Best B&M Tobacco Stores in America
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The two I think of right away are Nat Sherman, 12 East 42nd Street, NYC, 10017, and Iwan Ries, 19 S. Wabash 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL 60603. Barclay Rex is another big one in Manhattan, but I don't have the address handy. For many other cities, you can use the Pipes Magazine locator to find them and exactly where they are.
I will second Iwan Ries in Chicago. I am a lucky guy, in that, my office is a lunchtime walk to the shop. Great place to visit and spend your $$, even greater people. And an amazing selection.
Ian Ries is fantastic. Only downside is if you buy at the store, you pay pretty high taxes. The Briary in Birmingham, AL is excellent. Watch City Cigar in Framingham, MA and Perettis in Boston. Uhles in Milwaukee. Edwards in Denver. Pipes by George in Raleigh and one I forget the name of in nearby Apex that has a great smoking lounge and friendly folks. McCranies in Charlotte.
Google is also your friend. There are small hidden gems in some unlikely places.
Google is also your friend. There are small hidden gems in some unlikely places.
I was impressed by Nat Sherman, just the square footage in that neighborhood is remarkable, given NYC rents. The man who helped me was Cliff Gold, the Lead Sales Associate at the time, and he was gracious and set me up with their English blend 536 in bulk, and I sat right down in a rocking chair outside the humidor and enjoyed a bowl right there. There's a huge clock over the front door of the store that is at ground level. It was what you want on a trip to the Big Apple.
The Tinder Box inside the South Coast Plaza mall in Orange County, California is great. It focuses mainly on pipes, and when you walk in there is a Dunhill display case set up with museum-level collectibles, and another display case has old McClelland tins. Along the wall are pipes.
The tobacco selection is good, as well as the selection of pipe accessories. They focus mainly on pipes, but there is a cigar humidor up the stairs in the back.
The tobacco selection is good, as well as the selection of pipe accessories. They focus mainly on pipes, but there is a cigar humidor up the stairs in the back.
I second hoosier' on Pipes by George in Raleigh, N.C. It's a medium size shop near a bicycle shop and tattoo parlor, and the neighborhood has gentrified around it, but it is a real old time shop with plank floors and a hand-built humidor, an old hardware scale and a mechanical cash register. There's a disclaimer on the front door in pencil that says you might encounter pipe smoke inside. It's not the big city, but it is fully the real deal. If you are anywhere in or near Raleigh, a definite must-see.
When I lived in Portland, Oregon in the 1990's, Rich's Cigar Store downtown was my favorite B&M. I mainly smoke cigars at the time, but they have a decent selection of tins and well as some of their own blends.
Great thread! Good resource for travelers
The Pipe Den in Vero Beach is a step back in time.
Paul's Pipe Shop in downtown Flint is certainly worth a visit. Old-timey is the word. Ask if you can see the museum.
This picture is part of the regular display in the store. Scroll down on the web page, and click on the museum link for a virtual tour.
http://www.paulspipeshop.com/
This picture is part of the regular display in the store. Scroll down on the web page, and click on the museum link for a virtual tour.
http://www.paulspipeshop.com/
This is a fine thread.
I will add to the list Telford's in Mill Valley, CA. It is just outside San Francisco and well worth a trip.
In addition to pipes, cigars and exotic tins, they have a wonderful museum of old tins, briars, meerschaums and porcelain pipes.
I will add to the list Telford's in Mill Valley, CA. It is just outside San Francisco and well worth a trip.
In addition to pipes, cigars and exotic tins, they have a wonderful museum of old tins, briars, meerschaums and porcelain pipes.
I'll second Telford's, and add Piedmont Tobacconist in a nice area of Oakland; Carmel Pipe Shop, Carmel, CA; the one in Santa Barbara; Desert Tobacco near Palm Springs.
Iwan Ries is the best of any I've been in.
Iwan Ries is the best of any I've been in.
I have yet to find a larger selection of tinned tobaccos than at Edward's on Broadway in Englewood (Denver) Colorado, and a great selection of pipes, too. However, since you're in Washington, Rich's in Portland is still here, and still great.
For decades, Tinder Box had a shop in the mall a few miles up the road. After many years, first it moved within the mall and then it closed. I think it either re-opened or a new franchise opened in a nearby city, but I haven't been there. As a chain in the mall, it had drawbacks, first of which was no-smoking. The proprietors (I think there were two over the years) were good but often busy, but the helpers were always iffy, quite young or not knowledgeable. However, I did buy my first pipe there, along with some okay aromatic blend, renamed from some major brand. Tinder Box was a major influence for pipe and cigar smoking. Cigars slowly became the revenue stream and pipes became more ancillary. A similar riff could be done on J&R Outlets, near the exits on various big highways. These places are not the temples of pipe smoking like the venerable retailers, but definitely played a huge role in introducing many to pipes and cigars, so deserve an honored place.
I always have to mention my local Tobacconist, The Squire Tobaconist in Charleston, WV. Great guys, awesome selection, and a great lounge that is welcome to pipe smokers.
Thank you for mentioning The Piedmont Tobacconist. It's late owner, Stephen Richman, who passed in 2019, was one of the grand old men of the pipe world. I remember sitting there while he smoked Skiff in a meerschaum from the 1860s and he told fabulous stories of characters he had known. He had a doctorate in biomedical engineering and was passionate about his antique collection of unopened baccy tins, some nearly a century old. I recall stepping carefully over his huge dogs sleeping on the floor of the shop to go to sniff jars of unusual twists and flakes from the UK. What a personalty! What an old-time tobacconist!