Starting a shop

Starting a tobacco shop is a huge undertaking. You need a lot of startup capitol for one. Two, its better to try a state with less regulation. Research your states tobacco taxes then chat with some other tobacco shop owners in other states as well. You might also see if you can work for an existing store to get a better feel for it.

It's hard these days to find enough pipe smoking enthusiasts concentrated in a viable geographic location. I think even in the big cities it's hard to stay afloat. You'd also have to compete with low cost online distributors and that could pose a serious challenge in its own right. I say cellar up and build a decent man cave. But don't take my advice, get hold of the fellas at Seattle Pipe Club, maybe they can help you organize your ideas.
Good luck with your endeavors!

My experience going in to B&M's is that you'd have to be a Cigar shop with a walk-in humidor that sold pipes and pipe tobacco as an afterthought. Cigar shops are still viable in downtown areas and business districts, it seems.

My experience going in to B&M's is that you'd have to be a Cigar shop with a walk-in humidor that sold pipes and pipe tobacco as an afterthought.

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That's not a terrible thing, in my view. One subsidizes the other and his original intent is realized. Also many cigar smokers migrate to pipes as time goes on.

If you want to lose alot of money most likely and then close up shop, by all means go for it. Internet retailers have taken over. You'd be better off starting some kind of gentleman's club, but even then look at the success rate of most new bars or restaurants, and everybody eats and drinks, most fail in the first year. There's already enough well established B&M tobacconists I can't see it being a good business decision. There's a reason alot of B&M's close, pipe smoking isn't exactly a popular thing.

Good point. You have to sell what sells. If that's cigars, cigarettes, vapes, etc. then those are the basis of your business, which you have in order to sell pipes and tobacco.

Contact a distributor. I'm sure they'd help you out. And, being in an area that does not allow mailing tobacco could only be a plus for a B&M. Laudsi, Lane Distribution, McClellands, I'm sure they'd help at least with info on how to get started, since they'd benefit from a new store. Then I'd get a CPA to help you dredge the tax issues.

Here the line between cigar guys and pipe guys is fuzzy. Pipe guys smoke cigars occasionally, and cigar guys eventually try pipes. So, maybe shoot for the middle.

My first thought, is do you have the knowledge base to support this dream? If you know nothing of cigars, and can't sell your customer on why he should buy your most expensive $20 stick vs the more budget friendly $5 stick you are wasting your time.
This is an expensive endevour to undertake, and without the required knowledge base your simply throwing you're money away.

The way to make a small fortune is to invest a large fortune in a B&M tobacco shop. 8)

Also,invest in a boat, or a small aircraft. They are such great investments too! :wink:

You may be in the best state for this, ironically, since your customers cannot legally buy tobacco online. You would have no online competition for tobacco. But you would have that competition for pipes and accesories. If you priced tins reasonably ($2-3 profit per tin), how many would you have to sell per month to pay the rent? I think the only way to make it work would be to sell cigars and vapor items too (cash cows!) since you wouldn't sell a ton of pipes. We pipe smokers is cheap!

I'm gonna put my two cents on this topic. First, location. Where are you going to be is important. I think an inner city may be a bad choice due to taxes. A rural location will never achieve foot traffic. However a college town with a city nearby and lots of suburbs seems ideal in today's culture. Example. I live 15 minutes away from Kent State University. I live in the more rural area, but there are a number of small towns. There are some really nice, high end towns. Now the city of Kent has done a lot of renovations and it is a very vibrant town. The school has 25,000 students. Not to mention there are 20 restaraunts, some cheap, some high end. Lots of different bars. Basically what I'm saying is you need to be placed in a area that has a lot of different kinds of people walking around during the day and night. You need variety, because your shop will not be for a non smoker, it may draw a few in, but you need the high end bar goers.
I think you need to offer cigars on one side of the shop, pipes and tobacco on the other side. You should keep the staple cig brands behind the counter and a can of chew wouldn't hurt. You need to be knowledgable about every item. You should also have a repairs service for your pipe smokers. That way you will keep guys coming back. If you want to try your hand at making pipes that will draw in people too. I think that the more rare tobaccos (if you were able to obtain them) should be available to walk in customers only. I think an online store that people can buy stuff and come in and pick it up is a great idea. I would have a few chairs on the inside just to make the place more comfortable.

I think aggravated has an excellent point. A campus town can often sustain a pipe shop as few other locations. My local independent is just outside a campus town and has hung on for almost 40 years, incredible. However, there are so many wrinkles and details to be mastered, I think you need to either spend time working at a shop owned by someone else, or spend a year or two visiting and mentoring by visits, phone and email with a shop owner. You need to keep the overhead really low, but your old timey approach may help you do that. Knowhow is everything here. Otherwise you will make a huge effort, lose all your investment, and have to start all over at this or something else in five years, or two. Not to be gloom and doom, but you must be really hard nosed.

I couple more thoughts I forgot to mention.
I think you would have to be able to buy estate pipes. Fix and clean them and resell them at their value. You would have to basically work alone when you start and maybe have to be open 7 days a week. You should be working on pipes when a customer isn't in the shop and when you have no pipes to clean and fix that's when making your own would come into play. I would consider consignment as well for tobacco and etc. have all the essential accessories. Be able to order or hunt down hard to find products. If you have a base price of $15 to clean a customers pipe, then that is it regardless of the time put in. The estate pipes that are sold should not have extra charge for your service for cleaning and repairing. You are selling a pipe at what it is worth at, not the time and materials put into it.

...at least this won't be nearly as hard as a hotdog stand, and all of the health codes, temperatures, a tests you have to take.

Get a CPA. I would suggest this to anyone wanting to go into any business. A CPA will get you off on the right foot. And, if you decide to do your own taxes down the line that's fine. But, a CPA is essential for getting you out of myths, stereotypes, assumptions and into the reality of what you need to do. 90% of what people believe about business is bunk.