Best Pipe Shop In Your Area

[anantaandroscoggin]

The closest thing we have around here is Lisbon Street News over in Lewiston, ME. They have perhaps 8 to 10 different pouch tobaccos, and a card of MM cobs. Everything else is like the regular contents of a neighborhood store (no gas pumps, so does it qualify as a "convenience store" ? ?)
There's another one with some pipe tobacco pouches on Park Street, Lewiston, but they have far more bag & tin tobacco for the roll-your-own folks.

 

[johnbrody15]

I'm envious of you guys who live near actual pipe tobacco shops. Los Angeles, there's nothing. I think the last true pipe shop closed down a while back. When I was a kid, we had The Tinder Box at the Del Amo mall, and this awesome pipe shop at Port's O'Call, a little sea side village.
There was also a pipe shop in the San Fernando Valley where I bought my treasured Savinelli Pipa.
Last time I checked, San Diego has Captain Hunts at seaside village but it's sparse.

 

[pylorns]

We have 3 in the Austin area, Pipeworld (Anderson Location), Habanna House (North Location), and we have a franchise store of Smokers Abby (originally from Nashville).

 

[ophiuchus]

The northern lower peninsula in Michigan offer slim pickings in this space. You'll find Wild Wild West shops scattered about, but they're more about vapes, "head" and hookah with some cigars, which describes anything in Petoskey. Nolan's is the closest thing to a real pipe shop in Traverse City (recently under new ownership); they have a cabinet with enough pipes to capture a short attention span, but little variety in pipe tobacco, though their cigar selection and cigar bar are pretty nice. Ash's in Gaylord fares a little better with the tobacco, but the last time I passed through, they'd stopped carrying Peterson and were strictly Savinelli, with nearly nothing to speak of in their pipe inventory.
Oddly enough, Admiral Tobacco in Traverse City, more of a cigarette and ryo store, have a respectable selection of Dr. Grabow and Missouri Meerschaum pipes, and a better selection of OTCs than Walgreen's. ::
Soo ... another vote for Paul's pipe shop in Flint, with special mention given to Maison Edwards in Ann Arbor (though it's been a number of years since I've been there).

 

[hawky454]

We have 3 in the Austin area, Pipeworld (Anderson Location), Habanna House (North Location), and we have a franchise store of Smokers Abby (originally from Nashville).

It’s a bummer that Heroes & Legacies is now gone, at one time they had a really great selection back in 2009 -2011. I haven’t heard of Smokers Abby, I’m right by the north Habanna House location but I prefer Pipe World as their prices are much more reasonable. How is the selection at Smokers Abby? I might need to give them a visit! Does the pipe club meet up there as well?

 

[ronthewineguy]

About 10 years ago, the guy who introduced me to pipe smoking took me to The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood in Ridgewood, NJ. My first visit there, I spent about $100 on cigars. I returned 2 days later and spent another $200 on more cigars cuz they were amazing. Returned about a week later, bought a Nording pipe and some tobacco and asked if I could light up a bowl in their lounge. It was midweek and early afternoon and the owner said No, the (empty) lounge was only for cigar smokers. Took my pipe and tobacco and left and have NEVER returned. But they did have a great selection of pipes.

 

[warren]

So you punished yourself by not returning? Interesting.

 

[alsatmem]

Larry O Johnston Plumbing. They fixed a pipe leaking under my driveway for only $1500, including the concrete work!

That’s as close as it gets unless you smoke weed.

Which the DA announced will not prosecute for

 

[daniel7]

In Iceland there is only one pipe shop - which started as a pipe shop now it is more like a souvenir, chocolate and cigarette shop thanks to the lack of pipe customers and the lack of pipe tobacco selection in the country. This is mainly the government's fault and partly society's. The name of the shop is Björk Tóbaksverslun, on Bankastræti/Laugavegur, main shopping street of Reykjavík. They have some Stanwell pipes and all types (3) of pipe tobaccos available in Iceland: Half & Half, Special Dublin and Skandinavik.

 

[mikethompson]

@mikethompson have you been to casa Del humidor in Rama? Decent selection of pipes and an okay selection of tobacco

my neighbour just found out about that place and raves about it. If I am ever out that way I will check it out. 4 months later for a response, but a response nontheless!

 

[bent1]

None where I live (near Fairmont, WV). Only pipes in this neck of woods, cobs & glass pipes.

 

[pipeanddrum]

In New York City I like Barclay Rex. They have a decent selection of pipes (including estates) and tobacco and I recently picked up bags of Stonehaven and Penzance there.

 

[mso489]

I'd check out a Tinderbox, where ever encountered, and J&R Cigar discount outlets near the interstates. These are not usually the beloved pipe shops for which we long, but often have acceptable prices and a fair selection of pipes and tobacco, depending on management at the time.

 

[sittingbear]

I've been to many pipe shops all over the country... Racine and Laramie in San Diego, Rich's in Portland, Iwan Ries in Chicago, Uhle's in Milwaukee... The best one I've ever been in, hands down, is Edward's in Denver. The selection of pipe tobaccos is gigantic, the selection of pipes is enormous. I used to live in Denver, and since moving away I think I miss Edward's the most!

 

[ronthewineguy]

So you punished yourself by not returning? Interesting.

I don't look at it that way. I was unhappy with a retailers service and voted with my feet and my wallet and do business with other retailers. I didn't return the pipe and it continues to be one of my favorites.

 

[crazyhog]

That would be none. The closest would be

in Manhattan about 35 miles away, but a 90 minute commute.

 

[alaskanpiper]

There is really only one, haha, G & P tobaccos. One of their house aromatics, Stoney's Blend, is pretty solid, and they make a crumble cake nightcap match called Seward's Folly that I remember being decent, although I was admittedly intoxicated when I tried it
They also carry some fine bulks on occasion, and a few decent tins.
There is also 5th avenue cigars, all they sell is bulk and its just typical pease and C n D stuff, but it would work if you didn't have time to leave downtown.

 

[jonasclark]

Sablebrush52, is the original Tinder Box gone? I second the California shops, Telford's near SF and Carmel Pipe Shop in Carmel-by-the-Sea, South of Monterey. Telford's has tons upon tons of new and used pipes; expect to spend at least an hour if you want to see everything, and if you don't see what you want, ask (I asked about unusual corncobs, and they dug out a short H. Tibbe pipe that's the same as the long ones on the MM museum's diamond-shaped 1904 wall display!) The Carmel Pipe Shop is teeny-tiny but has some nifty stuff.
If you're in San Diego, I highly recommend Racine & Laramie. The owners tried to recreate the original pueblo tobacconist, and for the most part the shop feels like it IS from the 1860s. They have two large cases of antique pipes to ogle, and (I did a loose headcount) around 400 pipes for sale, usually including a few antique ones. Great cigar selection, too, and friendly people. California is great for tobacconists; if a shop makes +51% of its sales from tobacco, you can smoke in the store. Telford's and Racine & Laramie both have seating for smoking. Johnbrody15 mentions Captain Hunt, which is also in San Diego; they have some pipe tobacco and a few pipes, but now are mostly about cigars. Oddly enough, any time I'm in San Diego and someone asks about pipes, I see people at cigar shops point them to Captain Hunt, but not to Racine & Laramie.
I live in Seattle, and there's nothing incredible here. The F. K. Kirsten shop is a nice stop if you like Kitrsten pipes. There's still a Tinder Box in Tacoma, WA. These and Rain City Cigar in South Seattle (Georgetown), which has a few pipes, are all cigar spots. However, the downtown Rich's Cigars in Portland, Oregon is a really, really nice shop, with a big selection. They (along with Chicago's Iwan Ries) bought all of CAO's unsold stick of Ismet Bekler's meerschaums, and they have a small number on display. If you tell them what you're looking for, they'll hit the storeroom and bring a number of Beklers for you to look at. Also, naturally, loads of cigars.
Ronthewineguy, around Washington, you typically only find smoking at Reservation casinos, some of which have cigar lounges, and they don't allow pipe smoking. The reason they've given me, which I imagine may be the reason where you went, is cigar smokers complaining about smoke that doesn't smell like pure tobacco. It's annoying, but I kind of get it.

 

[michiganlover]

Paul's Pipe Shop in Flint, MI is about a 40 minute drive for me. They are like Mecca for pipe smokers, being literally wall to wall pipes, and a treasure trove of all things NOS. They also have very wonderful blends made in house. Unfortunately, not much in the way of a lounge to hang out in.
Close to home, is Timothy's Fine Cigars in Bay City, MI. They have around six or seven bulks (such as Lane:1Q, BCA, and Peter Stockabye English Oriental Supreme), some basket pipes, and Missouri Meerschaum Legend pipes. They also have a wide mix of customer's from different walks of life, which makes it a great place to hang out.
Outside of those two, Michigan has a whole bunch of Wild Bill's shops, which specialize in vapes, and roll your own supplies, but do have maybe 6-8 bulk pipe tobaccos, which I believe are Sutliff.

 

[briarbuck]

Straus Tobacco downtown Cincy is a great shop. Their Florence location does more pipes, but Downtown is Historic and very cool + Jims a good dude.

the nation’s third-oldest continuously operating tobacco specialty store, Straus Tobacconist, Jim Clark shoulders a heavy load. He faces not only the typical daily demands that confront any business owner, but he also has the added pressure of protecting his store and its 136-year history in today’s anti-tobacco environment with local, state and federal entities all seeming to want to outdo each other to put tobacconists out of business.

And Clark would know. He’s the steward of a business that traces its roots to 1880 when Henry Straus began a cigar wholesale company in Cincinnati. By 1905, Henry had built one of the top-selling cigar operations in the country. In 1894, Nathan and Samuel Straus, whose relation to Henry is unclear, established a different business that specialized in pipes and pipe tobaccos. Around 1905, the Straus brothers moved their business to the same Walnut Street location that Straus Tobacconist occupies today. The two different Straus concerns remained separate until 1970, when they became part of Straus-Keilson, a wholesale tobacco, candy and grocery distributor that owned a number of small tobacco and candy stores in the area.