couple weeks ago when I drove through a town 10 miles from me and saw a sign in a store window that said "Tobacco Shop", it was late at night so I couldn't pull right in. I did though make it in on my next day off which was a day or two later. I had checked out their FB page and it showed all kinds of cigars and Peterson Pipe Tobacco tins so I was pretty excited, until I actually walked in and found that the owner of the electronics store in that building had just added a small cigar humidor (about 2 feet square) and had an entire wall of RYO tobaccos and cig making supplies. I looked and looked and finally asked "So where is your pipe tobacco?" he points me at the RYO bags (Really?). I said no I am actually looking for pipe tobacco, he then points me at a small shelf behind the counter with 5 tins of Peterson tobacco tins, all priced at $21.99 per tin!!!! He says I can order anything you want if you get me a list, I message him a list on FB and he replies within a day and says he will get back to me right away with prices. That was 8 days ago and still he has not contacted me since. What a Joke!!
OK my rant is over, thanks for listening.

rmason · Sep 20, 2013

Wow sorry about your experience, unfortunately it seems like B&Ms have to keep going into the RYO and electronic cigarette business to stay afloat.

~Ron

plateauguy · Sep 20, 2013

If I were a younger man I would open a Gentleman's Pipe Shop. It would strictly be tobacco and a good stock of pipes with decent prices. I think the demand is out there, we're all frustrated with the "smoke shops". Oh well, pipe dreams are nice.

cmdrmcbragg · Sep 20, 2013

I'm fortunate enough to have a few legit B&Ms in my area. Sounds like you went to a Smoker Friendly which was a mistake, one I have made as well. Because of that mistake I found this board and have learned greatly from my first purchase of a plastic Japanese pipe, OTC bag of baccy.

teufelhund · Sep 20, 2013

I have a really nice B&M in my city the downside being they seem to have a lot of overpriced pipes and only carry about 10 bulk blends in bins that rotate with the same vanilla and cherry stuff that always sticks around. No tins or pouches just baccy by the oz. They do have a very nice humidor and don't mind if you smoke but I'll never buy anything other than a cob there and maybe an oz or 2 something to try out. Sadly enough that will run a lot closer to $20 than the $10 it should be, but it is slowly getting filled up with various head shop items, hookah and RYO junk too. Only a matter of time til they phase out the pipes because they are definitely not their top sellers.

mp31guitar · Sep 20, 2013

So, he says "I can order it for you". Well, guess what? You can order it too.
There's a little boot shop not for from me. Really all the guy that runs it does is order the boots from a catalog and he charges an arm and a leg for them.
My point is, if I go into a store to buy something, I want it right then. Hell, I have the internet too. If I didn't want it right then I could order it too. And, cheaper at that.

allan · Sep 20, 2013

Really all the guy that runs it does is order the boots from a catalog and he charges an arm and a leg for them.

Man, I'm happy I'm going to get out of retail!

Seriously, guys, although it has mentioned many times before on the forum, B&M's are faced with taxation which in my opinion is reason for rebellion.
NY state is about 75%, I hear that Florida is near 95%. How can a brick and mortar afford to do business? With shipping across state lines available to avoid the tax, there is absolutely nothing a retailer can do to compete other than to close up shop.
Until taxation is evened up across state lines (no, I'm not advocating that event) it is only a matter of time until most all of the pipe shops will disappear. It is a bad investment.

cortezattic · Sep 20, 2013

I think the government imposes a floor tax on items a business has in inventory -- a move to prevent stockpiling, I believe.

joeval · Sep 20, 2013

The closest B&M's to me are a good fifteen miles away.

One is excellent - an old pipe/cigar shop that keeps a decent stock of pipes and a wall of tobacco, plus all sorts of other bits. The other "tobacconist" is a newsagesnts with a tiny humidor, some cheap pipes in the shop window and some token baccy.

05venturer · Sep 20, 2013

I was actually excited to be able to possibly purchase tobacco from a "local" retailer in town but he pretty much ruined it. That is also a reason people use the internet

mso489 · Sep 20, 2013

My disappointments usually occur when I follow some neon sign to a nifty little campus-town shop

that promises "Smoke Shop," or some other ambiguity -- you know the punchline -- and I stick

my nose in the door only to be faced with glass cases full of bongs, with maybe a shelf behind the

counter full of hookahs. I've also hopefully nosed into Smoker Friendly places, with their rare to

limited supply of OTC pipe tobaccos. A real tobacco pipe shop is a rare and beautiful thing. Once

they go out of business, they rarely come back. My local independent shop owner is pushing

retirement age, and his son, who occasionally fills in, has a teaching job. I doubt he'll take over.

sfsteves · Sep 20, 2013

plateauguy wrote: "If I were a younger man I would open a Gentleman's Pipe Shop. It would strictly be tobacco and a good stock of pipes with decent prices. I think the demand is out there, we're all frustrated with the "smoke shops"."

sounds good ... in theory. I'd love to do the same, but in the real world state and local governments are waging serious war on smoking and they don't much distinguish between cigarettes and quality tobacco products. All are taxed at rates that virtually force buyers to use the Internet ... a tin of pipe tobacco one can buy on the 'net for, say $10 will cost easily double that or more in a local B&M ...
In the area where I grew up, there was a local pipe and cigar store run by a man and wife that was one of the best stocked and well run stores I was ever in ... as they aged, their son took over the business and continued running it as his folks had done, until the state decided to not just raise tobacco taxes, they put them through the roof ... AND, the taxes were levied in such a way that they applied retroactively to all of his existing inventory ... his cost to remain in business was sufficiently high as a result that he was forced out of business ...
my take is that while running a "gentleman's pipe (and/or cigar) shop sounds good, reality bites ...

pchitti · Sep 20, 2013

Im ok with higher costs, all I ask if for useful information with out an attitude.
I have posted about my local great B&M, they suck on every part but selection and price. Healthy markup and IM ok with that.

But to generally have a bad tude and act like its to much effort to answer questions for a new customer...

My real problem stemmed from asking about the manufacturer of the bulk blends. You would have thought I was asking about the KFC recipe. They dont change the name, so why act offended when I ask???
Found a discount shop with decent OTC variety and carry MM Missouris for $4!! That is the same price I bought them for online! Stoked about this place, not much variety but maybe I can help push them into some bulk blends.

Another cheap smokes/headshop in town carries some bulk. All supervalue with label taped to the jar, cheap chinese pipes and the only pipe cleaners are bristle and sell single for .69

pchitti · Sep 20, 2013

Oh did make the trip down to "the best smoke shop in Texas"... Great for cigars, pipe section was a joke. Couple OTC, few bulk, maybe 10 pipes all super cheap for high prices.
Wont make the effort to go there again. If Im in the area and need a quick pouch only.

locopony · Sep 20, 2013

It's tough to run a small business. And its very expensive to order stock. Sometimes it's just order what you are sure will sell quickly and stick with that. There are many tough decisions to make as a small business owner, and making special orders for a person you are not sure will come pick the stuff up is double tough. Maybe go in and order the stuff and put up a deposit. He will appreciate the business.

Sad Excuse for a B&M

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