Cheers for Good B&M's

[judcole]

This is a shoutout and thanks to Dan Spaniola and Paul's Pipe Shop up in Flint.

About two weeks ago I purchased this nice little Sav Tre series billiard. I was happily breaking it in, when all of a sudden it got clogged. Couldn't draw, couldn't run a cleaner through it. Could run a thin wire. I knew I was running low on Arrowhead, the flagship blend at Paul's, so I decided to run up there. I had previously had a very positive experience with a repair they did.

Drove up there, Dan took it into the back, and had it clear in no more than maybe ten minutes. Said he used a small drill bit as a reamer. Nothing came out – he had no idea what happened. Charge – zip nada. (May have been different if I wasn't buying 8 ounces of Arrowhead.) Gassed up my car, had lunch, and happily smoked Capstan blue in it on the way home. (I ran a cleaner through it three times on the drive.) Total time spent – a hair over three hours.

As a side note, Paul's is the place to look for old blends. I saw canisters of Sail Green and Sail Red, with the Theodorus Niemeyer name on them. Lord knows how long ago Sail Red was discontinued...

 

[didimauw]

I wish I had a b&m close by...

 

[mikethompson]

Ditto, there are some B&M's in my area, but they don't know too much about pipes.

 

[litup]

My B&M announced last week that they are closing in May. The city council banned the sale of all flavored tobacco and they just didn't see how they could stay in business with those restrictions.
Even for people who would prefer to smoke in private, there's something wonderful about entering a B&M pipe shop and knowing that you're among like-minded people.

 

[mahew]

I was thinking of making a visit to Paul’s Saturday. My last trip there I picked up 4oz of McClelland Baklava. I am going to miss that when it’s gone. Dan has plenty of options to cure PAD on hand as well.

 

[hawky454]

Sounds like a great experience. Really, there’s nothing like a good ol’ B&M. We used to have one here called Heroes & Lagacies. It was just magical when I used to frequent it about a decade ago. They even had a barber that would clip your hair while your smoking your pipe. They had an amazing selection back in those days too. Unfortunately over the years they started losing inventory until they finally just made a small corner of the store their “pipe section”. Guess they just weren’t doing enough business, they eventually closed their doors a little over a year ago.

 

[mso489]

Does Dan have a brother who is a gunsmith or lawnmower repair guy? There's such an extreme difference between a pipe shop and a smoke shop, different universes.

 

[mahew]

I was fortunate enough to be given a full tour of Paul’s, including the museum, workshop, storage, and cellar areas. Just down right impressive. I suppose after 90 years in the pipe and tobacco business, that shouldn’t be surprising.

 

[tschiraldi]

I've got a great Tinder Box!

 

[troyniss]

Paul is an excellent guy.

Went up there (I live in Utica/Shelby Twp) last January when I was home for the holidays.
He took me on a personal tour of the pipe museum for about 30 minutes. I asked him a bunch of questions, this and that.

Told me about his father, how he got started smoking, the history of the pipe shop, pictures, the pipes, lighters, etc in the museum.
He is filled with knowledge.

He also had some bulk McClellands left which I picked up. Dark English 5110 and Old World Classic Cake 5115. Also picked up a bag of an in house aromatic called Maple Walnut (smells like syrup over pancakes) and a nice bent billiard Cayuga pipe with a nice milky yellow lucite stem that he makes in the shop.
I recommend heading there if you are in Michigan. He said hes got over 1,000,000 pipes in the store (from display, the storage and museum combined.)

 

[michiganlover]

Paul's is awesome! I can't imagine there are that many pipe stores on it's level left in the US. It's literally wall to wall pipes! If you are looking for something NOS there is great likelihood to find it here!

 

[mso489]

A million pipes, now that's PAD.

 

[mahew]

I stopped in Paul’s today. Dan informed me of the 71st Michigan Regional Pipe Smoking Contest if any one is interested. Details can be found on the Arrowhead Pipe Club Facebook page. It is happening tomorrow. For the record, I did satisfy my TAD and PAD issues while I was there. I am afraid it may only have been a temporary fix though.

 

[trudger]

Paul’s is a time warp that’s for sure. 71 years is a great run for a pipe club. I would love to help organize a pipe club in the tri-county Metro Detroit area.

 

[mahew]

I would be interested in a Detroit area pipe club.

 

[jttnk]

Strange side note as I read this. I moved from Flint to CA when I was 9 years old. My dad smoked a pipe back in the 70’s. I wonder if he bought it at Paul’s. I have fantastic memories of an idyllic childhood growing up in Flint. I wish the old city peace and prosperity.

 

[ophiuchus]

:rofl:
This is great! When I saw the title of this thread, the first thing to come to mind was, "Gee, maybe I should give Paul's Pipe Shop in Flint a shout-out." I guess I'm late to the party on that call.

Paul’s is a time warp that’s for sure.

Amen! ::
Okay, so I'll give the shout-out to Iwan Ries in Chicago.