Puff n' Stuff Broke My Heart

[Peterson314]

Atlanta, like everywhere else, is a pipe tobacco desert. We have two cigar shops on every corner, but the only pipe tobaccoasis in this city was Puff n' Stuff in Tucker. For years, I drove by it every time I went to see my dad, and I fed the TAD monster whether I needed anything or not. It was the only store where I could find any rarity like Sobranie or Esoterica. I later earned the honor and privilege of checking out their back closet, and I built a cellar that broke over two houses.

I dropped in to see my dad today, and made my usual pit stop. The hanging tins were gone, the wall of GLP and C&D was empty, and they rocked a total of 6 1/3-empty jars of bulk Lane and Stokkebye. I was stunned. I didn't know what to do. I just looked at the owner, who I've known for a decade now, and asked if this was permanent. He just looked at me, and I couldn't do anything but shake his hand and thank him for the good times. I left.

Son of a bitch. Long live Puff n' Stuff.

 

[dottlejockey]

My condolences...

 

[Bright Orange Red]

Bummer man, sorry to hear it.

 

[bullet08]

Damn. Why don't they stab all the pipe smokers with dull stem and give an extra twist! That was truly cruel thing to do to a long time customer. At least, he could have called you and make some deal!

 

[trudger]

I have regular stops as I travel around Michigan. Few and far between but I make the effort for them and me. Hard to hear of another one up in smoke.

 

[Nevaditude]

Atlanta, like everywhere else, is a pipe tobacco desert. We have two cigar shops on every corner, but the only pipe tobaccoasis in this city was Puff n' Stuff in Tucker. For years, I drove by it every time I went to see my dad, and I fed the TAD monster whether I needed anything or not. It was the only store where I could find any rarity like Sobranie or Esoterica. I later earned the honor and privilege of checking out their back closet, and I built a cellar that broke over two houses.

I dropped in to see my dad today, and made my usual pit stop. The hanging tins were gone, the wall of GLP and C&D was empty, and they rocked a total of 6 1/3-empty jars of bulk Lane and Stokkebye. I was stunned. I didn't know what to do. I just looked at the owner, who I've known for a decade now, and asked if this was permanent. He just looked at me, and I couldn't do anything but shake his hand and thank him for the good times. I left.

Son of a bitch. Long live Puff n' Stuff.

Sigh…Actually, you handled that well, . Dignity & class ended with an hand shake. I hope he sees this , recognizes himself and explains, although the truth is probably something along the lines of most of us purchase online, and THAT is because they B&M’s jack the price. Understand all their reasons why, but I do agree it is sad that the store experience is going away, except for the big guys with an online presence who also have a smoke lounge at their B&M.
A year ago traveling cross country with dog & trailer, I went to Low Country Lounge in SC (SPC) and I also visited Ted’s Pipe Shoppe in Tulsa. Both place were wonderful AND very different. We need to support those that remain, BUT I am afraid what you describe will be a more common experience. Thanks for the reminder. Here tobacco stores are too rare in the Western US.

 

[romaso]

Sorry to hear that. I wonder if it's related to STG closing the Lane Ltd manufacturing plant in Tucker, GA a few years back?

 

[kcghost]

It is the saddest of times when this occurs.

 

[PipeIT]

Oh boy, I was certainly thinking about the wrong Puff N Stuff… LOL

I thought we were talking a trip back in nostalgia… LOL

 

[jpmcwjr]

Condolences! Rotten deal.

Where was this? And where are you?

Please put your location in your Profile!

How: Under your avatar, (top right, left most of three symbols) you choose "Account Details", which brings up "My Account". "My Location" is halfway down.

 

[BingBong]

Oh boy, I was certainly thinking about the wrong Puff N Stuff… LOL

I thought we were talking a trip back in nostalgia… LOL

View attachment 337757

I once photographed a manager at work and she was a bit uncertain about it. I reassured her, "it's ok, I'll get all your hips in and everything, I've got a new wide-angle lens on".

She went "H-RRRR!!!"

 

[danimalia]

I'm not too bad off here in San Diego. Yes, the scene is far more oriented towards cigars, but there are still B&Ms where you can get good quality tobacco (i.e one of my locals is decently stocked with C&D/Pease tins, some European tins, and a great bulk selection that includes some GH&C and Rattray's blends). Online sales have absolutely decimated a lot of B&Ms, but I find it hard to blame them. The big online sites are located in states with low or non-existent tobacco taxes, and most states add a hefty tax to tobacco. Here in California, which does not have a crazy rate like some other states, a tin of GLP/C&D is usually $25 out the door. Or you could go to Smoking Pipes, and pay half the price, have a crazy selection, and top notch service. So I try to support the locals, but it's hard for them to compete. Unless they have a really nice lounge and sell cigars/beverages, etc.

 

[milk]

I’m sorry but I couldn’t resist: I saw this show (H.R. Puff N’ Stuff ) streaming on Amazon while sitting with my 4 and 6 year old boys. I couldn’t resist out of sentimentality for my own childhood. This show is truly far out of context in 2024 and my children were puzzled. It’s nearly incomprehensible. But maybe I would need to be stoned, which isn’t happening.

 

[PipeIT]

For those who might not know, and wondering what the heck are we rambling on about, here’s some info and a video, enjoy…

it’s actually H.R. Pufnstuf

H.R. Pufnstuf - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

P.S. I didn’t realize Jack Wild was born September 30th, so odd this coincidentally comes up just before his birthday.

 

[Peterson314]

Condolences! Rotten deal.

Where was this? And where are you?

Please put your location in your Profile!

How: Under your avatar, (top right, left most of three symbols) you choose "Account Details", which brings up "My Account". "My Location" is halfway down.

Atlanta. I put it in the post, but I've added my location to my account. Thanks for the reminder; I don't think I've messed with my profile page since I joined.

 

[Peterson314]

Sigh…Actually, you handled that well, . Dignity & class ended with an hand shake. I hope he sees this , recognizes himself and explains, although the truth is probably something along the lines of most of us purchase online, and THAT is because they B&M’s jack the price. Understand all their reasons why, but I do agree it is sad that the store experience is going away, except for the big guys with an online presence who also have a smoke lounge at their B&M.
A year ago traveling cross country with dog & trailer, I went to Low Country Lounge in SC (SPC) and I also visited Ted’s Pipe Shoppe in Tulsa. Both place were wonderful AND very different. We need to support those that remain, BUT I am afraid what you describe will be a more common experience. Thanks for the reminder. Here tobacco stores are too rare in the Western US.

Thanks for this. You know.... what can you do?

I can't be mad at someone doing what's right for their business, though I can be frustrated.

 

[Peterson314]

Damn. Why don't they stab all the pipe smokers with dull stem and give an extra twist! That was truly cruel thing to do to a long time customer. At least, he could have called you and make some deal!

We didn't know each other well enough for him to call me down to his shop, but he would have made me a sweet deal if I had dropped in at the right time.

But, there was no warning. Every pipe smoker I know in this city knew this shop. And nearly every time I walked in, they had pipe-smoking clientele buying a tin or bag. I guess it wasn't enough.

That said, I'm still shocked that they shit-canned their one stand-out customer base to join the other 200 cigar shops that reward us pipe smokers with a Tupperware of 1-Q and some MacB Virginia #1.

 

[Choatecav]

Sorry to hear. But Atlanta is all about "trendy" and once it becomes trendy again to smoke pipes, they will cover the place up.

Barbara Mandrell had a song, "I was Country when Country wasn't cool." You can be ahead of the crest of the wave on pipe smoking when it becomes cool......

 

[danimalia]

Sorry to hear. But Atlanta is all about "trendy" and once it becomes trendy again to smoke pipes, they will cover the place up.

Barbara Mandrell had a song, "I was Country when Country wasn't cool." You can be ahead of the crest of the wave on pipe smoking when it becomes cool......

Kind of been waiting for this to happen. The old timers probably know more about pipe smoking trends, upticks and downturns in popularity. But cigars are definitely going through a thing again the past 5-10 years. Nothing like the stories of the old cigar boom, when there just wasn't enough supply to meet demand, but you can see the way prices have increased, and there's an increased emphasis on non-US markets.... I thought pipes might come along for the ride once more people were priced out of cigars, and realized that for the price of one robusto, they can buy a tin of tobacco that would provide the amount of smoking time as an entire box of those robustos. Of course, if you want to spend money on pipes and tobaccos, you can! But once you get past the initial barrier to entry and have a few pipes, it's still much more of a value than cigars are.

 

[bpinkstaff]

Sorry for your loss!